BUSINESS MEETINGS

BACKGROUND
A business meeting:
● is a gathering of two or more people to discuss ideas, goals and objectives that
concern the workplace
● can be conducted in person at an office or at a different location, or even over
the phone and by video conference.
● takes place with employees, managers, executives, clients, suppliers and
partners, and anyone else related to the organization
● needs to take place when the issue at hand is sg that cannot be properly
communicated over the phone or via email, and requires face-to-face
interaction with one or more people.
● can be formal or informal
● has a convener who calls it and a leader or chairperson who directs it
What are the main reasons for holding a meeting?
 The purpose of a business meeting can be …
● to make important decisions regarding the organization
● to make important announcements
● to resolve conflicts and solve complex problems
● to review company or project progress
● to understand a situation, exchange ideas and experiences
● to review past performance and evaluate it
MEETING
TYPES
INCLUDE

Decision-Making Meetings Problem-Solving Meetings

Idea-Sharing Meetings
 VOCABULARY
Complete the sentences with appropriate words from the list.
• In all formal meetings and most informal meetings, there’s a _________ whose job is
to _________ the business of the meeting and to ensure that the meeting’s objectives
are achieved. agenda
• It’s helpful in both formal and informal meetings to have a(n) _________, listing the casting vote
points that are to be discussed. It’s usual to _________ this in advance so that
chairperson
participants can prepare adequately for the meeting.
• If there are too many _________ on the agenda, it’s inevitable that the meeting will be circulate
over-long and so less effective. conduct
• After formal meetings, the secretary writes up the __________, an official record of the consensus
discussion that has taken place. items
• When decisions must be taken, the chairperson hopes there will be a _________ on minutes
what should be done. Otherwise, a vote must be taken and sometimes the votes for
and against are equal. If this happens, the only way to break the deadlock is for the
chairperson to give his or her _____________.
 VOCABULARY
SOLUTIONS
• In all formal meetings and most informal meetings, there’s a chairperson whose job is
to conduct the business of the meeting and to ensure that the meeting’s objectives
are achieved. agenda
• It’s helpful in both formal and informal meetings to have a(n) agenda, listing the casting vote
points that are to be discussed. It’s usual to circulate this in advance so that
chairperson
participants can prepare adequately for the meeting.
• If there are too many items on the agenda, it’s inevitable that the meeting will be circulate
over-long and so less effective. conduct
• After formal meetings, the secretary writes up the minutes, an official record of the consensus
discussion that has taken place. items
• When decisions must be taken, the chairperson hopes there will be a consensus on minutes
what should be done. Otherwise, a vote must be taken and sometimes the votes for
and against are equal. If this happens, the only way to break the deadlock is for the
chairperson to give his or her casting vote.
 RUNNING A MEETING

Only call a meeting if you or

Time is valuable: it’s vital to ensure the
your colleagues are quite clear
meeting starts and ends on time.
about its purpose.

Meetings called on a In order to ensure that the time is used effectively,

routine basis tend to both the organizer and the participants of business
lose their point. meetings need to be actively involved.

When preparing the agenda, decide

A successful meeting leads to an action. how much time you’ll need to spend
on each item.
What makes a meeting successful?
 Effective meetings

This really boils down to three things:

• They achieve the meeting's objective.

• They take up a minimum amount of time.
• They leave participants feeling that a sensible process has been
followed.

If you structure your meeting planning, preparation, execution, and

follow-up around these three basic criteria, the result will be an
effective meeting.
 Successful meetings
Once in the meeting, to ensure maximum satisfaction for everyone, there are
several things you should keep in mind:

• If certain people are dominating the conversation, make a point of asking others
for their ideas.
• At the end of each agenda item, quickly summarize what was said, and ask
people to confirm that that's a fair summary. Then make notes regarding follow-
up.
• Note items that require further discussion.
• Watch body language and make adjustments as necessary.
• Ensure the meeting stays on topic.
• List all tasks that are generated at the meeting. Make a note of who is assigned to
do what, and by when.
• At the close of the meeting, quickly summarize next steps and inform everyone
that you will be sending out a meeting summary.
MEETINGS
Let’s practise 
 Look at this introduction to a meeting.

1. Right … I think we should start now. Robert, Alice … could you …? Robert …? Thanks.
2. OK, so, is everybody here? Who are we waiting for? Hmmm … well, I think we’ll have to make a start without
them. We’ve got a lot to get through this afternoon.
3. Right, well, as you know, the purpose of today’s meeting is to see where we are with the marketing plan, and
to work out what we still need to do before the launch, which is now just six weeks away.
4. By the end of the meeting, we need to have a list of firm action points for the next month. Hopefully we’ll then
need only one more meeting next month to tie up any remaining loose ends.
5. Did everyone get a copy of the agenda I sent round? OK, good.
6. As I say, we’ve got a lot to get through, so please let’s stick to the agenda. I’ve set aside two hours for this
meeting, and we really can’t afford to run over. Ideally, we can cover everything in an hour and a half. Does that
sound reasonable?
7. Ah, Helena, come and take a seat. We started without you.
8. So perhaps we can get the ball rolling by going through the list of action points from the last meeting.
9. Borys, you were going to look into the costs of the various options that came up last time. Could you tell us
what you found out?
 Match the nine steps in the meeting
introduction (1–9) to the descriptions (a–i).

a. Stating the desired outcome.

b. Introducing the first point on the agenda.
c. Getting people’s attention, interrupting small talk
d. Handing over to the first speaker.
e. Dealing with non-attendees.
f. Dealing with a late arrival.
g. Explaining time limits and procedures.
h. Stating the purpose
i. Checking people have seen the agenda.
 DISCUSSION

● What body language do you think the chairwoman used to interrupt

the small talk? Why didn’t she finish her request?
● Why do you think the chairwoman decided not to criticise people for
being late? Do you agree with her decision?
● Why didn’t the chairwoman go through the agenda step-by-step? Do
you agree with her decision?
● Why did the chairwoman set both a maximum time limit and an ideal
time limit?
● Do you think the chairwoman’s language was too idiomatic at times?
 USEFUL LANGUAGE
AT MEETINGS
Match each item on the left with the correct description on the right.

EXPRESSIONS DESCRIPTION
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you. making a suggestion
Could I just come in here? reformulating
In other words … moving to a new point
I absolutely agree. giving an opinion
I think … setting objectives
Let’s recap. asking for an opinion
How about …? interrupting
What do you think …? disagreeing
What we’ve got to do …. summarising
We ought to move on …. agreeing
Listening Activity
 An informal discussion
● The informal discussion you are going to hear takes place in an
advertising agency and concerns Charles Drake, a copywriter
who is to be made redundant.
● Frank Harrison, Account Director, Derek Jordan, Creative
Director, and Jennifer Walton, Personnel Director, are meeting
to decide when, where and how he should be told the news.
● Listen and note what they decide and why.

● Link: https://youtu.be/ryU7ciFM-JE
 Some useful language for
participating in meetings
Expressing reservation

Giving opinion • You have a point, but …

• I’m convinced … • I agree to some extent, but …
strong • I’m sure … • I suppose you’re right, but …
• I have no doubt … • Maybe that’s true, but …
• I think …
neutral • As I see it, …
Checking comprehension/reformulating
• In my opinion, …
• It seems to me … • To put that another way …
tentative • I tend to think … • If I follow you correctly,
• I feel … • So what you’re saying is …
• Does that mean…?
• Are you saying …. ?
 Some useful language for
participating in meetings
Disagreeing
Agreeing
• I totally agree. • I don’t agree with you at all.
• I agree entirely with … • I totally disagree.
strong
• I couldn’t agree more. • You’re quite wrong about that.
• Absolutely!/Precisely!/ • It’s out of the question.
Exactly • Of course not.
• Rubbish!/Nonsense!/No way!
• I agree with you. • I don’t really think so.
neutral
• I think you’re right. • I can’t see that, I’m afraid.
• That’s true. • I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there.
• Mmm, maybe you’re • Mmm, I’m not sure.
tentative
right. • I tend to disagree.
• Perhaps. • Do you really think so?
• I tend to agree. • Is that such a good idea?
• I suppose so.
 Some useful language for
participating in meetings

Making a suggestion
neutral • I suggest (that) …
• I would suggest …
• My suggestion would
be …
• We could …
tentative
• Perhaps we should …
• It might be worth …
• What about …?
• Why don’t we …?
 PITFALLS OF INTERNATIONAL
MEETINGS INCLUDE

• cultural differences → specific cultural needs

• language problems
• listing of names and titles
• the timing of meals and the selection of the menu
Different types
of meetings
Situations
 Look at some problems and decide what kind of meeting is the best way of
dealing with each one? Choose from the following types:
• a one-to-one meeting of two of the people involved
• a meeting of four or five of the people involved
• a meeting of about ten of the people involved
• a meeting of everyone involved
• no meeting: one person should decide what to do and then
inform everyone by phone or by sending out a memo
Situations:
1. A large, international customer continually pays late. Your sales manager and credit controller
have politely and repeatedly complained but this hasn’t made any difference. The time has
come to decide what to do about this.
2. In a small factory the older workers are ignoring safety rules and encouraging the younger ones
to do the same. Some of these rules may be excessively cautious and the older workers’
production rates are very good.
3. In a medium-sized factory, groups of workers operate as teams. One group has been getting
poorer results than the other teams and verbal warnings have had no effect.
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION