OXFORD BUSINESS ENGLISH SKILL S

TEACHER'S BOOK

Jeremy Comfort,

with YORK A SSO CIAT ES

OXFO R D UN IVE RS ITY P R ES S

Oxford University PressGreat Clarendon Street, Oxford on 6n p

Oxford New YorkAthens Auckland Bangkok BogotaBombay Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape TownDar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong KongIstanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur MadrasMadrid Melbourne Mexico City NairobiParis Singapore Taipei Tokyo TorontoWarsaw

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Oxfordand OxJ(Jrd Englishare trade marks of Oxford University Press

ISBN 0 19 4 570 9 1 6

© Oxford University Press 1996

First published 199h

Third impression 1997

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Typeset in ITC Franklin Gothicand Adobe Minion

Printed in Hong Kong

Contents

pageInt roduction 4

1. Whyarewe here? 9

2 Where do we start? 12

3 Where are wegoing? 15

4 Your views co unt 18

5 Keep ing to the point 21

6 What's the idea? 24

7 Making decisio ns 27

8 Wh at's next? 30

Meet ings practice extension activities 33

4 I S T Ro p n :T IO S

Introduction

Introduction to the courseMost learners of Business Engl ish will haw to participate in meeti ngs ofone type o r another. They may have to meet customers, negotiatecontracts with suppliers. discuss work with their colleagues. or even attendlarge internatio nal conferences.In all cases. thei r ability 10 respo nd quicklyand naturally In new ideas will be at J premium. Theywill feel the pressure10 seize the moment to get their ideas across. Their listeningcomprehension skills will be stre tched. and ruan yof thcrn will have to fightthe understandable temp tation to cla m u p and play <1 purely pass ive ro le.Com pe ten ce, an d therefore confidence, 10 pa rticipa te fully in meetingswill co me when they are equipped with a range ofskills and language tha ihelp them to an ticipa te - and to handle effcctively-. many of thedifficulties the}'will face.

l:.]}l-cril't' .\kt',illgs is a practical and access ible co urse spec ifically designedto develop these essential communicat ion an d language skills. It is dividedinto eight units which deal with the major stages ofa meeting, frompreparation through to decision -m aking an d fo llow-up action. However,each unit can abo be used separately to focus o n particular aspects ofchairing o r par ticipating in meetings. The approach ado pted aim s todew lop both co mpete nce and confidence in a variety of meetingsituations. so that by the end of the course learners will have acquiredsufficient expe rience to take pan in most kind s ofmeetin gs.

Course componentsThe course consists.o f four componl'nts: a video, a Student's Book, anaudio casse tte, and this Teacher 's Hook.

The videoThe video is the central component of the course. It conta insapprox ima tely 30 minutes of extracts from profess ional meet ings. Basedaround the ac tivit ies of two co m panies. it illustrat es a range of meet ingco ntexts: decision -making and brain sto rming. internal and external.form aland informal. lightl y und loosely controlled. 'r he video act s as afocus for .111 the act ivit ies contai ned in Ihe Stud ent's Book.

The approach

The Student's BookThe book consis ts of eight units which correspond to those in the video.Each un it is div ided int o th ree sections: Communication skills. Lmgu4Jg£h lOwledgc, and Meetings practice. The Communication skills sectionident ifies and practises key meet ings skills which are illustrated in thevideo an d aims 10 involve the learner in a process of feedback. evaluation,and developmen t. Th e Language knowledge sect ion, supported by theaudio cassette, focuses on and expands the learners' know ledge of keyfun ction al and lexical arC'1S. The M cet illgs practice sect ion gives learners theopportun ity to put both com municat ion skills and langua ge kno wledgein to pract icc using a variety of role-plays and meetin g sim ulations, and todraw on their own ideas and experience.

The aud io cassetteThis consists of approximatel y 50 minutes of add itional extracts frommeetings, and form s the bas is oflisteni ng activitie s in the Lll l1g/mgekrlOwlt'(lgesect io n of the Stud ent 's Book.

The Teacher 's BookThis book provides an int roduct ion to the co urse from the teacher 's poi nto f view, and is inte nded as a guide to help teachers explo it the differentcom pon en ts of the cou rse. It provides suggest ion s for fur ther exploitat ionin the classroom and self-study t ime. and co ntains extra pborocopiablematerials fo r meetings pr act ice,

Using the courseIn each un it, HJji'Cl ivl' Meetillgsfirst illust rates a po or model of meetingspractice ill order to dem onstrate what can go wro ng. and why. The coursethen moves 011 to look at a good model in which the part icipants maxim izethe effect iveness of thei r meeting-The video is cssent ial as the star tingpoi nt for each unit,

This approach is designed to develop learners' abi lities in two main areas ;

Communication skillsThe course develops the ski lls needed for chairing and parti cipa ting inmeeti ngs. These include skills such as ope ning a meeting. controlling thed irection, gett ing your views across, active listen ing, dealing withdomin ant speakers. and making decision s, wh ich are all demonstrated onthe video. These arc then ana lysed and pra ct ised with the support of theStudent's Rook.

Language knowledgeLanguage areas such as linking, int errup ting, askin g ques tions. clarifying,asking for and giving opi nion s, agreeing, and recommending are presentedand practised in the Student's Rook. The audio casset te further illustratesand prac t ises these areas.

INTROnUCTION ')

Methodology

6 INTROD UCTION

The course has been designed with an underlying (011 cept of good pract ice.

PurposeMan y meetings fail or disappoint because the participants are not surewhat is expected of them. Therefore , the first two un its emphasize theimportance of proper preparat ion, ob jective-sett ing, ,HId clari ty ofpurpose. If the se are right, the meet ing has a good chance of success.

ProcedureAnother major cause of frusrration is a lack ofclarity about the t}1)eofmeeting you are hold ing or attending. Does the meet ing need to bechaired? Is it necessary to take minutes? How much tim e do we need (orwant ) to allocate to the meeting! Units 3, z. und Hrows on key areas suchas structuring the meeting, clarifying decision s, and making sure that it isclearly understood wha t follow-up action there should be.

RolesMa ny meetings arc a painfu l experience becau se the y arc badly chaired.because on e of the participants talks too mu ch, or because somebody failsto grasp the point. Units 4, 5, and 6 dea l with such issues and are designedto make sure all the participants are able to contribute to the success of ameeting.

All part s of the course are designed 10 work either as classroom materi al orfor self-study.

In the classroomEach unit takes the learner through the followin g steps (fur ther guidance isgiven in the uni t notes).

ObjectivesThes e clearly identi fy the objectives of each unit in three areas:

Communication skillsLanguage knowledgeMeetings practice.

Int roductionThere are usua llya couple ofquestions which are design ed to get learnersto reflect on their own experience, an d also to anticipate the focus of thematerial which follows.

Communica tion skills

Pre-v iewingBefore watching, always make sure your students are fully aware of whatthey are going to see (the Video Meet ings Co ntex t section pro vides briefin gon the content of each unit ).

VicwirtgThe first time your students watch a sect ion of the video, play the sequenceall the way throu gh. This will give them a chance to adapt to the contentand pace of del ivery. For more detailed anal ysis and que stions, you canthen play shor ter extracts. Occasionally, the fi rst viewin g will be with the

Self-study

Giving feedback

sound down in order to focus on body language. This provides anoppo rtunity to ask your students 10 ant icipate what is being said. Youcanalso me the freeze- frame (pause) facility on the video .11 key mo men ts suchas an in ter ruption or a change ofdirection in the meet ing.

Use the on-screen clock for easy reference to specific sections.

Use the Video Transcript at the back of the Student's Book for moredetailed analysis and practice oflanguage features.

Post-\'it,'witlgTh is is usually a n exercise which encoura ges students I II apply the focus ofthe unit to their own exper ience of meetings.

Language knowledgeThis sectio n is supported by additional extracts from meet ings recorded onthe audio cassette. The Language focus section provides a summary ofkeyfunctions and lexis. Follow-up exercises practi se the language in acontrolled way.Answers to all the exercises can be found in the Answer Keyat the back of the Student's Book.

Meetings practiceThis section provides a variety of role-plays. simulatio ns. and discussionact ivities to put bo th communica tion skills and language knowledge intopract ice. The activities art' for eith er pairs or small groups. A key role forthe teacher during and after these practice sessions will be giving feedback.

The video-based activit ies focusing on communication skills have beendeveloped with the classroom in mind. However, most of the questionshave answers in the Answer Key, and individuals cou ld use the video on aself-access basis. The Language knowledgesectio n can certa inlybe usefullyfollowed on a self-study basis. The Meetingspractice sect ion always involvespair work or group work. although preparation fo r these activities couldalso be done for self-study,

It is vital that you give you r students consistent and coheren t feedback.If you want to focu s on comm unication skills. try to video -record theirmeet ings pract ice activit ies so tha t you can focu s on key aspects ofmeet ings behaviour. Audio recordings are usua lly sufficient for givingfeedback on language use.

Before they start the activity. tell them what you are going 10 focus on - forexample, keep ing to the agenda or controlling the decision-makingprocess. If you have a sufficient number in each gro up. appoin t an observerfrom among the participants. This person should not participate but givefeedback at the end of the activity (the manychecklists included in theStudent's Book are ~'e11 suited to this ). This will develop a keener awarenessamongst the students an d therefore make it more likely that their ownperformance will improve.

I ST RQ UU C T I O S 7

S INTIU)UUCT IO:-.l

When giving feedback yourself. remember to focus on the key areas youhave identified before the meeting. Don't present the students with a longlist of language and communication points with no conned ion to theobjectivesof the lesson. Rememb er to be positive-. pra ise the good pointsfirst. Individual student s should aim to dr aw up action lists of areas whichthey need to improve as preparat ion for their next meeting.

1 Why are we here?

ObjectivesTh e video extrac t in this u ni t shows th e start ofan internal meeti ng whichhas been called sudden ly. It is d esigned to illust ra te so me key features ofeffective meetings- in particular the importance of preparation.

IntroductionYou cou ld widen th is quest ion by asking your students to tell you moreabo ut the meetings th ey attend:

who attends these m eet ings?where are they held ?how often are th ey held ?what is their own ro le?

Pre-viewing

Viewing

2 Ask yo ur students to work in pairs. Get them to come up with five or sixsuccess factors and compare th ese with the checklist on page 9 of theStude nt's Book.

Communication skillsMake sure the following points are clear:

it is an internal meetingit ha s been called suddenlyth ere is no set procedure for such meetings.

2 First check that your students have followed the sense o f the meeting. Th enask th em what was wron g with th is meetin g. Hopefull y.they will ide nt ifylack of preparat ion as th e key fac to r. hut yo u may need to prompt them.Then focus on the mixed expectat ions ofthe participan ts - if neces saryplay the opening seque nce again.

3 Now concent ra te on Ch ris and. usin g your studen ts' own success factors orthe checkl ist. identify what is wrong with his chairi ng . Th is is anopportuni ty to di scuss the role oftbe ch airperson. You will find th at th ereis q uite a wide var iati on in the way thi s role is perceived . In some businesscu ltures. the cha ir is always held by so meone hierarchically super ior; inothers, it is simp ly the role o ffaciliraror. Here it combine s both ro les, b utII nforrunately Ch ris is too d ose to th e problem to ch ai r th is meetin g well.

U N IT ON E 9

Post-viewing

10 USlT OS I:

-t In the good version. Version 2. your students sho uld focus first 0 0 Christo see what he does right. Above all. they should be aware tha t he hasprepared for the meeting and has also made sure that the par ticipants areclear about the objectives.

5 It is important to be aware of the contribution made b)' all the par ticipantsin a successful meeting. Iden tify the roles which have been assigned to Peteand Susan. You could then focus on Ann to see how she per forms better inVersion 2.

b A meeting which sta rts bad ly will often end that way. In the first version, itis likely th at there will he no dear outcome and everybo dy will leave feelingfrust rated or even angry- In the second version. a positive outcome seemsmuch more likely.

7 To accommodate those who have little expe rience of meeti ngs. ask rourclass to work in pairs with a combination ofa more and a less expe rienced..tudcnt in each pair. The)' should be able to think back to the meetingsthey talked about in the introduction phase.

Language knowledgePlay all the extracts on the audio cassette right th rough. See if yourstude nts can idem ify positive and negative attitudes. at least from theintonation . Then play each extract again. picking out key word s andphrases such as wllste oftime. productive. injormat get-toset!Jcrs., goingtllOlIgh the mot;ml5, decisions; hostile. and fTilitful. Ask you r studen ts whatthey themselves think ofmeetings.

1 This exercise practises the language present ed in the Languagefocus sectionand could easily be do ne during self-study time .

3 This exercise also recycles some of the language in the lAngllagefocussection. It introduces th e issue of level of formaHty.This is an area whichso me stude nts may want to spen d more time on. Here you could also askthem to rephrase the expressions to make them less or more formal.

Meetings practiceThe first task is designed to get your students to think d ear ly aboutpurpose. roles. and procedures. The memos they write should clearlyan nou nce the subject of the meeting and indicate what prepara tion thepart icipan ts could do before the meeting.

2 In order to role-play the meetings. }'ou may wish to allow your stude nts tothink about the motivation of the individual participants. Alternat ively,you could simplyallocate roles based on the notes below.

Meeting A (group of4)

Chairperson (perhaps Managing Director )wants to restore the sales figur es of the divisionwants to see the Divis ion Manager an d the Sales Manager working

together to achieve thei r objectives

Andrew Meyer (Divisio n Manager)has recently been promoted from Production Managerthere is evidence 10 suggest th at the limp in sales is en tirely due to Max

Peters laking so me business with himsees it as a priority for the Sales Ma nager to co ncent rate on winni ng

back this business to improve th e sales figures

Alison Hold en (Sales Man ager)W;IS very sorry 10 sec Max Peters leavedoesn't th ink the answer is just (n win back cus tomers from Max

Peters - that 's probably no t realist icth e way forward is to focus the di vision's atten tion on creat ing

new markets

O bserverYour task is to observe th e meeting and tbcn to give feedback. Usc thechecklist un p;lge 9 of th e Student's Book.

Meeting B (group of4)

Personnel Manage rhas called the meet ing to discuss the relocation of th e company with

the staff represen tativesneeds to make sure that all the staff are fully info rmed of th e opt ion s

Staff Representative 1represents the secretarial and ad m inist rative shltT(55 peo ple)already knows tha t ma ny of th em are un happy abo ut this m ovethe co mpany has announced the move without consu ltat io nwan ts to know exactl y what the relo cation package includes in order

to tell the staff

Staff Represent ati ve 2represents junior and midd le ma nagement (35 people)the com pany has announced the move without cons ultatio ncolleagues need 10 know exact ly what is be ing offered before they are

in a position to deci de whether to support th e move or not

Obse rverYour task is to ob serve the me eting and th en to give feedback. Use thechecklist on page 9 of the Student 's Book.

UNIT O :-':E 11

2 Where do we start?

ObjectivesThe video extract fo r th is unit illust rat es a regular inte rnal meeting andconcen trates on the vital stage of open ing 01 meet ing. It reinforces some ofthe points made in Unit 1, espec ially concerning the value of goodpreparat ion.

IntroductionTo war m up for this uni t , d iscuss the various means ofcommunicatinginside a com pany - fo r exam ple. electronic mail , telephone, video­conferencing. meet ings. Do your studen ts feel th ey have 10 atten d toomany meetings? Wha t are the alternatives? What are the advantages andd isadvan tages?

Pre-viewing

Viewing

12 uxrr TWO

2 Here the objective for your stude nts is to prepare for a meeting designed toim prove communication ins ide thei r com pany. Ask them to conside r howthey wo uld o rganize and run such a meeti ng.

Communication skillsThe impor tant poi nts to register here are:

internal meeting, but with participants fro m diffe rent regionsinformat ion exchange is the object ive.

2 This kind of meetin g has 10 be chaired well, other wise there is a danger thatthe participan ts will lose interest and wish they were elsewhere. They needto be-convinced of th e value of the meeting - therefore the purpose- andcertainly the preparation needs to be well thought out. Clearly, in the firstversion Pete hasn' t put enough thoug ht into it. In particu lar, he hasn'tapproached the participants and invo lved them in the plannin g of thisseriesofmeetings.

3 Altho ugh the task here is to put the steps in order, the importa nt poi nt isreally that these steps need to be included in the o peni ng. The class ic modelis to start by welcoming the participants and then int roducing anyo ne ,vhois new. The chairperso n then needs to state the purpose and objectives,define the o utput, out line the agenda, and alloca te responsib ilit ies. Finally,it is often a goo d idea to agree or confirm the timing of the mee ting.

Post-viewing

4 Version 2 demonstrates how the chair person successfully opens themeet ing. Th is is a good oppo rtunity to pau se at key points and ask yourstudents to anticipate what is going to he sa id nex t.

5 Yo u can no w come back to the overa ll organ ization of the meeting. Focuson how Pete has set up a successfulmeeting by talking to the participantsbeforehand . and preparing the key clemen ts in advance.

6 This an o ppo rtunity to practise op ening a meeting, cover ing the im po rtantissues of pu rpose, roles, a nd procedu re. Yo u co uld audio-reco rd yourstudents' open ings and then play them back for analysis and improvement.

Language knowledgeThe ext racts in this listening exercise illustrate a variety of o penings.Facto rs which affect the style and content are how well the participantsknow each other, whether or not the meeting is purely intern al, and so O il.

Play .111 the ext rac ts through o nce before goi ng bac k to repeat each one <Intidiscussing the language used.

2 One very obv ious feature here is the level of formality. Thi s is anoppo rtunit y to discuss some cultural distin ction s such as the use of firstnames and how directthe speakers are.

3 Inton ation is as im po rtant a.~ the ph rases used, so after you r stude nts havetried to complete th e extract, get them to read it o ut lo ud . Pl.1Ythe cassetteand let yo ur students listen to it once all the way through . Then replay it insho rt sect io ns. get ting your students to model their intona tion on therecording .

4 This exercise practises some of the phrases presented in the Language focussect ion. It would be ideal for self-study.

5 Once your students have had sufficient t ime to prepare these, audio-recordthe formal and informal vers ions. Then play them back to focus both onintonation and usc ofapp ropriately formal o r info rmal 1,1nguagc.

Meetings practiceStress the im po rtance of being able to open a mee ting fluently. Divide thegro up into pairs and then assign the first task to one member ofeach pair ;the other shou ld act as an observer.

a After welcoming the parti cipants, some in troduct ions should follow.Then the purpose, agen da, output, and timi ng.

b No for mal int rod uction s, just a reminder of the time and maybe theproced ure for the meet ing .

c The client is the host, so he o r she should introduce him /hersclfbeforeexplain ing the pur pose of the meeting, the agenda. timing, etc .

L' ~ I ' I TWO 13

\..l- u N IT TWO

d Some int roductions between par ticipants who have not met, andtherefore an explanation to newcomers of the purpose, procedu re,and roles during th is meeting.

2 This is principally an oppor tunity for whoever is the project leader (A) topractise getting an init ial project meeting off the ground. However. inallocating roles, you could also assign some characteristics for the otherparticipants. For exam ple:

A (Project Lmder)Confident that he/she has a good team, and that the project will go well.Does not anticipate any problems.

B (Hau lwllrt' l;'llgilleer)Doesn't fed he/she (a n discuss the project until his/her own workload hasbeen discussed. Already work ing on two other projects, and has noavailable time.

C (Software fllginca )He/she feels that there needs to he more user representation on the projectteam if the project is to succeed. Has worked on too many IT projectswhere the upgrade or new system has not been properly accepted by users.

D (lflj(mllatiolll'vfall aga)He/she agrees with the software engineer and would like to see a delay insetting up the project unt il the question of the user interface has beenpro perly discussed.

3 Where are we going?

ObjectivesThe video ext ract illustra tes th e importan ce of keeping a meeting on theright trac k. Th is uni t looks at th e skills ofdeal ing with d igressions , and ofusing appropria te language to lin k the part s o f the meet ing together.

IntroductionTh ere are some m eetings which could he st itled by too rigid an agenda. Forexam ple, th ose design ed to brain sto rm new ideas may benefit fro m a fairlyloose agenda th at allows the parti cipan ts to go off on vario us ta ngents.However. most meeti ngs need an agenda to provide structure and a senseof direct ion .

Communication skillsPre-viewing Th e answer here will p robably reflect th e cu lture of the o rganizat ion whic h

yOUT students work in. It part ly depen ds on whether the chair person is seenas someone h iera rchically su per ior. or as a faci lita tor. It also d epends onwhethe r m eetings are seen prin cip ally as a forum for th e expression ofideas. or as a mean s of co mm itti ng partic ipa nts to decisions.

2 Franco and Pete need frequent reminding o f th e agen da . As is often th ecase with meetings, they have th eir own agendas wh ich they would preferto follo w,

Viewing 3 The first view ing needs to concentrate on the content of the meeting. Yo urstudents need to be aware that cer tai n participant s are wandering off th eagen da.

4 Having established th e fact ofsome deviation from the agenda, ask yourstu dents 10 watch the sequence aga in and identify the moments whenSusan should have bro ught the mee ting back on track.

5 This quest ion brings us buck to Pre-v iewing I. Do your students lindSusa n's style ofchairing too rigid or too relaxed? Does sh e st ifle freeexpression. or allow too m uch waffl ing?

UN IT THREE 15

Post-viewing

16 U N IT THREF

6 This time. watch Version 2 in detail, pausing at key moments for yourstudents to identify the phrases she uses to perform the different functions.

7 The task here relates to project organization. Ifyou feel this is too distantfrom your students' experience. choose an area closer to their knowledgeand experience. For example. marketing people could be asked to fLX anagenda for a market launch meeting. finance managers for a budgetmeeting, personnel people for a recruitment campaign. The task should bedes igned to make the students th ink about connections. and the best ord erin which to take things,

Language knowledgePlay the extract right through, concent rating on the task set. The languageused to open and close differen t points in a meeting is very similar tolinking language in presentations. In fact.anycomrnunication which issequenced in some way benefits from some linkers. A useful analogy is thaiofopening and closing doors; you close the door on one point beforeopening it on the next point, providing a clear demarcation line betweenthe points.

2 Play the cassette again; th is time. stop the tape after each linking phrase toallow time for writing. You could even play it a third time. Slopping the tapebefo re each linker 10 see if your students can anti cipate the expression used.

3 This exercise focuses on using the correct preposition - ofte n the mostdifficult aspect ofusing some of these linking phrases. II could be done forself-study.

4 This is straightforward vocabulary practice of items from the Langl/agefocussection.

5 This offers contextualized practice ofsome of the expressions introducedin the Listeningami wnguagefOCld sections.

6 Further contextualizano n is provided here. Wor king in pairs. ask yourstude nts to take it in turns to pract ise the role of chai rpe rson.

Meetings practiceThi s is an opportunity 10 allocate three or four dear roles to your students:

Chairpersonopen the meeting. keep the meet ing on track, close the meeting

Participant Iintroduce item I

Participant .2in troduce item 2

Obser verobserve and lake notes on the handling of the meeting, and in particularthe use oflinkers.

Give the students time to prepare in the following ways:

Cha irpersonfamiliarize him/herself with the items on the agenda. prepare anapp ropriate openin g (sec Unit 2), prepare linking phrases for directing themeetin g

Parti cipant IprqMre a brief presentation ofthe situation outli ne for item I

Participant 1prepare a brief presen tation of the situa tion outline for item 1

Obse rverdraw up a checklist for monitoring the meeting.

ovrr T HRE E 17

4 Your views count

ObjectivesThi s unit is based on an in fo rm al meeting in a small adve rt ising agen cy. Itaims to develop th e skills of interrupting and mak ing your pointeffect ively.

Introduction

Pre-viewing

Viewing

I X U NIT FOUR

la Th is is an important quest ion . People often arr ive at th e end ofa meeti ngand, when asked why they think one o r more of th e participants didn't sayanyth ing, th ey h JW no idea. Frequently, th is fact sim ply hasn 't registere d.Jnail meetin gs, every part icipant shou ld have th e opportunity tocontribute, and the choice of whether or not to do so.

1b Altho ug h it is th e chairpe rson who tradit ionally is responsible for maki ngsure everybo dy has a chance to cont ribute. the part icipant s need to beconscious o f th eir ow n responsib ilities. Really effect ive meetings dependo n all the par tic ipan ts co mmu nicating with each othe r, and th is involvesbeing awa re o f o ther people and how they are be having.

2 This is an oppo rtunity to discuss aspects of non-lingui stic meeti ngsbehaviou r like body language an d posture, as well as th e role of silence andthe nat ure of turn -taking. H may be particularl y useful to focus on thecross -c ult ural im plications of tbese in relat ion to yo ur stu den ts' own n eed san d experience.

Communication skillsAn im portant point to bear in mi nd here is that all th e participant s find thi ssituat ion stressful.

2 If you are wor king with a large eno ug h gro up, you cou ld ask one or twostudents to wa tch one o f th e characte rs in th e video. Wit h th e sound dow n,they sho uld focus pa rt icu lar ly o n th e bo dy lan gu age o f thi s participant.Following th is ac t ivity, a m ore foc used discu ssion of body language and itsimpact o n meet ings would he useful. A number of factors need to beconsidered:

Post-viewing

the shape of the room and meeting tablethe arrangement of seating (where docs the chairperson sit?)the possibility ofeye contactforward or reclining posturejackets on or offvisual aids (flip cha rts. etc.)fema le versus male bod y languagecultural factors.

In all cases. the key qu estion is whet her the body language of theparticipants enhances or hinders communication. and hme.

3 This time. watch the video with the sound turned up. Focus mainly onZoe's unsuccessful attemp ts 10 inter rupt. what does she '><ly (or not say],and how do her colleagues respond?

4 Ve rsion 2 with the sound down can now be compared with the results ofexercise 2 above. Again, ask the students to watch part icular part icipantsand report on their body language.

5 Version 2 with the sound up can also be compared directlywith Version 1.What dot's Zo e say this tim e. and how do her colleagues respond?

6 Ideally these discu ssion s should be video-recorded so that you can followthe same procedure for feedback as above:

i) watch it with the sou nd down and pick up on the body languageiii watch it with the sound up and focus on interrupting techniques.

Youwill probably need to allow some preparation time for th is.

Language knowledgeIa The first listen ing should con centrate just on under..tanding the gist of the

meeting.

Ib Youcould divide the class into groups ofthree for this task. In each group,allocate on e interruption point per person, and then playthe tape. 'lellthem 10 hold up their hand at the moment the y want to interrupt. Stop thetape and listen to the interruptions. If your students find this task toodifficult , let them follow the Audio Tapescript at th e hack of the Student'sBook.

2 A third listen ing to the tape can concentrate on the language used tointerrupt and to hold the floor, Youcan also discuss how pol ite you need tobe when using these phrases. O bvio usly this depends on the con text - insome internal meetings thelanguage may be very di rect; external meetings.for example with a new customer, may put a premi um IlI1 the use ofdiplomatic language.

USIT FOUR 19

2.0 UN IT fOU R

3 When yo ur studen ts have completed the dialogue, alloca te ro les and askthem to read it out loud . The inton ation will be as im po rtant as the ph rasesthemselves. Then com pare their usc of into natio n with the audio­recording of the dia logue, and USt.' it as a model in the same way as in Unit2, Exercise 3.

.. This exercise would be effective for self-study purposes.

5 This pair wo rk exercise co uld be audio -recorded. Let the students practisefo r a few minutes and then choose on e pair to record the exchange, firstdiplomatically and seco ndly more directly Use the recording to comparethe sa ri of language and intonation used .

6 This exercise also picks up on some of the language presented in theLcmguagefocus section. Again, a recording of the excha nges would be usefulfor wo rk o n fluency and into nation.

Meetings practiceThis activ ity is set up for the students to work in pairs. bu t if yo u areworking with a large group, you could also run it as a more traditionaldebate. Appo int two or th ree stude nts to present ar gum ent s in favour. andtwo or th ree against. They sho uld be given time to prepare and you m.1Yprefer to elect ,1 chairpe rso n to control the debate rather than doing ityourself. Each side will then he given a chance to present their argu ments;the other ream can interr upt and disagree, and you may like to encouragethe rest o f the class (the aud ience) also to interrupt and ma ke points.

2 Per th is activit}'}'ou can eithe r use the topics me ntioned or let the studentschoose their own. The important point is that they present an argument onsomething they feel strongly about. The rest of the group should try tochallenge the argument. Video-recordi ng the di scussion will allow you togive feedback on both body language and spoken language.

5 Keeping to the point

Objectivesln thi s unit th e two co mpanies meet. Th is provides an opportuni ty to foc uson a new di mens ion - na mely effect ive external meetings. As tim e is oftenlimited in th ese kinds ofm eetings, th e skill ofeffect ive listening andqu estioning becomes doubly im po rta nt.

IntroductionTh is question provides an oppo rtun ity to talk abo ut th e typ es ofex lernaImeet ings your studen ts atten d, and to consider th e differen ces bet weenthese and internal meet ings.

Communication skillsPre-viewing Here the ques tion of time is ra ised. Atti tudes towards lime in me et ings vary

enormo usly. Some peopl e regard any t ime spent in meetin gs as wasted,while o thers see meet ings as th e ma in vehicle for getti ng busin ess done. Insom e busin ess cultu res, t ime-keep ing and PUllet ualityarc ofparamountim po rtance; in others, they are secondary. Sens it ivity to these diffe rences,especially o n the pa rt ofsuppliers, is cr itical.

2 This type o f melding is difficul t to plan for. Th e key to success is to beflexible and to be able to ada pt to th e situa tion. For exa mp le, if time isshort, plan an other meeting . Above all, it is vital to have a clea r idea of th eobjectives of th e person or perso ns yo u are meetin g.

Viewing 3 Th e objecti ve here is to identi fy l.eo's inability to listen well as the majo rproblem.

4 C hr is's posi t ive response is the result of good active liste ning on Leo's part.Leo asks constr uc tive questions, he inter p rets the situat ion well, and hesum marizes his prospective clien t's needs. In other words, he shows Chr isthat he und erstands him .

5 Use the pa use facility to anticipa te th ese moments. Ask your students whatLeo is goi ng to say in each case.

UN IT FIV E 2 1

Post-viewing

22 l)S IT F IVE

6 T his exercise is very effect ive in forcing the students to listen act iveiy.C hoose one of th e topics {or a different one if you prefer }, and ask onemem ber oft he gro up to sta rt by giving his or her op inion. Th e next person10 speak must then S<lY something like Sa, ifI understand1'011,you think .. . Idisagree. Ilhillk ... Continue like this until the topic is exhausted. You willfind that the para phrasing becomes less and less accura te and will thereforelead to correct ion and clarification - e.g. No, Jliidn't s(J)' tha t. I said . ..

Language knowledgeDiscuss these questions, and when you would usc them .

O pen question sWt' use these when we are mak ing gene ral en quiries an d we don't want IIIlimit the scope of the answer.

Lead ing q uestionsWe ask these when we arc expressing an opinion at the same time and arcseeking confirmation ofor agree ment with thi s opinion.

Closed question s\Ve ask these when we are seeking simp le answers. \Ve often use th em toconfirm or check infor mation.

Probi ng questi on sWe ask these when we want to dig a bit dee per.

Reflect ive questio ns\Veask these when we want to suppo rt and em path ize with o ur pa rt ner.

Play the cassette once all the way through. Then go back and listen againextract by extract, focusing on the precise form oft he q uest ions.

2. 3 These two exercises practise a range ofq uest ion types. Let your studen tswor k in pairs to practise asking and answering the qu est ions. You couldtransfer the skill to the students ' own areas of expe rt ise. For exam ple, askthem to find o ut about fina ncial, per sonnel, or marketing po licy in thecompa ny. Fu rth er practice can be given by setting up more controversialmedia -type interviews on subjects such as 'Your com pany's environmen talpolicy', or 'Executive pay'.

Meetings practiceThese role-plays give an o pportuni ty also to practise the social side ofmee tings.

O pening:in itial greet ingsoffering coffee, a scat, etc.small talk (the weather, the jo urney, erc.).

Closing:tha nking for time givenconfirming the next mee tingwishing someone a goo d day, etc.saying good bye.

In between th e social chat. th e studen ts should prepare their quest ion s andanswers. Make sure everyone has a chance to ask an d answer qu estions.

Role-play 1Purchaser (asking qu estion s about financing )Salesman (answering qu estion s)

Role-play 2Printer (asking quest ions abo ut print ing needs)Custo me r (answering questions)

t::>J 1T F I V E 2J

Pre-viewing

6 What's the idea?

ObjectivesThe video extract in this unit focuses on brainstorming meetings. It aimsto show how to handle dominant speakers and get the most out ofall theparticipants ' ideas.

IntroductionThe interesting question here is how much direction should be given to abrainstorming meeting. Do you wan! the ideas to be chan nelled in acertain direction or do you want to keep the discussion completely open?

Communication skillsThere are no easy answers to this question. Ofcourse. ideally thechairperson willdea l firmly with the dominant speaker and allow others tocontribute to the discussion. However, often the dominant speaker isinsensitive and it may need quite insistent interruption to keep the meetingon track.

This also provides an opportunity for non -native speakers to discuss howto deal with native speakers in meetings. Many complain of a sort oflinguistic imperialism where native Eng lish speakers take advantage oftheir facility in the language not only to domi nate the meeting, but also tostrongly influence decisions. Many native speakers are unaware of theproblems they create by using idiomatic language, which non -nativespeakers find very hard to decipher. Non -native speakers need to be giventhe confidence to remind native speakers that the meeting is being he ld in aforeign language for some people. and it is therefore important to keep thelanguage simple and dear.

24 U:"IIT SIX

2 The culture ofa small advertising agency may be very different to thatexperienced by your students in their own workplaces . Try to help themanticipate the type ofmeeting they will sec by discussing the differencesbetween the cultures ofsmall and large companies, and also betweencreative and more systematic people.

Viewing

Post-viewing

3 Youcould first watch this extract with the sound down. Focus on the bodylanguage of the participants and ask your students to identify:

the chairpersonthe dominant speakerthe person who is interruptedthe passive participant .

Then watch it a second time and see how leo fails [0 dea l with Steve.Discuss what your students would have done in this situat ion. as well aswhat Leo should have done.

4 Watch the good version an d discuss to what exte nt Leo carries ou t yo urstudents' recommend at ion!'>.

5 Use the pause facility to identify these moments. Bystopping just beforeLeo intervenes or makes the point. you can try to get your students toanticipate what he will say in each situation.

6 This again raises the question ofdirectness and diplomacy. In each case.you can try to keep a positive tone but nevertheless intervene effectively,With higher level students ) 'OU might like to compare two versions. Fo rexample:

a That's very interesting, John. bu t we really should get back to the po int.b I'm afraid that 's not relevant to today's discussion .

British English lend s 10 amid direct confrontation. Many non -nativespeakers of English may feel this level ofsophistication is not relevant 10

them, and that they can afford to be more direct. They should. however. beaware of the impact thai extreme directness may have on the listener. andthat it may be counter-productive.

Language knowledge1a This exercise complements 6 above and provides a range ofsituations. An

important point in each case is that the chairperson docs not allow thespeaker to go on fo r 10 0 long befo re he or she interrupts. The longe r youleave it. the mo re di ffi cult it is to in terrup t.

Ib Th is lime your students should listen for the correct phrases, and refer tothe Language focus section to see how the exp ressions are classified.

2 For lower level students. you could play the tape first before they look at thescripted discussion in their books. This will give them a sense ofwhat isbeing discussed.In all cases. your srudenrs should read through the wholediscussion before deciding where to put the phrases. Youcan also. ofcourse. use the audio-recording for modelling and practising intonation.

3 A sho rt exercise ideal for self-study on the ubiquitous word get and some ofits many combinations.

usn SIX 25

26 usn SIX.

4 You cou ld start by askin g yo ur students 10 record the exam ple dialogue sothat th ey gain some practice in th e flow of thi s type ofexchan ge. Then leavethem 10 pra ctise the other examp les before aski ng one or two pairs to actout their d ialogues in fro nt of th e class.

5 If you have th e facilit y. you could video-reco rd o ne or two discussions. Playthe m back without the so und first to give feedback on the body langua ge.Then play them with the so und to p ick up on language po ints.

Meetings practiceIdeally your students should be given so me time to prepare for thismeeting. Choose one of th e topics and then ask them to prepare their ideasfor the next lesson. Decide whe ther you want 10 have a chairperson for themeeting, and how asser tive you want th is chai rpe rson to be. Set a timelimit an d realist ic outputs (a ro ugh logo . a draft mission statement, a list oflanguage learning opt ions, a recommended incentive scheme).

7 Making decisions

ObjectivesT he vide o extract demonstrates the problem s ofdecision -makin g towardsth e end of a budget meet ing. The em phasis is on the skills of clarifying andcon firm ing de cision s, and mak ing sure th at everyb od y knows where theystand.

IntroductionMakin g deci sion s is not so d ifficu lt. What is mo re problemat ic is gettingcom mit ment from all th e participants to follow through and impl ementth e decision.

Shared ob jective s, in the sense ofeveryone working for a com mon goal.will be vital if unpopular decisions are going to be accepted.

Enco urage your students to come fore..:ard with their own sugges tio ns forkey factors. lf th cv don't, these are some of the facto rs th at you mightsuggest: a positive atmosphere. strong chairing, a dear direction. shared.expectations, shared objectives.

Communication skillsPre-viewing This provides an o ppo n unity ro discuss how decision s are made in your

studcnts' workplaces. Are meetings sim ply occasion s to rubber-stampdecision s that have alread y been made, ur are decisions arrived at as a resultof COil Sensus in th e meetin g! Wh at is th e m it- of the chairperson? Doeshe/she actually have m ore power than any of the other part icipants!

2 It is impo rtant for your students 10 understand that two o f the pa rt icipantsmay haw to accept cuts in th eir departmental budgets.

Viewing 3 Chris avoids making a dec ision as he knows this will be ditficult for Pete 10accept. Ask your studen ts whether confro ntation is accepted in th eirwo rking envi ronmen t. Ifit is not, how do they make sure that the issueshave been add ressed and that decisions will be fully implemen ted! In so mebusiness cu ltures, Ihe accep tance ofdecis ions will be eno ugh 10 ensure thatthey .ITe implcrncnted.In others. th e arguments need to be fully explored inor der to obtain agreement and comm itmcnt , rat her than just accep tance.

uxrr SEVF.N 27

Post-viewing

4 C hris actually blames exte rna l forces - fare ( It docst/" look /l S ,liol/gh we haveIItIY elwin' .. . ) and time (All}'WIl)', sorry, IlIt'e,1 to rush 1I0W ... ). These fo rcesprovide an excuse for avo id ing dear decisio ns. Thi s is dearly bad pract ice- the least a cha irperson should do is to make sure that people understandwhat decision. ifany, has been made.

5 The situa tion hasn't changed. so a difficult decision still has to be made.T his tim e Ann comes to Ch ris's aid with a helpfu l sugges tion. Thi s is pa rt lybecause he has created a more po sit ive an d co ns tr uctive atmos phe re.Pinpointthe mom ent he actually asks for the decision to he minuted . Thi swi ll provide J 11 opportu nity to discuss the role of III inut es - <Ire th eynecessary, and if so. in wh at form ?

6 'rou sho uld p ick o u t the moments where C hr is:

facesthe decision ( I'm afraid we (1m ', m'oid SOf fit' difficult ,It·cisiotls.)

makes sure that the atmosphe re stays posit ive ( \\'c "OIV 11(,/,/1 to make /1,IifficllI, decisionasetlllStructively as p<Issi/J/t'. )

encou rages proposals ( Pelt', IVlIIIMYO/llikr 10get together . .. )

co nfirms decisions (G m we minute t" is malillg's11grt'C/1/W l . . . ),

7 The important step here is sett ing yo ur des ired level ofagreement. It'srelatively easy to achieve 'limited agreemen t', e.g. I mil Sl't' ii's I/VI /1 /Jlld jO/I(the mos t exciting career ). On the o th er hand , ' total commitme nt ' is muchmore difficult. e.g. I wish I did tllat job! In all the exam ples given, there is 110

specia l reason why two peo ple should agree. However, if y{llI t ry a subjectlike 'The time we break lor lunch' th e two part ies haw a shared object ive ­both want ing to eat!

Language knowledge

Agreeingand di sagreein gThe line between 'wait to be convinced' an d ' limit ed agreeme nt' is ad ifficult one 10 draw. However. it's im portant to dis tingu ish betweensomeo ne wh o will go along with yo ur ideas and someone who need sfur ther convincing.

2 Slop the tap e just before the ph rase in eac h ext ract, and set' if your stude ntscan pred ict what is going to be said.

3 If your group is quite large. you could d raw up a survey form with the fourlevels ofagreement/disagreement, and record the students' opinionsaccordi ng to the language th ey use . An obvious way to make th is morein teractive would be to have the stude nts interview each other, and then torepo rt back to th e who le gro up.

Making recommendation s4 If necessary, divide this task in to two pa rts. Firstly. ask your studen ts to

listen in o rder to classify the recommendations as A, B,or C. The n ask them10 listen a second time to pick o ut the key expression. This can then becom pared with the listed expressions in the LanguageJaw ssect ion.

Note : Many studen ts mistake nly follow suggest and recommend with aninfinitive. Make sure tha t they are fam iliar with the followingcon structions.

1sugge.~ t you arrive early. (no t: I sllggest yOIl to arriveearty.sI recommend arriving early. (not : I recommend yOIlto arriveearly.)I suggest a delay.I recommend this restaurant.

5 Th e kind of aud ience you are talking 10 will obviously influ ence both theform ality and the st rength of the recommendat ion. This exercise will workwell in a number ofways. Yo u cou ld do it with the whole group. perhapsallocating one recommendation to each person, so that you can com pareand d iscusss the recommendat ion s. Alternatively, you could ask the m toprepare their recommendations in small gro ups and submit them to thewho le class fo r d iscussion. A third way wou ld be 10 tran sfer the contextson to cards and deal them out to the class; then ask them to read out theirrecommendations in an appropriate style. The rest of the gro up shouldguess who the audience is.

Meetings practiceTh is meet ing will provide an o ppo rt un ity fo r the group (maximum six,includi ng the chairperson ) to put many of the skills and language studiedin th is course into practice - encourage yo ur students to loo k back at thechecklist on page 9 in Unit J. In pa rt icular, they need to make decisionsand to use the language ofagreement and recommendat ion. Try to video­record the meeting (and/or appoin t an observer ) in o rder to give feedba ckin areas which you have agreed on with your students in advance.

U N IT SE VEN 29

8 What's next?

ObjectivesThis final unit focuses on the outcome and action arising from a meeting.The aim is to cover all the important steps in dosing a meeti ng and, aboveall, to emphasize the importance ofsummarizi ng and clarifying skil ls.

IntroductionThis will again raise the issue of the culture of meetings in differentorganizations. ln some cast'S, meetings may be seen as part o f the generalprocess ofcommunication. In others, they may playa more strategic rolein push ing a company or department towards realizing its objectives.Therefore, we as teachers shouldn't always insist o n a concrete outcome forevery meeting, but should ensure that all the part icipants know at the endofa meeting what the next step is.

Communication skillsPre-viewing Ask your students to discuss the checklist in small groups. Then find out

how much agreement there is about the priorities.

2 Some important points to absorb here are that this is an external m eet ing,and that the outcome is very important to Leo and Bella (they need thebusinessl).

Viewing

3U U N IT EIGHT

3 Chris, the cha irperson, has not really clarified. the outcome. In addition,Bella is probably gui lty of wis hfu l thinking. You could refer yourstudentsto the checklist for closing a meeting 10 focus 0 11 the key things that aremissing he re.

4 This time Chris clarifie s and summarizes the key points o f the meeting.Leo and Bella also participate in th e clarification process.

5 Go thro ugh Version 2 aga in , stopping the tape before the key moments.Ask your students to anticipate wha t Chris, Leo, and Bella say. They don'tneed to be word perfect at thi s point - what is important is that they areaware of the approp riate kind of phrase to usc from a fu nctional po int ofview.

Post-viewing 6 Th is co uld usefull y be done as a written exercise. simulating the minutes ofJ mceting. ff your students can't rem ember the details ofan y recentmeetings, ask them 10 write th e m inutes of th e meet ing th ey have jus twatched.

Language knowledgeTh e skill o f sum marizing is a relatively d ifficult one to develop andpractise. Th is listening exercise starts the process. More advanced studentsco uld he asked to sum marize each extract in a sing le sen tence, rather th anusing the su m maries listed in the hook. Further pract ice co uld be providedby using othe r extracts fro m the aud io and video recordi ngs.

2 As you go through the key phrases during th e second listen ing, co mpa re thesewith the other option s included in the Larrguagefocus, and discuss them withreference to level o f formality. d irectness and d iplomacy. etc.

3 This exercise is designed to reinforce some of the voca bu lar y p resen ted in theumguagefocus section.

-I This exercise also provides an oppo rtunity to co m pare styles. The firs text ract is in formal but very direct. the second is info rm al and moreinteractive. and th e last is for mal and direc t. Poin t out that int onat ion alsoplays a part in determ ining th e level of fo rmaliry - it's not onl y it q uestionof using the righ t phrase.

5 This exercise gives further practice in the langu age o f closinga meet ing.Try aud io-reco rd ing yo ur studen ts' effor ts, and .....orkon their intonationand fluency (closi ng th e meeting sh ould be done as fluently and efficientlyas opening it ). Youcould ask the m 10 do eac h one twice - once informallyand once more formally.

Meetings practiceThis is a final opportunity fo r your students to organi ze and run aneffective meeting (loo k back at th e checklist a ll page 9 o f th e Stude nt'sBook ). The following steps may help youto o rganize th e meeti ng.

Assign th e following roles for each agenda item :

i) an obser verii) on e chairpe rso n and . if you want to give maximum practice in

chairing. an overall chai rperson to keep an eye o n tim eiii) a presenter (so meo ne to su m ma rize and clarify the sco pe o f the

decision whic h must be made )iv) if necessa ry or useful. a minute- taker.

2 Give time for p reparation.

3 Sim ulate the meetin g (and video- record if possible ).

4 Together with the obser ver. give feedback on co m mu nicat ion skills firstand then on langua ge usc.

ux rr E IG H T 3 1

Meetings practiceextension activities

The following pagescon tain additional activities for the Meetings practicesections of the Student's Book. These pages may be photocopied.

1 Meetings preparation and role-play

2 Opening meetings

3 Meetings organization and simulation

4 Presenting and defending your position

5 Questioning and listening role-plays

6 Brainstorming role-plays

7 Decision-making meeting

8 Meeting simulation

page34

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47

Unit 1

Meeting A ( 3 o r 4 participants)In preparation for th e meeting. identify:

a th e purpose of th e meet ingh th e ro les of th e participantsc the best p rocedu re 10 follow.

Writ e a m em o 10each of the participants inviting th em 10 the meet ing andindicating the subjec t and agenda. Th en role- play th e meeting.

Meeting situationAs Head of Human Resources, yo u were instrumental inin troduc ing a performance appraisal system on e year ago . It wasdesigned to improve co m m un icatio n within the company. increasejob satisfaction, and help 10 make the com pany's effo rts morefocused. Unfo rtuna tely, the system has not been adopted fu lly.Twode partmen ts in par t icular. Production and Maintenan ce. have notbeen following the procedures. Your plan is to call a meeting towhich you invite th e beads ofProduction, Ma intenance. and theMa rketing Department which has successfully in troduced thesystem. You want to find out why there are difficulties forProduction and Maintenance , and to get the system up and runningthroughout the company,

Roft,.'Head of Human ResourcesYou sho uld chair th e meet ing,

Head of ProductionYou need more time to int rod uce th e system. T he value of such a system isqu estionable because yo ur depor tm ent has a high tu rnover ofcasuallabour,

Il ead of Mai ntenanceYOLl have built a close-knit team in which jo b satisfaction and reward arehigh , Th e app raisal system would mean changi ng your cu rren tmana gement pr act ices.

Head ofMa rketingY(lU have fo und the system to be very cffecrive as a mean s o f mo tivatingand co m m unicating with your team.

ObserverYou should obser ve the meeting and use the checklist on page 9 of theStu dent's Book to give feedback.

.H Ph otoco p l a b le OXf O RD L'N IVt:R SITY " RE SS

Meeting B (2 or 3 pa rticipants)

In preparation to r the meeting, identify:

a the purpose of the meetingb the roles of the part icipantsc the best procedure to follow.

Write a memo to each of the participant s invitin g them to the meeting andindicating the subject and agenda. Th en role-play the meeting.

Meeting situ ationYou are the Purchasing Manager in a large company. You havealways ord ered electronic components from one supplier. You havegrown to expect a very high standard of service fro m this supplier interms ofproduct quali ty, delivery, and pr ice. You have recentlyheard from a production supervisor that the reject ra te on some ofthese electronic components has gone up considerably. Youwouldnormally expect the Production Manager to inform you ofanyproblems with supplies. You therefore wan t to arrange a meetin gwith the Product ion Manage r to discuss the situation, and 10 makesure quali ty standa rds are maintained.

Role.'Purchasing ManagerYou have called the meeting and want to restore quality levels til agreedstandards.

Produ ction ManagerYou can't understand why the Purchas ing Manager is interfering. It is truethat there has been a temporary d rop in quality but you know the supp lierwell, and cnn assure everyone that standards have been 111 ainraincd andthat this will cont inue.

O bser verYou should obse rve the meeti ng and lise the checklist 011 page 9 of theStudent's Book 10 give feedback.

Photoco piable © OXF O R fI UNIVE RS ITY P Rf S S 35

Meeting B (2 or 3 pa rticipants)

In preparation to r the meeting, identify:

a the purpose of the meetingb the roles of the part icipantsc the best procedure to follow.

Write a memo to each of the participant s invitin g them to the meeting andindicating the subject and agenda. Th en role-play the meeting.

Meeting situ ationYou are the Purchasing Manager in a large company. You havealways ord ered electronic components from one supplier. You havegrown to expect a very high standard of service fro m this supplier interms ofproduct quali ty, delivery, and pr ice. You have recentlyheard from a production supervisor that the reject ra te on some ofthese electronic components has gone up considerably. Youwou ldnormally expect the Production Manager to inform you ofanyproblems with supplies. You therefore wan t to arrange a meetin gwith the Product ion Manage r to discuss the situation, and 10 makesure quali ty standa rds are maintained.

Role.'Purchasing ManagerYou have called the meeting and want to restore quality levels til agreedstandards.

Produ ction ManagerYou can't understand why the Purchas ing Manager is interfering. It is truethat there has been a temporary d rop in quality but you know the supp lierwell, and cnn assure everyone that standards have been 111 ainraincd andthat this will cont inue.

O bser verYou should obse rve the meeti ng and lise the checklist 011 page 9 of theStudent's Book 10 give feedback.

Photoco piable © OXF O R fI UNIVE RS ITY P Rf S S 35

Unit 2Practise opening the following meetings.

Meeti ng I

Type of meetin g

Participants

Purpose

Output

Agenda

Roles

Timing

Type of meeting

Participants

Purpose

Output

Agenda

Roles

Timing

External (Supplfer/Customer)

Host - Purchasing Manager (custo mer)Visito rs - Sales Manager

Production Manager - has not met Purchasing Manager

To discuss production schedules for new order.

Timings/deadlines for first order, and provisional schedule forsubseq uent orders.

I Production process- background (Prod uct io n Manager)2 Production schedules - first order, subseq uent orders

Purchasing Manager >. chairSales Manager - maintain custo mer relationsProduction Manager - present production process and agree sched ules

I hour

Meeting 2

Internal (Prod uction and Maintenance )

Plant ManagerProduction Superv iso rMaintenance Superv isor

To agree how to integrate part ofmaintenance function into productio n.

To achieve 30% savings in maintenan ce f ixed costs.

I Techni cal speci fication: funct ion transfer2 Job allocat ion: training and skill transfer3 Job losses: redundancy plans

Plant Manager - chairProduction Supervisor - present training and skill transfer (items I and 2)Maint enance Supervisor - present redundancy plans (item 3 )

Until lunch

36 Photocopia ble O OX FO R P UNIV ER S ITY P RES S

Type of meeti ng

Participants

Purpose

Output

Agenda

Roles

Timing

Type of meet ing

Participants

Purpose

Output

Agenda

Roles

Timing

Meeting 3

Internal fF..xternal(brainstorrning)

I. Marketing Manager2 Marketing Assistant3 Market Research Assistant4 External Marketing Cons ultant,S External Assistant Ma rketing Co nsultan t fhasn 'tmet the others)

To produce a short-list of five product names which will be put to theBoard of Directors for a final choice.

Memo to the Board of Directo rs with five.suggested product names.

I Product features (Marketing Manager)2 Competitors products (Marke ting Consultant)3 Target market ( Market Research Assistant)4 Product name brainstorming

See allocation of agenda.items

Marketing Manager - chair

2 hours

Meeting4

Committee meeting (staff association )

StaffAssociation ChairpersonStaffAssociation RepresentativePersonnel Manager (guest)Staff (ap proximately 35 members present)

To keep staff-informed of company policy.To give regular monthly update 0 0 staff concerns.To listen to the Personnel Manager's ideas on flexitime.

Minutes of meeting circulated to all staff members.

1 Minutes of the last meeting2 Staffupdate3 Flexitime (presentation by George Petersen - Personnel Manager)4 Any other business5 Date of next meeting

Special guest: George Petersen

Finish by 17.00

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Unit 3O rganize an d then hold the follo wing meet ing.

Yuur gro up are members cfthe Staff eo-ordination Committee. You meetevery month 10 d iscuss the concerns ofstaff and then present these formally,in th e form of recommendations, to the Board of Directors. This month }'OU

have the fo llowing agen da.

STAFF CO-ORD INATION COMMITTEE MEETI NG

Agenda

1 Smok ing in p r oduct i on area

2 Del ay in annual bonus payment

3 Competition clause in employment contracts

4 Equa l opportunities for people over 50

O ne member sho uld chair the meeting (15 minutes per item ). Othermem bers should preSt"nt and explain the background to each item befo re itis di scussed . Remember. the objective is 10 form ulate a concreterecom mendation to the Board.

Notes 01 1 tileagenda

Smoking in production area

Thomas Anderson . a product ion worker, was recently fired forsmoking a cigarette in the production area. The company actedaccording to agreed procedures and the StaffCommittee acceptsthe company was within its rights to fire th is worker. However.there are a number of factors which were not taken into account.

a The com pany has failed to provide a smoking area ncar theproduction line. despite promising to do so more than a yearago.

b Thomas Anderson had an excellent reco rd as an employee andappa rentl y he had just hea rd that day of the death ofa doserelative.

c The production line was not in operation at the tim e that hesmoked the cigarette, and therefore the risk was minimal.

The StaffCommittee must dec ide whether to ask for ThomasAnderson's reinstatement because of these special circumstances.

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2 Delay in ann ual bonus payment

The annual Christmas bonus is usually paid out two weeks beforeChristmas. This year, because ofcash flow problems, the companyinformed the sta ff that it wou ld be delayed until January. It is nowMarch and the bonus has still not been paid. The company is notcontractually obliged to pay a bonus. but has done so for morethan twenty years. Th e staff are extremely unhappy about the delay,particularly as there has been no communication from themanagement about it. The Staff Committee should clarify thisissue with the Board .

3 Competit ion clause in employment contracts

Susanna Carling recently resigned from her job as Area SalesManager. Since the n she has set up her own business offering herserv ices to some ofher o ld customers. The company's contract ofemployment slates tha t staff must no t approach any customers fortwo years after leaving the company. It therefore proposes to takeher to cou rt for breach of contract. However. in this case SusannaCarling is no t offering the same services or products as thecompany, and therefore does not represent a real commercialthre at. In addition, the area suffers from very high unemploymentand it would be difficult for her to find another job if she wasba rred from running her own business. The Staff Committee needsto decide whether to do anything in this case, a nd wh ether theemployment contract needs to be changed to avoid similar cases inthe future.

4 Equal opport unit ies for peo ple over 50

Your company has responded 10 a campaign to fight ageism inem ployment opportunities by actively encouraging people overthe age of50 to appl y fo r job vacancies. As a result several people intheir sixties have recently been taken on by the com pany - in onecase, a woman of66 was recruited as a telephone operator. Whileagreeing with the policy not to discriminate against olderem ployees. the Staff Committee is concern ed tha t employing olderpeople may be a cheaper and mo re flexible option for the company.In contrast to people in their twenties and thirties, they areprobably less demanding in terms of salary levels and also clearlynot interested in long-term employment. The Staff Comrnineeneeds to discusss th is issue and agree on a preferred policy to pu t tothe Board.

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Unit4Th e fo llowing cha nges have been suggested 10 make your compa ny morecos t-effective. In pairs. discuss the changes. One ofyou sho uld put forwardarguments in favour of the proposed changes; the othe r should argueagainst them.

Proposed change - Remove existing subsidy for staff restaurant.

Arguments in favour ofch an ge:

not all employees cat in canteenthis will allow real costingquality of food will improve

Arg uments aga inst change:

it's good for staff welfareit generates goodwillit promotes loyaltyit invo lves staff

2 Proposed change-I ncreasecustomers' payment period from 30 to 60days.

Arg uments in favo ur ofchange:

many companies allow 90 dayspotentially bigger orderscus tomers will order more

in advance

Arg umen ts agains t cha nge:

it may cause financial problemsprices may go tipmany customers already pay

within 30 days

3 Proposed change -c Give women employees th e option to reti re at 65 ratherth an 60.

Argum ents in favour of ch ange:

the law has cha nged to allow th isthe company would pay less in

pen sion swomen live longer than men

Arg umen ts agains t change:

there would be fewer jobs foryou nger people

possible fall in m otivat ionwomen have a ha rder life than

men

.. Pro posed cha nge - Increase ho liday entitlement from 5 to 6 weeks.

Arguments in favour ofcha nge:

6 weeks has been earnedhigher quality ofworkincreased moti vat io nmore ho liday spe nding {good

for the eco no my )

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Arguments against change:

produc tivity must be co mpeti tivein USA, it's only two weekscompany co uld not bear th e cost

Unit 5ACT 1VF, I.IS TENING GAM F.S

Pair work

1 Good listener/bad listener

A Tell your partner abo ut your weekend.B Listen badly.

Th en:

B Tell your partner abo ut your weekend.A Listen well.

Discu ss the impact oflistening bad ly and listenin g well.

2 Comm unicating pictures

A Draw a picture or d iagram (e.g. an organization chart, a gra ph, aflow chart).Describe th is to your pa rt ner wit hout showing it to him/her.

B Listen your partner 's desc ript io n, ask questions, and try to producethe same picture or diagram.

Discuss wha t improves the communica tio n in this act ivity.

3 Question time: 20 questions (to pract ise closed questions)

A Think ofa fam ous perso n. Answer B's question s with just 'Yes'or 'No'.

B Ask qu estions (maximum 20) to d iscover wbo the person is.

Customer/Supplier Role-plays

A well-known sales techniq ue called SPIN is based around four key areas:

(1 - situat ion questions. to find out abou t the customer's situation

iii - problem identification

D - implications of this prob lem

m-needs (how can the supplier meet the needsi ).

Use th is techniq ue in the following role -plays.

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Role-play I

CustomerSituation Vouare the Personnel Manager for the company HealthCare.The company has recently launched a new anti -arthritis drug,which has proved a real success.Your department is responsible forall personnel matt ers in the company.Problem The Sales Depart ment has asked you urg entl y to recru it fivenew sales representatives to support the launch of the new drug.Normally you would carry out th e recruitment process yourself, butbecause of the tim e factor you are co nsidering using an o utsiderecruitmen t agency.Implimtioll$ Additio nal cost of recru iting. Loss of control over theprocess. No administ rative overloa d. Q uality con trol over finalselection.Needs The fivesales rep resentatives nero to start work by the end ofnext mo nth. If necessary, they need to be head-hunted from yourcompetitors.

SupplierYou run a sma ll recru itmen t agency which specialiu s in hiring salespeople. Yo u have wo rked a lot for companies in the health care secto r.You have received a pho ne call from the Personnel Manager of a largedrug company. He/she ha s asked yo u to come and talk 10 him/h erabout a possible recruitment contract.You kno w no more abo ut it.Use theSPIN model to askquestio ns and find out the needs ofyourpotent ial customer.

Role-play 2

CustomerSituation Youare the Productio n Manager of a medium -sizedenginee ring firm . At the moment all factor y clean ing is do ne by youro wn sta ff. You employ two full- lime cleaners who work two 8· hoursh ifts.Problem The two cleaners are not very productive. Most of th ecleaning needs to be don e at th e end of each shift. During the sh ift,there is relat ively little for them to do.Implications It might be mo re cost -effect ive to sub-contract th iscleaning work. However, you wou ld wan t to be able to offer somework to the two current employees.Needs A cleaning company which willhire the two employees anduse them for this job and others.

SupplierYou run an ind ustrial cleanin g company, You have received a callfro m the Prod uctio n Mana ger of a local engineeri ng firm. who wantsto talk to you ahout a cleaning cont ract. Use the SPIN approach tofind out the needs of thi s customer.

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Unit 6Orga nize and run fou r meet ings to brainsto rm ideas for th e followingpurposes.

I To red uce running costs in your department

office stationery

telephonecalls

rnentoriog

coffee machine office cleaning

magazine subscriptions electricity

2 To tra in new sta ff mo re effectively

interna l training external training

photocopying

equ ipment maintenance

coaching inductlcn courses hannover tra ining

3 To increase sa les

mailing product innovation packaging

direct sales

exhibitions

advertising public relations

sales promotion pricing

distribution

4 To increase sta ff mo rale

profit bonus

employee suggestionscheme

Chr istmas party

Monday morningteam briefings

Intern al newsletter

employee of themonth award

company team sports

performance appraisal

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Unit 7The Promotion Review Meeting (AST lntemario nal HQ)

Th e purpose of the meeting

A new subsidiary has recently been created in the Czech Republic.based in Prague. to co-ordinate the company's expanding activities inCentral Europe. The purpose ofth is meeting is to select one of theshort-listed candidates below for pro mo tion to a new gene ralma nagement position: Director ofOperat ions. Central Euro pe. At th emoment the-company has agents and dist ributors th roughout this partof the world. hut no employees. The person appointed to th is posit ionwill first haw to recruit local siaff to manage the business in key areassuch as sales ad m inist ration. financial con tro l, and di stribution. In themed ium term, the appointee sho uld aim to build up the company'sbusiness in th e region and to establish a stru ng base for furtherexpansion in the rapidly growing markets ofCentral Europe and th eformer Soviet Union,

The people

Your group is part of the board of man agem en t ofAST Intern ation al,with responsibility for making the appointment. In preparation for themeeting. try to decide which candidate you favou r and why, and alsowhy you don', favour each of the other candidates.

If)'ou wish, you could lake on the following role s and try to promo tethe candidate you support most st rongly:

Personnel ManagerHead ofOve rseas. 5.1I('sHead ofProduction & Operat ionsHead of Management Services.

The procedure

You will need to elec t a chairperson and agree the most effect iveprocedure for hand ling th is meet ing. Some app roac hes you couldconside r arc:

i) Each manager presents a case for their favo ured candida te,followed by discussion and decision.

ii) Each candidate is considered in turn, followed by di scussio n anddecision.

iii) The job is first discussed and an ideal profile is produced; this isfollowed b)"a discussion ofwhich candidate best matches th ep rofile.

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Candidate 1Internal company profile

Name : David Loog!leld

Age : 34

Qualiflcatlonll : Degree 10Mechan ical Engineering(UniverSIty of warwick) ,Career history : Production Engineer (UK Medical) ~ 5

years: Prod uction Manager at ASrs South Wales

factory - 3 years: currently DistribvtlOn Manager for

our UK ccereucos.

Languagea: None

Comments: In his current post te has proved to beewemely effective. He is a hard WOO<.ef and very

ambI tious. He has no intematKK'lal expenenee. but he

is a natural communiCatOl" and has been very

successful in building strong and loyal teams.

Candidate 2Internal company profi le

Name : Juli a Philli ps

Age : 38

Qualification. : Degree in Economics (University ofEdinburgh), MBA from Manchester BUSiness School

Career hi story: Junior management post with XLSports - 3 years: Marketing Manage r (Xl Sports.Japan) - 4 years; Assistant to CEO (AST International)- 2 years; Regional Manager (AS!"s Austriansubsidiary) - 4 years: cu rrent ly responsible for

Domestic Sales ore-atone based at Head Office.

Languages: German, French

Comments: When she moved to Vienna to run our

subsidiary there , she successfully spearheaded our

move into lhe Swiss and Italian merxets. She is

el<lremely hardworking and in telligent. She can come

across as a little cold but, given ume. develops verygoodwol1llng relationships with her team.

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Candidate 3Internal company profi le

Name : Michael HavelAge : 29

Qualifications: Rrst class degree in Psycho logy(Cambridge university}

Career history : Personnel Assistant (ASTrntemeuonan -, 2 years : Sales Representative - 3years; Area Sales Manager - 2 years : currently ExportManage r in the Overseas Sales Department.

Languages: Czech, German

Comments: He was very good at his job in Sales . andas Area Sales Manager he achieved excellent results.He currently deals with our agents and distributors inCentral Europe , and is keen to work in that region. Hehas fami ly connections in Prague. He is very single­minded, has a tendency to be ever-enthus iastic, andcan appear to be rather pushy.

Candidate 4Internal company profile

Name: Philip StarkAge : 44

Qualifications: Apprenticeship with AST leading toCert ificate in Electrical Installation and Maintenance ;Degree in Electri cal Engineering (part-time,Birmingham University)

Career history: Electri cian (AST)- 8 years; Electri calEngineer (AST)- 7 Years; Factory Manager (ASTmainUK plant) - 5 years; currently on secondment to helpturn round a plant we bought in Poland.

languages: A little Polish, some German

Comments: Philip has worked his way up through thecompany. Since he has been based in Poland, he hasdone a very good jco in tra ining local staff andinstilling a quality philosophy throughout the plant.This secondment is about to come to an end and thePrague job would be well-timed. He is a relaxed andgood-natured manager, and has shown in Poland thathe can communicate very effectively with people fromother cultures.

Unit 8The situation

You arc member of the Management Committee ofa large chemicalcompany - uwe Chemicals. One ofyour plants in the UK has recentlybeen the subject ofa television documentary. In the programme. it wasalleged that the plant was an environmental disaster which was damagingthe lives ofemployees, residents in the local area, and plant and animal life.

It is true that the plant emits some poten tially toxic fumes, but they are wellwithin statutory limits. There is no independent medical evidence thatemployees or local residents have suffered ill healt h as a result ofworkingor living in the area. Employees and the local community see no threat totheir health, and refused to he interviewed by the programme makers.

The Management Committee has recently discussed a restructuring planwhich would involve closing this plant. To some extent, the company haskept the plant open because of the strength of loca l feeling, and because itis the largest employer in the area.

The meetin g

Your committee should discuss the following options and decide on a clearplan of action.

OPTIONS

1 Close the plant tor environmental reasons2 Close the plant for economic reasons3 Keep the plant open4 Keep the plant open for a limited time5 Commission an independent environmental audit6 Hold a news conference and respond to the programme7 Organize a meeting with staffand local communityR Do nothing9 Other opt ions

Make sure your decisions are clearly minuted, and that tasks are assignedto individuals.

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