Here's the perfect motion for members who don't want a meeting to drag on and on. It sets the time for adjournment ahead of time. The membership must adjourn at the preset time. The chair is responsible for announcing that the time has come for adjournment, and then she should adjourn the meeting.

There are obvious benefits to having a prearranged time to adjourn. Members don't worry that business will be conducted past a certain time. There's nothing worse than waiting for a certain matter to come up so you can have your say about it, only to have to leave and find out later that it came up after you left.

Preserving a Quorum

It may be easier for your group or organization to preserve a quorum if members know that a meeting will definitely be over at a certain time. Giving notice of the time the meeting will adjourn makes it possible for members to make plans accordingly. Then, too, members don't feel that they are being held hostage by a group that wants to keep everyone talking about a matter until the wee hours.

Making the Motion

To make a motion to fix the time at which to adjourn, a member should say, “I move that the meeting adjourn at [time].” Another member needs to make a motion to second, and because this motion is made when no business is pending, it's an incidental main motion and debate can take place. A majority is needed to adopt and the motion can't be reconsidered.