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Managing Meetings

Terms to Remember (15)

Nouns and noun-phrases: agenda, attendee, colleague, majority, minutes, questionnaire, survey

Adjectives: efficient, inspiring, relevant

Verbs and verb-phrases: (to) attend, (to) clarify, (to) contribute, (to) negotiate, (to) prioritise

Meetings are essential for business; team working and getting things done; they are necessary in establishing relations for future business, and in negotiating deals. You need to meet and get to know the people you will be doing business with, especially to observe foreign customs, attitudes, and behaviors. If you are in sales, meetings are most often the most productive way to make those sales, or at least to get your foot in the door (make some progress). But done badly, they can feel like a waste of time and energy. A European survey found that the typical staff member spends 187 hours a year in meetings. The report suggested that 56 per cent of those meetings were considered unproductive. In a survey of office workers across the UK, it was found that each employee cost their company an average of £38.50 for every meeting they attended. So how can we have more efficient and even inspiring meetings? Here are six tips.

1. Set a clear agenda. If you have a long list of bullet points, consider prioritising the items and breaking each topic down into its key issues. Indicate on your agenda how much time you’ll be spending on each topic, who will be presenting it and whether a decision or some kind of solution will be needed.

2. Review the attendee list. When we are busy, the last thing we need is an invitation to a meeting we don’t really need to attend. So, consider carefully who needs to be there. Invite someone to a meeting if:

− the points on the agenda are relevant and the decisions will affect them;

− they have expertise to contribute;

− they have the authority to make the decisions required.

3. Keep the meeting focused on the agenda. Politely redirect participants back to it if you find that they have gone off-topic.

4. Encourage participation. The most vocal participants might not be the ones with the best ideas. Give everyone a chance to speak and encourage participation from quieter colleagues. Also, be sensitive to underlying issues and emotions and help the group deal with conflict in a productive way. 5. Clarify, check and record. Summarise each time a point is made, check that the participants agree and ensure that decisions are made. Ask someone to take the minutes of what is being discussed. 6. End the meeting on time. Meetings that don’t end on time can leave participants feeling tired, frustrated and stressed. If we all make an effort to make every meeting we attend an effective one, meetings can help us communicate well and be part of a productive team.

Tasks and Exercises

1. Use the verbs from the following list to complete the sentences: attend(ed), clarify(ied), contribute(d), negotiate(d), prioritise(d) 1) Countries are showing reluctance to... environmental projects in their loan requests. 2) He... to the development of several products. 3) Just for the historical record, I want to... something here. 4) The department plans to... with the FOP that they expand the kinds of records that live in an officer’s file. 5) When Unicef held a consultation workshop in East Asia, Zeng... as a speaker.

Translate the following dialogues:

3. Role play the meeting:   Imagine you work for a toy manufacturing company. You attend a meeting to discuss poor sales performance. Make a group and choose the person to chair the meeting. Factors affecting sales: - Your biggest competitor has launched an advertising campaign. - There are safety worries over your latest child's doll. - There were problems at the distribution centre. - New export taxes are putting off overseas buyers.

4. Fill in the gaps:

5. Translate the following memo: