Academy/Motions & Parliamentary Procedure
Postponing consideration
The motion that sets a pending question aside until a specific future point, not the one boards reach for by habit.
Postponing consideration means setting a motion aside until a specific future time, a certain meeting or a certain date, not shelving it indefinitely. Robert's Rules calls this the motion to Postpone to a Certain Time. It differs from tabling, which exists for handling something urgent right now, not for delaying a decision you would rather avoid.
What postponing actually means
A motion, a formal proposal that the board take a specific action, does not disappear just because nobody wants to decide it today. When a board postpones consideration, it uses a specific motion, Postpone to a Certain Time, to move that decision to a named future point: a specific date, or a specific future meeting. The motion stays alive. It is simply not decided today.
That is different from voting the motion down, which ends it, and different from withdrawing it, which only the maker can do before a vote. Postponing keeps the item on the board's business, just later.
Why "let's table it" is the wrong move
Boards default to "let's table it" for almost anything they want to put off. Robert's Rules disagrees with that habit. Lay on the Table exists for a narrow purpose: setting a pending question aside temporarily because something more urgent has just come up, not because the board wants more time to think.
"Rarely needed, and hence seldom in order."
Source: Robert's Rules of Order, Official FAQ, The Robert's Rules Association
Using it to defer or kill a motion is a misuse of the motion, even though it is common practice in HOA meetings. If the board genuinely wants more time, the correct tool is Postpone to a Certain Time, naming the date or meeting where the item returns.
How to postpone it correctly
A director moves to postpone the motion to a specific time: "the September meeting," "next Tuesday's continued session," not "later" or "sometime." Naming the return point is what makes it Postpone to a Certain Time rather than an open-ended delay. The vote needed to adopt the postponement depends on which parliamentary authority and bylaws your association has adopted, so check both before assuming a simple majority is enough.
At the appointed time, the motion returns to the floor as business the board already agreed to take up, not as something anyone has to reintroduce from scratch. If your bylaws say nothing about postponement, the board's adopted parliamentary authority, usually Robert's Rules, fills the gap. It never overrides what the bylaws already say.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A director wants to delay a vote on a $40,000 roof contract until quotes arrive at next month's meeting. Which motion is correct?
A director does not want a motion to pass or fail, and hopes it just disappears, so they say "I move to table it." What is wrong with that?
The board wants to defer a decision on hiring a new landscaper, but nobody is ready to name a date yet. What should they do?
Sources
- Robert's Rules of Order, Official FAQ, The Robert's Rules Association
- Parliamentary Procedure: Why Robert's Rules HOA Meetings, CAI / HOAresources
- RONR 12th ed. Quick Reference Guide, The Robert's Rules Association, for the full motions chart
Motions & Parliamentary Procedure
Next time someone says "let's table it," you will know which motion they actually mean. See how the rest of the amendment and postponement family works in Motions to table.
This is general information, not legal advice. Vote thresholds and postponement rules vary by state, by your governing documents, and by the parliamentary authority your board has adopted. Check your bylaws and, where needed, a licensed attorney in your state.