The DocketAuthor(s): Carter TaylorSource: Social Forces, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Mar., 1928), pp. 415-418Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3004863 .Accessed: 16/06/2014 17:45

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PUBLIC WELFARE AND SOCIAL WORK 415

proach is correct, he talks freely of every- thing, telling much more than there is space to reproduce in the record.

The stories of "Blinky" and "Chops" are episodes in the life of many city boys. Their stories have been verified by the records and case historics of social agencies, by interviews with many per- sons who are familiar with them and with

local conditions. A somewhat extended field-study has revealed so many similar situations that one is led to believe that Blinky and Chops gave a trustworthy pic- ture of a considerable area of the boys' world. It shows many aspects of boy life revealed in other stories told independ- ently by other boys under similar con- ditions.

THE DOCKET CARTER TAYLOR

T HE use of a Docket or Agenda in the conduct of board meetings and com- mitte meetings seems such an ob-

vious and elementary device that I have hesitated to write anything about it. However a number of people have asked for information about its use, and it is evident that this method of making meet- ings more effective and business-like is not so well known as is sometimes supposed.

A Docket is a written exposition of the items which are to be taken up at a meet- ing. A sufficient number of copies is prepared for each person at the meeting to have one. Each subject is set forth in enough detail to make unnecessary an oral presentation. As the business sec- tion of the meeting opens, the docket is read aloud by the president or secretary, and the other members follow him read- ing to themselves their own copy. After the first topic has been read, this is dis- cussed and acted upon. Then item num- ber two is read, and so on.

For example, the docket for a board meeting of an associated charities might start off as follows:

In conducting the meeting from this docket, the chairman would call attention

DOCKET

Board of Trustees Asso. Charities of Tomstown Wednesday, August 17, 192.7.

12:30 P.M.-Hotel Ruth.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Attached hereto are minutes of the last meeting of the Board, copies of

which have been mailed all members.-Minutes to be approved.

S. FINANCIAL AND STATISTICAL REPORT: The monthly financial and statistical report is attached. Attention is invited to three points: (i) A slight savings has accumulated due to the release of a staff worker whose place has not been filled; (X) the number of children in summer camp is lo per cent larger th an last year; (3) the number of families under care is larger than is usual for this time of year.-Report to be approved.

3. CHANGE OF CAMPAIGN DATES: Following the request of the Board of Trustees, the Executive Com- mittee has studied the question of changing the annual campaign dates from April to November, and reports the following conclusions:

(i) Of 5o merchants who were interviewed nearly all were of the opinion that from a business stand- point a fall campaign was preferable.

(2) Of 400 questionnaires returned by contributors, 8o per cent recommended the fall campaign. (3) A study of the timing of other campaigns

indicates that the latter part of October is perhaps the best date for our campaign. This would enable our campaign to be out of the way before the publicity is started for the Red Cross Roll Call and the T.B. Seal Sale. The Chamber of Commerce Endorsement Committee has tentatively agreed to approve this date for our campaign in event it should be agreed to by the Board.

SUGGESTED RESOLUTION: That the Board of Trus- tees sets October 24th to zgth as the campaign date for this year

4. AND So ON:

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4I6 SOCIAL FORCES

to Item No. i and remark that copies of the minutes had been mailed to all members with their notice of today's meeting, and that if there were no objec- tions the minutes would stand approved as written.

He would then read Item No. 2. and sug- gest that the members turn to the financial and statistical report which was attached to the docket. Here the executive secre- tary would probably be asked some ques- tions about the report. After everyone was satisfied that they understood the report, a board-member would either move that the report be approved or the chair- man would ask for such a motion or simply state that if there were no objections it would stand approved.

After this was disposed of, he would read Item No. 3, relative to changing the campaign date. After this had been read, the chairman would probably ask if any members of the executive committee wished to make a statement. Or if he himself were chairman of the executive committee he might make a supplemen- tary statement about the study which his committee had made. Then some member of the board would be likely to ask a ques- tion, and a general discussion would follow. When the subject had been amply discussed, some member would offer a motion. Very often the "Suggested Mo- tion" included in the docket is altered or an entirely different wording or purpose is substituted by the board member who makes the motion, such action following naturally from the direction which the discussion has taken. It is always under- stood by the board that the "Suggested Motion" in the docket is simply for the purpose of providing a tangible sugges- tion about which discussion can be cen- tered; it in no sense implies a dictation to the board as to the ultimate action which it should take.

After this item is disposed of, the chair- man would pass on to Item No. 4, and so on through the rest of the meeting.

The general plan of the docket calls for constructing each item along the following lines:

i. A clear concise statement of the subject or situation which is to be discussed or acted upon.

i. A brief presentation of any amplifyng in- formation which is necessary for a complete understanding and which it is not desired to present orally.

3. A statement of any conclusions which have been reached by any previous committee (Executive Committee, Finance Committee, etc.)

4. Suggested action, usually in the form of a recommended motion or resolution. This gives the board something tangible and definite to discuss, and helps to keep atten- tion focused on the main issue.

The general "Tone" of the docket for a board meeting should be as if one were saying orally, "Gentlemen, here is the situation, and here is the action which it is suggested the board might take. As you can see, the matter has been thought through to some extent before being brought before the board of trustees, and we are now ready for the board to discuss the subject and take action."

There are several advantages of using a docket, and there are some disadvantages. Some of the advantages are:

i. The fact that each member of the board has a copy of the docket before him, makes it more probable that the entire board will comprehend each problem dis- cussed and that they will all understand it alike.

2. It expedites business by helping to keep attention focused on the business of the meeting. It helps to hold atten- tion on the main items to be discussed thus discouraging ramifications and un-

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PUBLIC WELFARE AND SOCIAL WORK 4I7

related digressions. It makes it less neces- sary to review what is going on when late members arrive.

3. It gives the presiding officer an easy method of presenting clearly the subjects which are to be discussed. It makes it easier for him to present all matters im- personally. It makes it unnecessary for the Executive Secretary to do most of the talking at a board meeting, as sometimes happens.

4. It furnishes the executive an accur- ate record of exactly how each subject was presented to the board. This is some- times useful, as in cases where the execu- tive is directly or indirectly accused of hav- ing presented some subject to the board in a biased or unfair manner. It makes it easier to prepare minutes of the meeting.

5. It helps the executive to make sure that he has thought each topic through adequately before presenting it to the board.

It has been asked whether the use of the docket tended to inhibit free discus- sion at a board meeting. There is no reason why it should, if handled under- standingly. In fact, having a complete statement of each item of business in the hands of each member is often conducive to freer discussion because the individual member can read and reread the statement to himself and formulate his own ideas easier than from an oral statement. One of the advantages of having each state- ment on the docket end up with a sug- gested resolution is that it gives the board members something definite upon which to focus their thinking. The result of the use of the docket seems to be the en- couragement of discussion rather than its suppression. This may be simply a matter of educating the board to understand that because a topic is mimeographed oin the docket docs niot imply that it is all settled.

The question is also asked whether the preparation of a docket takes too much of an executive's time. Of course, no meeting that is worth holding can be properly planned without spending some time and thought upon it. Generally speaking, the preparation of a docket should not take much more time than preparing for an oral presentation of the same items. It is a good plan for the executive to have a folder in his desk drawer marked "Next Board Meeting," and to dictate items for the docket as they come up throughout the month. (Although few executives really live up to this ideal, nearly everyone agrees that it is a good plan!)

Another question asked is whether a written docket of this sort makes the board meeting too stiff and formal. Again, this depends entirely upon how it is handled. Some of the most "un-stiff" "'un-formal" meetings I have ever at- tended were conducted with a mimeo- graphed docket at each member's place. There is really no reason why a docket should contribute to the "stiffness" of a meeting. It could be made to have the contrary effect. After all, it simply means that the items to be discussed are read from a paper instead of being presented orally.

The same general principles which apply to using a docket for a board meeting also hold good for other meetings except that the tone and makeup of the docket will differ.

For example, the items of a docket for an executive committee meeting would be prepared in the same "Tone" as if you were saying orally, "Gentlemen, there is a problem on which I need your help and advice. Here are the facts. Would you recommend that we do this, or this?"

In preparing the items for such a docket we would be a little more informal than

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4I8 SOCIAL FORCES

in the preparation of topics for the board meeting; we would show both sides of a problem, the good points and the bad points of a situation, or both sides of a controversial question. And each item might well be concluded with one or two pointed questions,-the questions which we wanted the Executive Committee to answer.

The following extract from an Executive Committee docket illustrates how the docket of an executive committee differs from that of a board meeting:

If the executive committee is composed of as many as eight or ten members, and a luncheon meeting is the usual procedure, a docket could probably be used advan- tageously. Even in this case there may be some matters which the Executive will not wish to include in the docket, but will prefer to bring up informally at the meet- ing. If the executive committee is only a small group of three or four people and meets in a very informal way, the use of a written docket would probably be out of place.

Some business firms use a rather com- plete agenda or docket for conducting meetings of the board of directors, and also for other types of meetings. There is no doubt that many social agencies are also using the plan, or some modification of it, to good advantage. What works well with one group will not work with another. After all, it is up to the agency executive to decide what method best suits his own situation.

DOCKET

Executive Committee Wednesday August 6, 1927 Asso. Charities of Tomstown

I1:30 P.M.-Hotel Ruth.

I.

2..

3-

4. CONTROVERSY WITH THE EVENING LEADER: On August Ist, the Evening Leader requested exact information on the salary paid all employees of the Associated Charities. The Executive declined to furnish this information. For the past five days the Leader has carried daily in its "Voice of the People" section one or two letter signed "Interested Citizcn" inquiring as to the amount of "overhead" of this organization, and asking about the salary paid the executive and other workers.

As the committee knows, the present relationship between the Editor and your Executive make it uniwise for the Executive to talk to the Editor per- sonally on this subject.

Should the Leader's attitude be ignored? Should we answer the letters appearing in the paper? Would it be good policy for some member of the

Executive Committee to have a talk with the editor?

TOWN AND VILLAGE ZONING

A pamphlet printed by the Niagara Frontier Planning Board (Tonawanda, N. Y. 19X7) under the title of this note, presents in I4 pages a review of the legislation of the state empowering towns and villages to adopt plans for the regulation of their future growth and development along lines which will promote their general welfare. Desirability of zoning restrictions is out- lined, the preliminary procedure described and a suggested model zoning ordinance is given.

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Article Contentsp. 415p. 416p. 417p. 418

Issue Table of ContentsSocial Forces, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Mar., 1928), pp. 331-510Organic Plasticity versus Organic Response [pp. 331-344]Lewis Henry Morgan: American Ethnologist [pp. 344-357]Development in the Theory of the Social Personality [pp. 357-367]Stepbrothers: A Study of Prejudice and Convention [pp. 368-375]A New Definition of Social Institutions [pp. 375-377]Teaching and Research in the Social SciencesNotes on Two Multiple-Variable Spot Maps [pp. 378-382]Journalology, the New Science [pp. 382-385]The Concept of Variable Checks in Population Theory [pp. 386-388]The Concept of Public Opinion in the Social Sciences [pp. 389-396]An Experiment in Integration [pp. 397-399]

Public Welfare and Social WorkAn Adventure in County Public Care of Children [pp. 400-408]Getting at the Boy Himself: Through the Personal Interview [pp. 408-415]The Docket [pp. 415-418]

The Community and NeighborhoodNational Agencies and Small City Chests [pp. 419-425]The Concept of Personal Ecology [pp. 426-429]A Study of Chicago Settlements and Their Districts [pp. 430-437]

Race, Cultural Groups, Social DifferentiationThe New Negro Hokum [pp. 438-445]A Stock-Taking Conference on the Negro [pp. 445-447]A Notable Study of Negro Folk-Music [pp. 447]

Government, Politics, CitizenshipA Survey of Virginia State and County Governments [pp. 448-452]Campaign Expenditures and Election Results [pp. 452-457]

Social Industrial RelationshipsIndustrial Development and Population Growth [pp. 458-467]The Occupational Attitudes and Choices of a Group of College Men. Part II [pp. 467-473]

Library and WorkshopTwo New General Text Books [pp. 474-477]Science and Human Development [pp. 477-479]A Sociologist Looks at Life [pp. 479-480]Review: untitled [pp. 480-483]Thought and Social Technology [pp. 483-485]Studying the Family [pp. 485-486]The World War and International Law [pp. 487-489]Review: untitled [pp. 489]Review: untitled [pp. 489-490]Review: untitled [pp. 490-492]Review: untitled [pp. 492-493]Religion and Psychology [pp. 493-494]Review: untitled [pp. 494-495]Review: untitled [pp. 495-497]Review: untitled [pp. 497-498]Review: untitled [pp. 498-499]Review: untitled [pp. 499-500]Book Notes and Lists [pp. 501-510]