Martha's Rules

Martha's Rules is a simple parliamentary procedure which originated in the 1970s at a housing cooperative in Madison, Wisconsin.^[1] Martha's was at the time the name of a house for students and low-income people in the Madison Community Cooperative.

The initial version was a paper titled "Suggestions for Harmonious Meetings".^[1] The Madison Community Cooperative also has a more complicated recent published version for its own use.^[2]^[3]

Generally the process is:^[1]^[4]

Proposals are drafted before the meeting in a standard format, distributed to participants and read before the meeting.
Proponents introduce the proposal.
A sense of the group is taken with thumbs up as "like", thumbs down representing "uncomfortable", and thumbs to the side representing "could live with".
The sense determines whether a formal vote happens immediately (mostly likes), the proposal is sent back to be reworked (uncomfortable), or if it's discussed for 10 minutes (some uncomfortable).
The majority can decide to overrule the objections of the minority.

References

1 2 3 Andrea Drennen (April 17, 2015). "Is Robert's Rules too Restrictive? Consider Martha's Rules of Order for Meetings". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08.
↑ Madison Community Cooperative (July 19, 2014). "Board, Committee, and GMM Meeting Process". Archived from the original on 2017-11-08.
↑ Madison Community Cooperative: Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Policy Manual (see policies 1 and 2)
↑ Martha’s Rules: Advancing collective-decision making in nonprofits

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[topsoft-1] 1 2 3 Andrea Drennen (April 17, 2015). "Is Robert's Rules too Restrictive? Consider Martha's Rules of Order for Meetings". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08.

[2] Madison Community Cooperative (July 19, 2014). "Board, Committee, and GMM Meeting Process". Archived from the original on 2017-11-08.

[3] Madison Community Cooperative: Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Policy Manual (see policies 1 and 2)

[4] Martha’s Rules: Advancing collective-decision making in nonprofits

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Parliamentary authorities	Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC or Sturgis) Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure Riddick's Rules of Procedure Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice Jefferson's Manual Lex Parliamentaria Odgers' Australian Senate Practice House of Representatives Practice Bourinot's Rules of Order Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms Morin code ABC of Chairmanship Martha's Rules Atwood's Rules for Meetings
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References