| This
article has been recently published by the Canadian Society of Association
Executives.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is fast approaching and it is going to
be contentious. Everyone wonders: Will the meeting go smoothly, or will
it be chaotic? Will it be brief, or will it continue until late at night?
How will your Chair deal with unexpected motions, amendments, and a variety
of points of order?
The task of chairing a large business meeting is a formidable one. The
chair's challenge is to balance the need for efficiency and productivity
with the need to have a fair, open and democratic discussion. In a contentious
meeting, this challenge is compounded and can be as precarious as skating
on thin ice..
How can the Chair lead the meeting without losing control? What tools
are needed to lead an open discussion while avoiding chaos?
1. Overall Approach & Attitude
The instinctive reaction to the prospect of controversy is to "duck
for cover". Panic sets in. Typically, presidents begin a frantic
search for methods to control or even stifle dissent. A qualified parliamentarian
(an expert on rules of order) and a lawyer may be hired at great expense
to be assured of "absolute control". The underlying premise
is: Controversy and heated debate will hurt and damage the organization.
In fact, there is nothing inherently wrong with a heated debate. Moreover,
attempts to control and stifle dissent can backfire and may harm the organization
more than a full and open debate. On the other hand, a well-managed debate,
in which members are free to speak as passionately as they wish -but within
a given structure - offers long-term benefits. It has the potential of
starting a process of healing and reconciliation for a divided and dysfunctional
organization.
Note the key words referring to debate are "well-managed". Without
effective leadership, contentious meetings can perpetuate their bad reputation
and deteriorate into shouting matches. The resulting chaos and confusion
can cause anything from reduced membership, to damaging news headlines,
or even costly lawsuits.
Effective leadership starts with establishing the tone and guidelines
for the meeting, communicating them to the members, and gaining their
support towards having a fair, inclusive and productive meeting. The best
time to establish the tone and discussion guidelines for a meeting is
at the very beginning, with the Chair's opening script.
2. Establishing the right tone for the meeting
The more contentious the issues, the more essential it is to set the right
tone for the meeting from the start. The goal should be to establish a
collaborative climate, where narrow interests are secondary to the broad
organizational interests, where people are treated with civility, dignity
and respect (regardless of how objectionable their points of view may
be to some), where passionate advocacy is balanced by genuine listening,
and where discussions are focused on issues and not personalities.
Here is a sample opening script to establish the tone for the meeting:
"The 2003 annual general meeting of the Beyond Hope Association
will please come to order. Good evening members and colleagues and welcome
to this meeting.
As part of my opening remarks, I need to make some comments that will
hopefully set the right tone for this meeting.
As your president, I am very mindful of the fact that some of the issues
to be discussed at this meeting are difficult and controversial, and have
divided us as an organization. No one should minimize or trivialize the
significance of the disputes that we have encountered. These issues have
had serious negative impacts on our ability to remain focused on our mandate
and serve our members and stakeholders.
Clearly, we need to have these issues resolved, and this meeting is our
golden opportunity to do so. We need to debate the issues openly and fully,
and hopefully start the process of healing and reconciliation. We owe
a duty to the members that we serve to look beyond our past hurts, animosities
and personal resentments, and look after the organization as a whole.
Here are four principles that I believe will help us establish the right
tone for this meeting.
- First is
the principle of decorum: We can debate the issues
as passionately as we want, but we must focus on the issues and not
the personalities. We can be hard on the issues, but we must be soft
on the people.
- Second is the principle of collaboration:
We need to work together and not against one another. We should be
changing our mindsets from adversarial, where It is "you against
me", to collaborative, where it is "you and me against the
problem".
- Third is
the principle of listening and maintaining an open
mind. Surely, each one of us has some strongly held opinions to share.
But if we don't listen to one another, we won't be able to discover
the bigger truth on which good consensus can be built. As someone
said: "We were given two ears and one mouth, so we should be
listening at least twice as much as we speak".
- Lastly we need to consider our mission statement,
which is to serve our members and stakeholders by ____ (fill the blank).
As we go through our discussions, I would urge each one of you to
consider our members and stakeholders and the best way we might serve
them at this meeting. Imagine them viewing this meeting on a video
screen and ask yourself: Would they be proud of us and of how we conduct
ourselves today?
What I just stated
are four common sense principles: decorum, collaboration, listening, and
service to our members and stakeholders. I know these principles can help
us have a productive and well-focused meeting. But there is one
problem: I cannot make these principles work on my own. I need
your support and cooperation. Can I count on you to help me in running
a principle-based meeting? Thank you."
Establishing the above principles at the start of the meeting will enable
the Chair to intervene later at the meeting. For example: "Do
you remember the principle of decorum that was mentioned at the start
of this meeting? Can I ask you to focus on the issues, but show respect
to the person?"
3. Establishing discussion guidelines
It is often said: "If you don't know where you're going, any
road will take you there". This phrase must be the unofficial
motto for a poor meeting Chair. If meeting guidelines are not established,
how can anyone be expected to follow them? Inadequate guidelines make
it frustrating for everyone, and can worsen conflict and animosity. Without
good guidelines, your democracy can easily turn into anarchy.
Here is a sample script to help you establish the meeting's discussion
guidelines:
"As stated in our Bylaws, the meeting will be conducted in accordance
with ___ Rules of Order (fill the blank), the Constitution and Bylaws,
and the legislation that governs us. I would like to review the main discussion
guidelines that you'll need to be aware of. These guidelines were given
to you at the door as you entered the meeting hall. They are intended
to ensure that we have fairness and equality, and that each individual
has the same opportunity to participate at this meeting.
- First, if
you want to speak, please approach one of the floor microphones, wait
to be recognized and open by identifying yourself. Only voting members
may speak, make motions and vote, and only one person may speak at
a time.
- Secondly, each member may speak up to two times
on each debatable motion. It has been our tradition to limit comments
to 3 minutes each. I will let you know when you have thirty seconds
left, so you conclude your comments.
- Finally, if you want to speak for the second
time on the same issue, please wait for those who want to speak on
it for the first time.
Are there
any questions about the discussion guidelines? Is there any objection
to these guidelines? (Pause) Thank you. The guidelines will stand".
Note: Some organizations approve the discussion guidelines formally,
by a motion..
4. Conclusion
Chairing a contentious
AGM will likely test your leadership skills to the limit. This task
will become more manageable if you establish - with the group's support
- the right tone and the discussion guidelines for the meeting. Having
done this, you will be better equipped to reduce the negative impacts
of the controversy. You may even be able to convert it from a problem
into an opportunity...
Good luck with your
next AGM (contentious or not). |
