Unit 2 Meetings

What will you learn? 1) Write notices of meeting with grammatically correct sentences and accurate format. 2) Participate actively in meetings using appropriate language functions. 3) Produce minutes of meeting based on the meeting conducted.

Points to ponder
What were the topics of the meeting you have

attended? Who were involved in the meeting? How were the members called to attend the meeting? What were the procedures involved in the meeting? Was the meeting formal or informal?

Introduction
What is a meeting?

- Meeting is defined as any kind of purposeful

coming together of people to carry out the business of the company such as communication, planning, setting policy, making decisions or motivating the work force. - We meet because people holding different jobs have to cooperate to get specific things done.

Types of meetings
- In general there are TWO types of meetings

Formal meetings
Informal meetings
Formal Annual General Meetings Committee meetings Informal Brainstorming session Discussion Dialogues

Purposes and objectives

Purpose: the reason for the meeting Objective: main goal or what should be accomplished

at the end of the meeting.

To have an effective meeting, the person who calls for

the meeting should have a clear purpose and objectives.

The purpose of the meeting would normally be:

- to disseminate information - to announce about plans and programmes - to introduce new members of the staff

Meeting components
1. Planning

5. Participants

2. Notice

4. Minutes

3. Agenda

Notice of a meeting
The purpose of a notice is to inform members

about a meeting. It should reach members a few days before the day of the meeting.
A notice should include: 1) date, time and venue of meeting 2) purpose of meeting 3) meeting agenda 4) time limit for each agenda 5) people who will speak or present reports 6) minutes of the previous meeting (attached)

Meeting agenda
1) Chairmans opening address 2)Confirmation of minutes of the previous meeting 3) Matters arising 4) Presentation of working papers/purpose

5) Other matters 6) Closing address

Minutes of a meeting
The minutes should record: names of the members present and should be arranged according to seniority important matters discussed in the meeting decisions made every item discussed and recorded and should be followed by notes indicating any further action required or for information only
Format of minutes of a meeting

Members or participants
All meetings must have a chairperson, a

secretary or note-taker, also the other committee members of the meeting. Position Role
Chairperson should discuss with the secretary before sending the notice of meeting prepare the agenda

Secretary

Prepare notice for the meeting needs to pay attention during the meeting to take down important points prepare the minutes of meeting have direct responsibility or authority over the topic of discussion. needs to go straight to the point of whatever he wants to say. needs to listen actively and gives feedback when required.

Members

Preparing for a meeting

You need to: have a clear purpose of conducting meeting. determine if a different activity could be used besides

a meeting. (maybe phone calls, e-mails would have worked better rather than having meetings). know what you want to accomplish by the meeting. estimate the length (time) of the meeting. create an agenda that is carefully scripted. deliver agenda in advance so that the members have time to plan and prepare for the meeting. make every meeting a learning event (so that the members could see the importance of attending the meeting). use a variety of tools and activities to make the meeting productive and interesting.

Preparing a meeting (for members)

Know the purpose of the meeting

Gather data
Know the agenda of the meeting Arrive on time and prepare to wait till the meeting

is over

Setting up the meeting place

Select a physical

setting that is comfortable, big enough, and will serve the purpose. A warm and attractive atmosphere Appropriate refreshments should be provided Appropriate visual aids and supporting materials.

Tasks in starting a meeting

1) Welcome the members
After everyone has assembled and the meeting is

about to start, the first thing that the chairperson should do is to greet and welcome the members to the meeting.
For example:

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome. Im glad you all could make it.

Tasks in starting a meeting

2) Ask for apologies
After greeting the members, the chairman may ask if

there are any apologies for absence, or may give the names of those who have notified the chairperson or the secretary before the meeting that they are unable to attend

Tasks in starting a meeting

3) Confirm the minutes
The chairperson then invites the members to read through the

minutes of the previous meeting (which have been distributed to them prior to the meeting). When everyone has finished, the chairperson asks someone from the group to propose the minutes be confirmed. The chairperson could ask: e.g. Can I have someone to propose that the minutes be confirmed?
In a meeting where everyone knows everyone elses name,

simply saying yes, I will or raising ones hand is sufficient. However, in a large meeting, it is advisable that the proposer should introduce him/herself: I, ___ (state your name), propose/move that the minutes be

Conducting the meeting

It is the chairpersons responsibility to ensure

that everyone has a chance to participate. During the meeting, the chairperson should encourage the members to express their opinions by using expression such as:
What is your opinion about / on that? What do you think of that idea? Should we..? Why do you think we should? Can we have some more comments / suggestions?

Role of a chairperson
ensures all members hear the discussion

let the members present their points and guide

the process acknowledge and reinforce constructive contributions conduct meeting based on the agenda vary the pace; speed up, slow down, or take breaks. summarise the key points from time to time and ask for agreement from the members of the meeting.

Keeping the Meeting Focused and Moving

At the end of the meeting, the chairperson may review the main

decisions once again. He or she may also go around the table, asking each member if he or she has anything to add. Below are the examples of closing by a chairperson:

Closing
Well, that seems to Since there is no I think weve be everything. I think further business, I covered everything. weve had a very declare the meeting Thank you all for productive meeting. closed. Thank you, your contributions. Thank you everyone. everyone. The next Well meet again in The next meeting meeting is two weeks time, will be on Monday, scheduled for same time, and 16 February. Youll Monday, 16 same place. be informed of the February. details later.

Utterances used in a meeting

Procedure 1 Chairpersons Welcome & Opening Address Opening the meeting/ Greeting Calling the meeting to order Utterances Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. Nice to see all of you. Id like to call the meeting to order. The meeting will begin now. Let us begin the meeting As listed in the agenda, the important items for this meeting today are; 1. 2. 3. Id like you to meet Mr. Ehsan from the marketing

Setting the context

Introducing new members

Utterances used in a meeting

Procedure 2 Apologies for Absence Utterances Can we refer to item 3 .. attendance? What is the situation Miss Siti? I propose that the minutes be passed. I second that motion Now coming to item 4 in the agenda .`matters arising`.

3 4

Minutes of the previous meeting Matters Arising

Special Business e.g.: first item of business under special business

a) Introducing a Motion b) Putting the Motion/ Suggestion to a vote c) Accepting the Motion

Lets proceed to the first item of special business for the day, namely the opening of our new branch.
I propose that we purchase the education software developed by Intel. Lets have a show of hands from those who are in favour of the motion proposed. The motion is therefore agreed upon.

Utterances used in a meeting

Procedure 6 Any Other Business Utterances Does anyone have any comments or proposals?

Date, Time & Venue

We will have the next meeting in two weeks time at 10 a.m. Please take note.
Thank you for coming. The meeting is now adjourned. See you in two weeks time.

Closing

More examples
1) Interrupting May I interrupt for a 2) Clarifying Im sorry I didnt quite

moment? Excuse me, but If I may just interrupt you for a moment, I would like to (give my opinion about / touch on that matter / explain why / add something)

follow what you said. Could you explain that please? Are you saying that? Do you mean that? Im sorry, I didnt catch that. Could you please repeat what you just said?

More examples
3) Agreeing and 4) Persuading

disagreeing
I completely / totally / Dont you think

entirely agree (with you). Im in total agreement. I agree. I think you are right. Thats very true.

that? In view of all the facts that we have discussed, would you not agree that? I think we can agree that the best way to proceed would be to

More examples
5) Recommending /

Suggesting / Proposing

I (strongly) suggest /

recommend that I propose that I would like to propose that I wonder if I might suggest that Id like to suggest that After considering the choices, wouldnt you ?