We had kind of the opposite problem when I became President, our meetings had been so informal that the majority of the time people were chit-chatting or not respecting that one someone had the floor. We have had to make meetings more formal and the response has been great. Our monthly meetings are running not over 45 minutes when they use to run for sometimes an hour and a half and we are actually getting things accomplished. People appreciate not having to be at the school so late listening to un-pto-related topics. As far as Robert's Rules, they are a fall back to our by-laws ie; if a subject is not covered in our by-laws we follow Robert's Rules. By making our meetings more formal our new board has earned much respect from the newer members who were not happy being left out of important decisions being made by a select few.

This is my first year on our PTO Exec. Board & I'm moving to Pres. next yr. Looking for ideas to increase meeting attendance & make meetngs fun, but not long. (Although thanks to a relaxed Principal who attends each mtg, & to our current pres., they have been pretty fun this yr.
Also wondering how many people adhere to Robert's Rule of Orders? Is that something determined by your bylaws? (Ours make no mention of it.) Our meetings have become more & more relaxed since I've been attending them (4 yrs). We don't even make motions anymore. I'm not saying it's a bad thing...I'm mostly curious what other groups do in their meetings.
Thanks