Meeting Structure

A meeting without a plan is almost certain to be a waste of time. Similarly, a meeting without a decision making process is a meeting that will produce no results. Town hall meetings need to be structured so that participants can all have have a feeling that something was accomplished when the meeting concludes.

The meetings need to have both a satisfactory process for making decisions and a means for clearly presenting the decisions to be made.

Making a Decision

Making a decision is commonly done either by taking a vote or by consensus. Decision making by taking a vote is normally done by accepting a simple majority as a final decision. However, a simple majority is not very satisfactory for a town hall meeting.

A simple majority that is a bare majority means that almost half of the meeting's participants are not in agreement. A town hall meeting should have a stronger level of agreement in order to have legitimate claim to be representative of the community.

A simple vote is also final and forecloses on any further discussion. The terminal all-or-nothing nature of a simple vote does not meet the aim of co-operation of a town hall meeting.

Therefore, it is proposed that a more acceptable form of voting be adopted. Specifically, if a vote does not have a strong majority in favour ( 2/3 in favour ) or a strong majority opposed ( 2/3 opposed ) then the outcome of the vote is undecided. An undecided outcome results in further discussion. The issue remains active until a stronger consensus is reached.

This decision making method takes advantage of both voting and consensus. With a strong majority either in favour or opposed the decision is made quickly. Without a strong majority, consensus is used to build a strong majority, either in favour or opposed.

Presenting Decisions

To make a worthwhile decision it is necessary to be certain what it is that you are deciding. In a town hall meeting with many different people who are not all completely familiar with the subjects under discussion it is of great importance that the question at hand is clearly articulated.

If the meeting is to be a success, decisions to be made at a town hall meeting should be written out and available prior to the meeting. Therefore, a town hall meeting should have a prepared agenda listing the questions to be discussed. The meeting should limit itself to the agenda items so that the meeting is not hijacked and everyone present can feel confident that they are attending a meeting that is orderly and fair.

All the items on the agenda should be in the form motions which articulate the need for the motion ( whereas clauses ) and the desired result of the motion ( resolutions). The section on motions provides more detail.

Speaking

To be polite, to be fair, to be heard clearly and to maintain order a discussion has to be limited to one person at a time. The meeting chair will grant the “floor” to a speaker who will address the meeting. To ensure a successful discussion, interruptions and other conversations can not and will not be allowed.

The chair will recognize anyone who raises their hand, at any time, as someone who wishes to speak. The chair will then grant the floor, in sequence, to those who have raised their hands.