Transcript CONDUCTING AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

ENG101B: Freshman English Agenda,
meetings, minutes
Objectives
You will learn effective meeting preparation
 You will be able to write agendas
 You will learn to prepare minutes
effectively
 You will learn to describe data and trends
in English

MEETING PREPARATION

Continuous Cycle
 Preparation
 Conducting
a meeting
 Follow-up to meeting
INFORMATION GATHERING





Collect responses from
colleagues
Review correspondence
Review minutes and action
items from previous meeting
Contact staff manager
Prepare agenda
WHY IS AN AGENDA
IMPORTANT??
Prepares
chairman
Prepares attendees
Creates an interest
Clearly defines objectives
Provides a valuable organizational
tool
INFORMATION AGENDA
INCLUDES:
Agenda heading: AGENDA
 Regular items: Meeting date,
time, location, etc.
 Apologies for absence
 Minutes of the last meeting
 Matter arising from the last
minutes
 Old/New Business
 Any other business (AOB)
 Date of next meeting
(See handouts p.1)

Language Focus when writing agendas
Use noun phrases.
Good: Report on balance sheet – by Treasurer
Bad: Treasurer reports on balance sheet

Be specific.
Good: Telephone system/ Memos & notices /
Computer network
Bad: Corporate communication problem

Exercise: Rewrite the following
for the agenda:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Is staff morale going down?
We received a complaint from Campbell
Cleaning Services.
To discuss the renovation proposal
submitted by the Estate Management
Department.
How should we organize a party to celebrate
the company’s 10th anniversary?
DISTRIBUTION OF AGENDAS
 Provide
electronic copy to staff manager
–manager will post to members only
section of home page
–ensure copies are available at the
meeting
COVERAGE OF MEETING
 IF
YOU CANNOT
ATTEND, FIND A
REPLACEMENT
 BRIEF YOUR
REPLACEMENT ON
THE AGENDA
AT THE MEETING
Is the room set properly
 No. of seats
 Seat arrangement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3sLl
Yv0cX0
 Audio visual

Power Position at the meeting table
The power position in a meeting being held
at a rectangular table is always in the
centre facing the door, where the person
can see who is coming and going.
On television clips, you'll notice it's where
the president of the United States sits.
The second most important position is to
.the person's right, the third to his/her left
CONDUCTING A MEETING
 START
ON TIME!!
 Delegate the task of taking minutes if you
haven’t a subcommittee secretary
 Review the agenda/obtain agreement on the
meetings objectives and goals
 Revise agenda if necessary
 Secrets of effective meetings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endsc
reen&NR=1&v=uOLuPfq11YY
ROLE OF THE CHAIRMAN
 Recognize
attendees who wish
to speak
 Remain neutral
 Summarize
discussion and
future action
 Maintain order
Activity

Get into small groups.

Discuss FIVE things that we should avoid
when holding a meeting.

Make a list and share with the class.

Bad practices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTlF7HffzY
0&feature=related
WHY DO WE RUN OUT OF
TIME??
 Repetition
 Wander
from the agenda
 Lengthy discussion of controversial
issues
MEETING TECHNIQUES
 Focus
attention on the agenda
 Set time limits
 Identify different opinions
 Establish task groups/chairmen as
needed
CLOSING A MEETING
 State
conclusions reached
 Summarize assignments
 Give staff manager next
meeting requirements
MINUTES
 Minutes
= “Small”
 During the meeting, jot down quick,
shorthand notes
 After the meeting, re-write the notes as
minutes
 Formal historical record= Used as
evidence in court of law
AFTER THE MEETING

Prepare minutes as soon as possible
after the meeting
– actions and discussions that took place are
fresh in the writer’s mind
– committee members may rely on receipt of
minutes before they implement promised
actions

Send electronic version of minutes to
the staff manager
PREPARING MINUTES
Like an agenda, minutes should carry out the following items:
1.
Organization name
2.
Introduction – nature, date, time and place of the meeting
3.
End matter – signature, name, date, enclosure reference,
initials
In addition, minutes should have:
4. A list of the people present and absent, indicating the
chairperson and the secretary
5. Minute headings
6. Minute paragraphs
7. A closing
Taking the minutes
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uv70
J7DTYs&feature=related
Strategy focus






Take an objective stand
Use reported speech
Use ‘the meeting’, ‘the Committee’, ‘the
Team’, or ‘the Working Party’ to refer to the
group of people at the meeting.
Avoid recording irrelevant talk, jokes, bias
Avoid your own judgement
Write your minute headings based on the
agenda items
Exercise: Compare and comment on the following pairs
and decide which one is more suitable for minutes.
Set 1:
A: The chairman announced joyously the opening of our new
branch office.
B: The chairman announced the opening of our new branch office.
Set 2:
A: The Security Manager was obviously angry with the Chairman
and refused to accept the job. He claimed that he had
insufficient human resources to deal with it.
B: The Security Manager refused to accept the job on the grounds
that human resources were insufficient.
Exercise: For each extracts of a meeting, rewrite it
in reported speech to make it suitable for inclusion
in minutes.
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Chairperson: Miss Lee, could you ring
the moving company and get a quotation for
us please?
The Chairlady: I’m wondering if we can use
the area near Block F as an extension car
park.
Mr Law: Why don’t we organize a contest for
staff to design a logo for the Department?
The Chairperson: Right, we can meet here
again at the same time on Monday, 27th – is
that okay with everyone? Good – that’s
settled then.
Exercise
5. Mr Dickens: Don’t forget that the deadline for
submitting articles for the newsletter is Friday.
6. Bruce: I’ll make arrangements for staff to visit
the new multimedia facilities next week.
7. The Chairman: Have the progress report on
my desk by 5pm tomorrow.
8. Mr Lun: I think we need to buy a new copier.
9. The Chairman: Let’s get started.
10. The Chairman: Well, it’s already 5pm. I think
we’ll stop here.