Meetings and Robert's Rules Archive

The articles below have tons of information and ideas on how to run effective parent group meetings. Find more helpful tools and info on the Meetings/Robert’s Rules resources page.

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• The One-Hour Meeting Manager - If your PTO meetings run longer than an hour, they’re too long. Here’s how to make them shorter and more efficient.
• Robert’s Rules: Sticky Situations - Straight answers to common questions about voting, agendas, and best practices for your meetings.
• Make Your First Meeting Count - Use these tips to harness the energy of a new year for your PTO and set a positive tone you can build on all year long.
• How To Take Meeting Minutes - What to write down and what not to, plus tips to make the job easier.
• Public Speaking: Overcome the Jitters - Some advance preparation and a few best practices will help your next presentation go smoothly despite any butterflies.
• Measuring Meetings - There are much better ways to gauge the success of your parent group than counting how many seats get filled to go through a monthly agenda.
• 9-Point Meeting Checklist - Follow these simple steps to make your meetings painless as well as productive.
• The Secret to Successful Leadership - The most overlooked skill—delegation—might just be the best one you'll ever learn.
• Taking Aim at the Head Table - It's time to update the old meeting model where officers sit at the front of the room and everybody else makes up the audience.
• Boost Meeting Attendance - Do you struggle to get people to come to meetings? The problem might be publicity or timing—or it might be the meetings themselves.
• Successful Meetings: 14 Tips - Done right, meetings help keep the group cohesive and on track. Done wrong, they can become a time pit and involvement killer.
• My First Meeting: Presidents Remember - Parent group presidents recall the worrying, the nerves, and the lessons learned from their first time wielding a gavel.
• Robert's Rules: What You Should Know - Robert's Rules do help you run an effective meeting. And you don't have to know a whole book's worth of details—just a few key concepts.
• Put Meetings in Perspective - Parents have limited time to devote to volunteering. Should you ask them to spend it attending meetings?
• Meeting Minutes Dos and Don'ts - Minutes are a legal document and an important record of your decisions. Guidelines on when to take minutes and what to record.
• Meeting Minutes: Just the Facts - Keeping complete and accurate minutes is an important legal obligation. Here's why certain types of information should—or shouldn't—be included.