Once the team arrives at the conference, gets checked in, and if necessary opens its rooms, delegates are sent to find their committee rooms. Once found, delegates have until the first tap of the gavel to walk around, introduce themselves to fellow delegates or just relax. After the gavel though, the conference starts in earnest. The first order of business is the roll call, where delegates state their status as either present, not present, or present and voting. Although in larger sessions roll calls can take a while making a good first impression is always worth doing.

For most conferences, delegates are presented with three topics to discuss during their committees proceedings. The order of these topics, however, is not set, and delegates must first vote on which order they wish to engage on the topics. While this might seem trivial, most conferences only have enough time for one or two topics. It thus becomes important to lobby to ensure that those topics near and dear to your represented countries topics are heard first. Setting the agenda is also the first time that delegates are permitted to air their views in formal session.

After the agenda has been established, the committee chair will call open what is known as the speakers list. This list serves to carve out time for delegates to make speeches to the body as a whole. During a speakers time, other committee members are expected to be attentive, and to consider points on which to agree or disagaree with the speaker. Frequently after speaking, the dais will permit other members the opportunity to make short comments on the speeches, allowing for impassioned debates.

Once the committee has had the chance to hear from a couple of speakers, the committee will break into a caucus. Delegates are expected to debate, drum up support, and if necessary, derail the opposition. For varietys sake, the dais will periodically elect to return to the speakers list before reverting to caucusing. It is during this time that the vast majority of work is done, and that staff decide awards.

Having had the opportunity to exchange views, delegates are then expected to write draft resolutions. These resolutions represent what actions the committee wishes the United Nations to take and which policies to pursue. Resolutions can vary greatly in length, from as little as a few paragraphs to more than twenty pages. As a general rule, staff members award points to those delegates who are willing to check their egos at the door and work with those delegates professing similar views. That being said, if resolutions differ, debate is expected.

Finally, once draft resolutions have been accepted by the dais, it is time to vote. During this time, the doors to the committee are barred, and all non-delegates are asked to leave the room. Delegates then cast their votes on the various resolutions before the committee. After voting ends, the committee moves onto the next topic and repeats the above process until no more topics remain.