WebinarMeeting in English

Session 1Setting things up

SUMMARY

•Arranging a time and place to meet

•Dealing with last minute changes

•Language for organizing meetings

•English used for describing meetings, participants and roles

Meetings..meetings...meetings

an occasion when people come together intentionally or not intentionally

We're having a meeting on Thursday to discuss the problem.

I'm afraid she's in a meeting - I'll ask her to call you back later.

a group of people who have met for a particular purpose

The meeting wants to look at the proposal again.

Meetings

“Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.”John Kenneth Galbraith

“You can either work or meet. You can’t do both at the same time.”Peter Drucker

“A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and

hours wasted.”James T. Kirk

Opinions

There are only three good reasons for holding a meeting

-brainstorming-delivering information-gathering information

Ask yourself ‘why am I having this meeting and what do I want to accomplish?’

Poorly organised meetings waste people’s time.

Poorly organised meetings only serve to de-motivate people.

The Language of Meetings

What do these words and phrases mean?

matters arising emergencymonthlychairagendaparticipant itemreach a consensus

Which of the above can go with the word ‘meeting’ to make phrases?

an emergency meetinga monthly meetingchair a meeting

What makes meetings effective?

Prepare for a Meeting

A written agenda

The objectives are clear to everyone present

Good planning

Good time management

Everyone is given an opportunity to contribute

Effective control from the chairperson

Organizing a meeting

To Do

1. Circulate the agenda2. Set a date and time3. Notify the participants4. Email the minutes of the last meeting5. Book a room for the meeting6. Write the agenda7. Prepare the agenda8. Check people’s availability

Look at this list of things you have to do to organise a meeting.

Arranging a time and a place by email

Dear Paulo, Thank you for the mail. Unfortunately, on Friday it will not be possible for me to attend the meeting we had scheduled.

I have had an unforeseen set of circumstances arise which mean that my attention elsewhere is unavoidable.

Would it be at all possible to rearrange the meeting at your earliest convenience?

With sincerest apologies. Anne Marie

Hi Anne MarieSorry to hear about Friday. Don’t worry. Monday lunch will be fine. I’ve been in touch with Kat and Dimitri and they are fine about coming into my office about nine. We’ll talk about the sales report then. We’ll need about an hour to go over it and then I’ve booked a table at Verdes for lunch.

I’ve attached the agenda.

All the best

Paulo

Arranging a time and a place by telephone

Are you still OK for Monday?

It’s taking place at the 4 Seasons Artista Hotel.

We’ll have to put the meeting off till Wednesday.

We’d better meet on Tuesday instead.

We’re holding the meeting in Manson Suite.

It looks as if Friday is going to be difficult.

We could move it to next week.

Is it possible to change the date?

Room 411 has already been booked out.

Last Minute Changes

We could move it to next week.

Is it possible to change the date?

It’s been moved to the boardroom.

It’s been delayed till 4.45.

We’ll have to postpone the meeting.

We’ll have to cancel the meeting.

We’ll have to call it off.

We could move it to next week.

Is it possible to change the date?

It’s been moved to the boardroom.

It’s been delayed till 4.45.

We’ll have to postpone the meeting.

We’ll have to cancel the meeting.

We’ll have to call it off.

Last Minute

Changes

The Agenda

Review employee benefits overhaul

Compare areas for cuts

Decide course of action and policy

AOB

AgendaManagement Meeting Room 304, Concord Building10 am 22nd November

1. Apologies for absence2. Minutes of the last meeting 3. Matters arising4. Employee benefits and perks5. AOB6. Date for follow up meeting

Managers’ Meeting

To reduce costs in the HR department.

DATE: 15th August 2011PLACE: Boardroom 11th FloorPARTICIPANTS: Sean Martin(IT), Craig Jones (Marketing), Joan Connell (Ops.)

AGENDA

Summary•Benefits •Cuts•Action•Lunch

Quickly review the last meeting

Discuss AOCB

State the objectives of the meeting

Apologize on behalf of those not able to make the meeting

Discuss items from a previous meeting

Welcome the participants

Introduce items and speakers

Sum up the content of a meeting

1. Hi guys. Welcome to the meeting today.2. So we’re just going to go straight in now.3. So just need to set a time for us to come

back...so diaries when everyone is free.4. Does anyone have any matters arising

from the last meeting? 5. So we’ve heard from everyone. What

we’ll do is have a look at each idea. 6. You should have a copy of the minutes of

the last meeting7. Has anyone got any other competent

business? 8. ...and make some apologies for any

absences. 9. The last time we were here we

discussed... 10. I’m glad everyone was able to make it.

The Language of Meetings (2)

Use a PAT approach to meetings. A meeting has to have:

•Purpose•Agenda, •Timeframe

You should be able to define the purpose of the meeting in 1 or 2 sentences at most.Set an agenda. List the items you are going to review/discuss/inspect. Assign a time limit to each agenda item and identify the person responsible to speak or moderate.Set a timeframe; at the very least set a start and end time. I also recommend setting a duration for each item in the agenda.

Meetings need to start on time. Don't wait for stragglers to show up. When someone arrives late, don't go back and review what has already been covered. That just wastes the time of the people who showed up on time for the meeting.If the meeting organizer/sponsor doesn't show up on time, consider the meeting cancelled and go back to work. How long to wait for the organizer to show up varies among companies. Wait no longer than 5 minutes.

Some Tips

Someone, other than the meeting organizer, should keep minutes of the meeting. How detailed these are depends on the nature of what is being discussed and the skill of the available note taker. If you set an agenda in the first place, as you should have, the note taker can use that as an outline. The minutes should record who attended, what was discussed, any agreements that were reached, and any action items that were assigned.Soon after the meeting, usually within 24 hours, the minutes of the meeting should be distributed to all who attended, any invitees who did not attend, and anyone else effected by the discussion. Email is a great vehicle for distributing them. Distributing the minutes informs those not at the meeting of the progress that was made and reminds everyone of their action items.Every meeting should have a "topic keeper". I like to ask for a volunteer at the beginning of the meeting. The topic keeper's job is to interrupt whenever the discussion strays from the topic under discussion. These new topics can either be tabled until later or scheduled for their own meeting. There is a fine line between what are amplifying remarks about the topic under discussion and what is a tangential topic. The meeting organizer can decide.

Some Tips

Right then. I think we should___________. Can you listen please? Right then. ________________, we’re here to _________on the main issues from the last departmental meeting. As you can see, there are _______ on the agenda and we have the room until 4.30... so let’s try and stick to the agenda. Brian could you start by outlining the areas finance __________we look at for cutting to achieve the 15% we agreed needs to implemented. get startedthree itemshave suggested as you all knowstick to the agenda reach a decision Right then. I think we should get started. Can you listen please? Right then. As you all know, we’re here to reach a decision on the main issues from the last departmental meeting. As you can see, there are three items on the agenda and we have the room until 4.30... so let’s try and stick to the agenda. Brian could you start by outlining the areas finance have suggested we look at for cutting to achieve the 15% we agreed needs to implemented.

Let’s get started

Presentations in English

Thanks for your participation!

AOCB?

support@humanenglish.com