UNIT 9.

ORGANIZING A MEETING

 

«THERE ARE THREE THINGS YOU CAN PREDICT IN LIFE:

TAX, DEATH AND MORE MEETINGS».

Michael Moore,

American film-maker and social critic

 

 

Meeting (n) – 1. an occasion when people gather to discuss things and make decisions

to attend a meeting

to hold a meeting

to be in/at a meeting

2. the meeting (formal) all the people who attend a meeting

3. an occasion when two people meet unexpectedly or as planned

4. a competition between two teams or players

5. a meeting of minds- a situation in which people have the same opinions or ideas.

 

A. Word combinations with «meeting».

 

to arrange	a meeting	organize a meeting
to set up
to fix
to run	a meeting	be in charge of a meeting
to chair
to attend	a meeting	go to a meeting
to miss	not to go to a meeting
to postpone	a meeting	change a meeting to a later time
to put back

 

Part 1. TYPES OF MEETING

 

Meetings come in all shapes and sizes. Here are some of them:

 

1. chat (informal discussion) with colleagues at the coffee machine;

2. brainstorming among colleagues: where as many ideas as possible are produced quickly, to be evaluated later;

3. project meeting/team meeting of employees involved in a particular activity;

4. department/departmental meeting;

5. meting with suppliers, for example to negotiate prices for an order;

6. meeting with a customer, for example to discuss a contract;

7. board meeting: an official, formal meeting of a company’s directors;

Unit 9

 

8. AGM: annual general meeting (BrE); annual meeting (AmE) where shareholders discuss the company’s annual report;

9. EDM: extraordinary general meeting – a shareholders’ meeting to discuss important issues such as a proposed merger.

 

Part 2. THE LANGUAGE OF MEETINGS

 

Exercise 1. Words we need to discuss «Meetings». Read the words and their definitions. (If necessary, do the translation).

 

1.	agenda	a list of topics to be discussed
2.	chair	the person in charge of a meeting
3.	propose	to make a suggestion formally
4.	attend	to go to a meeting
5.	item	one topic on the list
6.	vote	a method of making a decision
7.	to send your apologies	to say that you cannot go to a meeting
8.	AOB (any other business)	the last topic on the list
9.	participants	the people at a meeting
10.	second	to officially support a proposal made by a person in a meeting
11.	minutes	an official record of what was said or decided
12.	action points	what needs to be done after the meeting and by whom

 

Exercise 2. Complete the sentences below with an appropriate verb from the box. (If necessary use a dictionary to find out the meaning of the verbs)

 

propose	agree	come	recap
give	add	recommending	explain
moving away	moving on	see	tell
advise	schedule	proceed	comment
losing	review

 

1. «If I can just ______________, the main points so far have been the following:...»

2. Correct me if I’m wrong but are you ______________ that we ______________?

3. Could you ______________ that in a little more detail please?

4. Perhaps I can ask you all to ______________ me your thoughts on that.

5. Can I just ______________ something to the point that’s just been made?

6. I’m afraid that we appear to be ______________ from the main issue.

7. I don’t really ______________ with that last point.

 

Unit 9

 

8. Before we go on to the next point, I think we should ______________ the main ideas that have come to so far.

9. I ______________ that we adjourn the meeting for today.

10. I think we’ve said enough on that point. ______________ to the next item on the agenda.

11. I’m afraid that is not the way I ______________ It at all.

12. Can you ______________ us exactly what that would involve?

13. Well, if no one has anything else to add then I think we can ______________ directly to….

14. Would anyone else like to ______________ on that?

15. I think we’re ______________ track of the main problem here.

16. If I could just ______________ in here for one minute.

17. In other words you’d ______________ us to accept the offer.

18. Why don’t we ______________ the next meeting fir two weeks’ time?

 

Exercise 3. Decide what sentences from B are used to do each of the following things:

1. change to a new subject of discussion

2. show a difference of opinion

3. ask for further information

4. summarize what has been said

5. focus the attention f the meeting

6. paraphrase what someone has said

7. get people to contribute

8. interrupt a speaker

9. make a suggestion

 

Exercise 4. How was the meeting?

Some colleagues are discussing a meeting they have just come out of.

Read the conversation and do the tasks given below.

Anil:	I thought it was very productive.
Juliet:	Well, I thought it was a complete waste of time. I didn’t hear anything I didn’t already know.
Barbara:	I agree with Anil. I felt we had some very useful discussion, and that we reached an agreement that was good for both sides. We certainly covered a lot of ground. It was incredible the number of things we got through.
Juliet:	But there were too many digressions. John was rambling and kept wandering off the point. He just uses meetings as a chance to show off. Just like a lot of men: he just wanted to show how poweful he is and what a good talker he is.
Anil:	But to be fair, the chair really kept things moving: she encouraged people o be brief and to stick to the point and we achieved a lot in a short time. Anyway, I learned a lot and I think they listened to what we had to say.

Unit 9

 

Exercise 5. Read the conversation again, then do guesswork.

guess translation

translation with a dictionary

 

1. productive

2. a waste of time

3. useful discussions

4. to cover a lot of ground

5. to get through

6. many digressions

7. ramble

8. wander off the point

9. to show off

10. to be fair

11. to keep things moving

12. to stick to the point

 

Exercise 6. Replace the numbered expressions with the appropriate forms of the verbs from A (page 7). In some cases more than one verb is possible.

 

The meeting of the Tennis Club Committee was (1) organized for 1^st March, but not everyone could (2) go to it, so it was (3 ) delayed until 31^st March. One committee member said that this was too late, so eventually we (4) moved it to March 15. The chairperson (5) was in charge of it very efficiently, and we decided on some new membership rules. Only one committee member (6) did not go to the meeting.

 

(1)	organized
(2)	go
(3)	delayed
(4)	moved
(5)	was in charge
(6)	did not go

 

Exercise 7. Mach up the phrases you might use in a meeting.

 

	1.	I have received two …	a)	… a copy of the agenda?
	2.	Has everybody received …	b)	… the meeting.
	3.	If we can’t agree, I think we should take …	c)	… apologies for absence.
	4.	It’s getting late, so I propose we close.	d)	… the agenda.
	5.	I think this would be a good time to break	e)	… a vote.
	6.	We have lots to discuss, so let’s stick to …	f)	… for lunch.

Unit 9

 

	7.	It’s half past nine, so I’d better open …	g)	… side-tracked.
	8.	Can we start by approving …	h)	… any other business.
	9.	We seem to have reached …	i)	… handout.
	10.	That’s interesting, but I think we’re getting	j)	… the meeting.
	11.	I’ll just give out this …	k)	… a unanimous decision.
	12.	Before we finish, we need to deal with …	l)	… the minutes of the last meeting?

Part 3. AGENDAS

 

An agenda is a list of items (different things) to talk about at a meeting. Before the meeting someone sends out the agenda (sends copies to everyone attending).

 

Exercise 1. Read the following agenda analysing the structure and paying attention to the explanation of the words marked (*, **, ***)

 

 

AGENDA

 

STAFF MEETING

 

DATE 25 March 20__

TIME

VENUE* Meeting room 3

 

Apologies for absence

Minutes** of the last meeting

1. Car parking

2. Company restaurant

3. Holiday dates

4. AOB***

 

 

*venue (= the place where the meeting will be)

** an official written record of what is discussed or decided at a formal meeting

***any other business (other things that people want to talk about)

 

Exercise 2. Read the agenda below.

What would you like to tell your colleague about the coming meeting?

 

 

Unit 9

 

AGENDA

SENIOR MANAGER’S MEETING

Subject: Changes in working practices

 

DATE 1 July

TIME 11.00am – 12.30pm

VENUE Main Board Room, Head Office

 

1. Bonus scheme

2. Security

3. Open plan office

4. Hot-desking

 

Exercise 3. Read the agenda above again. Then read the conversation at the meeting and answer the questions below.

 

Carl:	Can we move on to the third point on the agenda, the open-plan office? I know there are different opinions about this, so our main purpose will be to explore our views and see if we can reach agreement. Nancy, would you like to begin as I know you’re in favour of the idea.
Nancy:	It’s good for communication, people see each other at the office. It’s, I think, good for team spirit too. I think, there’s more interaction between people but what’s important is productivity, people work harder when they’re on display.
Max:	I really can’t agree with you there. I think that open plan offices there is the problem of privacy.
Carl:	OK, Max, thanks. Stefan, what do you think?
Stefan:	I agree with Max about privacy. What if you want to make a private phone call?
Carl:	We could use meeting rooms.
Stefan:	Meeting rooms? Yes, that’s true I suppose, but…
Max:	I don’t think that works.
Carl:	Let Stefan finish please, Max.
Stefan:	I’m just not happy about this proposal. I hope we’re not going to have a vote about this. I mean, I really think we need a report or some extra survey done on this.
Carl:	You’ve got a point there. Do we agree?
Nancy:	Yes.
Stefan:	OK with me.
Carl:	Right, so Max, would you prepare a short report please? Ask staff how they feel about the open plan idea, and report back to me by, say, August 1st, OK? Now, can we go to the next item on the agenda?

Unit 9

 

Max:	I was shocked to see hot-desk there, I think this is totally ridiculous. This will really upset people. It’s just won’t work.
Carl:	How do you feel about this, Nancy?
Nancy:	I’m pretty sure that hot-desking won’t work unless we go open plan. I think one depends on the other. I don’t think that hot-desking in closed offices works. But I think open plan without hot-desking is OK.
Stefan:	I don’t understand your point. Can you explain it a bit more clearly?

 

Exercise 4. Discuss these questions:

 

1. Do they follow the agenda of the meeting?

2. Which points are they discussing?

3. What decision have they reached?

4. What does «hot-desking» mean?

5. What does «open-plan office» mean?

6. What does «closed office» mean?

7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the open plan office?

 

Exercise 5. Check your vocabulary. The following words are all used in the conversation above. Translate them into the Russian language

 

1. reach agreement

2. one depends on the other

3. the open plan office

4. to explore different views

5. to be in favour of something

6. team spirit

7. interaction between people

8. the problem with privacy

9. meeting rooms

10. to have a vote

11. to be totally ridiculous

12. hot-desking

13. to need some extra survey