That could be a great way to make it clear to everyone what is expected during a meeting. You could remind people of the mission of your group and that everyone must keep in mind that the decisions the group makes must be the ones that will best benefit the majority of your students. Keep it light and not preachy. Let everyone know that you want this year to be a positive experience for everyone because that is the best way to draw in and keep members, make sure you have enough volunteers for events, and most importantly do great things for your school and your children.
At our first meeting this past school year, I came with bylaws in hand and read our mission statement to the members, I then asked them to keep that mission in mind as we move through the school year and make decisions about the budget, fundraisers, programs, and events. I hope that it gave people some pause and reminded them of why we exist. It also let all the new members know what the group's goal are, because sometimes people have different ideas of what a PTO should do for the school, the students, and the parents.
I like the use of "we." The words we use can be a powerful tool. We do have a clear agenda and follow the by-laws/rules of order. The issue we have had is that a few parents get very emotional -- to the point of crying-- over things like halloween parties and 6th grade recognition. They have difficulty separating their personal beliefs/desires from looking at the "whole picture." I was thinking about creating sort of "cheat sheets or reminders" about participating in discussions, etc. Sort of hints w/out being preachy.
Go in with a smile and make sure you say Hi to everyone coming in. If there are new faces, go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves. And take into consideration all new ideas, table them until next meeting if needed.
I always make sure I have an agenda of the topics that need to be reviewed, discussed, and voted on and stick to it as closely as possible. That keeps things on track. Limiting discussion time and directing people back to the topic when they stray is another way to keep the personal "stuff" out of the meeting.
If a program or event doesn't go well there are always those who want to put the blame on someone. I try to use "we" in all discussions so that everyone feels included and no one feels singled out. Our group has done well with looking at the positives and negatives of anything we do and using the attitude that if something didn't go well then we learned from it and we move on because stewing over it doesn't do any good.
Are there specific negative aspects of the meetings? How does everyone respond to new faces and new ideas?
I would look at the by-laws. Follow them and Robert's Rules. Always have an agenda. That helps to keep things on track. Maybe have refreshments to snack on. Good luck.
I am a new PTO president for the coming year and was wondering if anyone had documents or ideas about meeting etiquette. We have had membership problems in the past because people felt like the meetings were too negative and that they felt attacked. I would like to get things off to a positive start in August!
