The introduction of decorum into services was a major improvement made by Reform Judaism. Many of us lose sight of just how bad things had gotten before the Jewish Reformation. The situation had become a disgrace and had degraded the entire worship experience for our ancestors. What was amiss?
Most Jews, including the vast majority of women could not understand what was being said during services that dragged on for hours and hours. Some prayers were repeated, not just once, but seven or eight times in a service. Because of traditional Talmudic laws the synagogues were ice cold in the winter and ovens in the summer. Not only was there no heat or fans, there was a lack of light. To keep warm in frigid northern winters and to stay awake, there was a lot bobbing and weaving No wonder people were coming late, wandering around in the synagogue during prayers to see their friends and business associates, as well as reading of the Torah and Haftorah. The service was in a foreign language and they were bored silly. Men were talking about business and arguing about politics; they discussed sports and women and just about everything but the service. There were many who spent much of their time "in the synagogue" actually on the street chit chatting, drinking, eating, gambling and just hanging out. Families were not allowed to sit together until the Reformation. Women, if they were there at all, tended to be up in the balcony behind a screen which meant it was difficult to hear or see what was going on, so they tended to sit and gossip with their friends for whatever part of the service they attended. Men, in the Ashkanazic syangogues took the biblical commandment literally about keeping certain words as "frontlets between thine eyes" and would take passages sealed in boxes and hang them on their foreheads with leather straps wrapped around their arms and hand. (Some other Jewish groups since about the 9th Century have been treating this passage as obviously just a figure of speech, as Reform Jews do now).
Rabbis during period before the Reformation, had significantly different functions, mostly ruling on religious questions. They generally didn't lead services or give edifying sermons, visit the sick, counsel members of their congregation until the Jewish Reformation. During pre-Reformation services, the men would often be speed mumbling the Hebrew or Aramaic prayers out loud. There was no effort to read in unison so it sounded chaotic. Some synagogues found it to be such a problem to have men competing to chant louder than the cantor and the other men, that fines were imposed for reading louder than the cantor. The best seats was well as honors were auctioned off during the service to the highest bidder, allowing the Jews with the most money the opportunity to show off and buy spotlight rolls in the services.
Services didn't allow musical instruments or even have melodies, just a discordant, sing song chant. There were no choirs to sing spiritual or uplifting music. Hymnals were unknown.

Then came the Jewish Reformation. The revolutionary innovation was translating the service and the Bible into plain English or the language of the congregation so our people could actually understand the services. With the ability to understand came the ability for every Jew to participate in a meaningful way in the service, to pray sincerely and to listen to a holy message that they could comprehend. The congregation had prayer books which they could understand and that empowered them! No longer was the message of the Bible filtered through the few who could translate fluently, so that everyone had to accept their interpretation of the Bible. Until the David Einhorn based Union Prayer Book, there were a lot of choices produced by different authors for congregations to select from. They were able to read parts of the service in unison instead of rushing to get through speed mumbling prayers. The rabbi became involved, giving educational and inspiring sermons that for many were the heart of the service. Rabbis also acted more as ministers to their congregations, comforting the sick and bereaved, counseling the troubled, teaching young and old alike and leading the fight for social justice. Good preachers became famous and drew crowds to hear them. Family seating was introduced. Women were not only allowed to participate, they were actually encouraged, given leadership roles in time including that of rabbi. Instead of cantors chanting, Jews were able to have text read so as to increase the natural emphasis on the content and to have real, major key western style music with instruments and choirs singing hymns with an intelligible message. The entire congregation, could participate in the service for the first time. Honors were no longer auctioned off in services; members were asked to participate who were not rich or powerful. Services were rescheduled so that more could attend and still hold jobs. Attendance increased tremendously. With the short, less repetitious, sabbath services, Jews came at the beginning and left at the end. They no longer wandered around during the services, or wandered in and out, gabbing with their friends and doing business. As a show of respect, people tended to clean up and dress up for services (including making the children dress up). There were no more phylactories being put on and taken off, no more kipas, no more bobbing and weaving Old World davening) during the services.

As time went on, Reform Jews added better sound systems and electric amplification that facilitated the use of a larger variety of instruments. Allowing Jews to ride on the Sabbath, permitted larger, and nicer temples. Now there are big screens projecting a view of the service so that everyone can see like they were on the first row.

Adding decorum made our services more spiritually uplifting, more inspiring, and brought new respect from non-Jews as well as Jews.