Customer Reviews

Robert's Rules in Plain English

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a short, easy-to-use and understand book about parliamentary procedure. It's well laid out, and the beginning of the book has a good explanation of how and why parliamentary procedure works. It was written with beginners in mind. The order of precedence for motions is painstakingly and clearly laid out for the reader, as well as an explanation of why one motion takes precedence over another. Explanations of exactly what a motion does and an example of its use are included as well. Chapters are also included explaining the responsibilities of the chair, secretary, and treasurer, as well as a guide to setting agendas. That said, this is not, nor was it intended to be, a comprehensive guide to parliamentary procedure. For small or somewhat informal meeting, this book is all you need. For a large, formal group with professional officers, however, a full copy of Robert's Rules is recommended. This book is a great intro to parliamentary procedure, and is all you need to run most meetings. Even with larger groups, this is a wonderful book to keep at your elbow at meetings to use as a reference.

Our volunteer fire company decided to follow Robert's Rules a couple of years ago. Unfortunately the President quit and took the only copy with him. I ordered this book not because I run the meeting, but so I (as Treasurer) can help the new President and trustees in following the rules that we agreed to.

Although a relatively small paperback, it packs a lot of information. As it states, this book develops the overall concepts and specific procedures for running a meeting effectively and efficiently. It may take more than one reading to really get a handle on the how and why of ranking of motions, etc., but after doing so, I will certainly be able to assist the presiding officer of our meetings.

While our organization will certainly be buying the unabridged version of Robert's Rules, I will be recommending we also purchase several copies of the Plain English version for use at meetings.

This book was written in simple English and easy to understand and a good introductory text to parliamentary procedure. Since it is an introductory book, one may not find the information or details required on some topics. After reading this book, if you want for more information, then go and buy Roberts' Rules of Order Newly Revised (9th Edition, 1990), the source of this book.

This book is amazing for younger people who are starting out learning parliamentary procedure. I am involved in 4-H, and in our county, all officers of 4-H clubs are required to learn parliamentary procedure. I am going to incorporate this book into their training. It is very simple to read, very easy to understand, and the examples are concise and relevent. I would not recommend this book for someone who is older and is involved in serious meetings that require a more in depth knowledge of Robert's Rules, but it works perfectly for my purposes, which is to educate people who have never been exposed to this information before. It is an excellent book for the beginner who is interested in the basics without getting bogged down by the hefty rules and vocabulary of Robert's Rules Newly Revised.

Let's face it: Parliamentary Procedure is nothing but a bunch of hard to understand red tape. This book, however, manages to cut through the boring nonsense and tells you just what you need to know and how to use it. I bought this and the "official" book too, and I find that I read this one almost cover to cover and use it for reference, while the "official" Robert's Rules sit on my bookshelf collecting dust until something really outlandish occurrs in a meeting. Unless you are a lawyer, I'd say this is all you need to survive a meeting in Parli Pro.

The book is a decent primer and is certainly more readable than Robert's original book. Of course the original and all of its editions remain an example of very incomprehensible and convoluted language even for its era. However, I have to handle large meetings of very strong-willed, intelligent people, so I found the "Plain English" book not very useful. I need to know the details and complexities of handling important meetings so that I make the right decisions. I will stick with the more sophisticated texts.

This short book is certainly no substitute for the full Robert's Rules of Order, but it is a good way for the reader to get a good grasp and overview of parliamentary procedure. It is tempting to get so bogged down in the particular rules of procedure that the underlying principles of order and efficiency for the assembly are overlooked.

The author says in the opening portion of her book, "Parliamentary procedure should be used to help and not hinder decision making. Robert said, 'The assembly meets to transact business, not to have members exploit their knowledge of parliamentary law.'" (p. 6).

I recommend reading this work first, then referring to the full volume of Robert's Rules if more detail is needed. For most people however, this work should be all that is required to possess a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure. As a Baptist pastor, I see this book as being particularly helpful to church leaders and members for their participation in business meetings, board meetings, and other decision-making assemblies. The knowledge contained in this volume is well-worth the price!

A gentle introduction for people just starting out with parliamentary procedure.

Contains great examples of how to run meetings and includes good advice for beginning chairman, all from an accomplished professional parliamentarian. For example, Zimmerman recommends using unanimous consent whenever possible to expidite business, and gives concrete examples on how to do this.

You will probably eventually want to buy the full "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised" to complete your study of parliamentary procedure. If you read Zimmerman first, RONR will be alot easier to digest. On the other hand, you may not need RONR, as all the most commonly encountered rules are covered quite well in Zimmerman. Sure, if you run into disciplinary problems, or want more details about how to write bylaws, you will need to look in RONR, but for the day to day running of most club/association/church meetings Zimmerman's book is a great guide.

When attempting to start as a novice on this matter of envolvement with a small board and how to be part of the monthly board meeting I was in total ignorance. I started by researching Robert's Rules of Order. To have to read or find important information tucked inside a 700 + pages was more then I had time for. I went to your web site to see if anything of a simple nature was available in print. Thanks for the information, reviews, and the speedy service in delivery of this book. It was easy to read and exactly what I needed to educate me on the rules of orded for my circumstances.
I recommend all those in my situation to buy this book.

I had to give a presentation on Robert's Rules of Order, and I considered just buying the original tome and relying on my ability to figure it out. That would have been a big mistake. The complete Robert's Rules of Order contains extensive parliamentary procedure that is only utilized in complex governmental situations. For an overview on only the essential rules as they relate to most applications (Board meetings, clubs, professional organizations), Robert's Rules in Plain English is tremendously valuable and time-saving. I could not have completed my presentation without it.