When City Council meetings break down, it’s often in predictable ways: Members fall into repetition, discussion drifts from topic to topic, the loudest voices in the room dominate the discussion, and decision-making stalls. A Council that can’t—or won’t—hold efficient, respectful meetings has a much harder time reaching clear decisions and completing policy agendas and it can have a very negative effect on your staff and leadership teams.
The good news is that most organizations do not need a brand-new process for holding meetings—they just need to be more disciplined with the tools they already have. For City Managers and Assistant City Managers, that often means helping the meeting’s Chair—frequently the Mayor—lead with more structure, consistency, and confidence.
In this blog post, we’ve identified some tactics that can help a meeting Chair get the room back on track.
Set Expectations
A simple opening can help get everyone on the same page at the outset. It’s an opportunity to establish structure and agree on ground rules without seeming rigid.
At the start of a meeting or a difficult item, the chair can briefly set expectations around time, speaking order, and the need to move toward action. It can also be an opportunity to remind participants of conduct agreements, rules of order, and any other shared understandings among participants.
Example:
“Before we get started, I want to outline how we will conduct our meeting to ensure we move through our items efficiently and make clear, timely decisions. I’m going to keep us focused on the items listed in the agenda. We’ll hear the presentation, take comments, and then go to council discussion. I’ll make sure everyone has a chance to speak before we circle back for second comments.”
Setting clear expectations in this way helps to get meetings started strong and establish decorum for the meeting.
Manage Meeting Time
When a meeting goes off-track, it becomes much more challenging to address all of the items on the agenda. It’s the Chair’s role to keep the discussion focused and keep things moving.
Sometimes, a particularly passionate participant can dominate the conversation if given the chance. Similarly, topics that are controversial or contentious can take up time that is needed to discuss topics that are less exciting but still important.
There are a few ways that a Chair can keep conversation focused and moving forward without silencing participants or rushing past conflict. Here are a few lines you can keep in your back pocket to overcome potential snags:
To stop repetition:
“I believe we’ve heard this point clearly. Please keep comments to new information only.”
To redirect wandering or irrelevant comments:
“Let’s bring comments back to the motion before us.”
To signal that the discussion has run its course:
“We’ve heard a full range of perspectives. I’m going to move us toward a decision and call for a vote.”
Leverage Procedural Tools
Rules of order offer a shared framework that meeting participants can rely on to maintain effective and efficient meeting decorum. There are several rules of order that local governments typically utilize:
- Robert’s Rules of Order is the best-known and most comprehensive parliamentary structure and is widely used across associations, boards, and local governments.
- Rosenberg’s Rules of Order was developed as a simpler approach for public bodies and is specifically framed around the realities of state and local government meetings. We often hear agencies moving from Robert’s Rules to Rosenberg as these rules are more concise.
- Sakai Freeman-style model rules are often valued because they are more explicit and give the Chair clearer authority to manage time and debate.
No matter which model you use, the important part is remaining consistent and ensuring that all participants agree on the framework, which can be undertaken during strategic plan meetings or when policy documents are being reviewed. This agreement can be a baseline to help quickly quell contentious debate or move conversations beyond roadblocks.
Calling for a motion is a key element of many rules of order and it signals that the discussion portion has ended and moves the conversation towards action. Similarly, some rules of order feature a speaker queue or other means of controlling the flow of debate. Understanding your organization’s rules of order provides essential tools for Chairs to keep meetings in hand.
Example:
“We’re at a decision point. Do I have a motion?”
Bring In External Support
Some situations benefit from outside support. When meetings are consistently contentious, repetitive, or difficult to move forward—or when the topic is especially sensitive—an external facilitator can help create the structure the group is struggling to maintain on its own.
MRG works with public sector leaders on facilitation, governance support, and related advisory services designed to help meetings stay focused, balanced, and productive. We also facilitate executive retreats and other high-value meeting types where these high-level expectations and conversations can take place.
If your organization is working through persistent meeting challenges or a particularly high-stakes discussion, MRG can help.