ENG101B: Freshman English Agenda, ENG101B: Freshman English Agenda, meetings, minutesmeetings, minutes

ObjectivesObjectives

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 GATHERINGINFORMATION GATHERING

Collect responses from colleagues

Review correspondence Review minutes and action

items from previous meeting Contact staff manager Prepare agenda

WHY IS AN AGENDA WHY IS AN AGENDA IMPORTANT??IMPORTANT??

Prepares chairman Prepares attendees Creates an interest Clearly defines objectives Provides a valuable organizational

tool

INFORMATION AGENDA INFORMATION AGENDA INCLUDES: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 networkBad: Corporate communication problem

Exercise: Rewrite the following for the agenda:

1. Is staff morale going down?2. We received a complaint from Campbell

Cleaning Services.3. To discuss the renovation proposal

submitted by the Estate Management Department.

4. How should we organize a party to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary?

DISTRIBUTION OF AGENDASDISTRIBUTION 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 MEETINGCOVERAGE 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=T3sLlYv0cX0

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 MEETINGCONDUCTING 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=endscreen&NR=1&v=uOLuPfq11YY

ROLE OF THE CHAIRMANROLE 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=LTlF7HffzY0&feature=related

WHY DO WE RUN OUT OF WHY DO WE RUN OUT OF TIME??TIME??

Repetition Wander from the agenda Lengthy discussion of controversial

issues

MEETING TECHNIQUESMEETING TECHNIQUES

Focus attention on the agenda Set time limits Identify different opinions Establish task groups/chairmen as

needed

CLOSING A MEETINGCLOSING A MEETING

State conclusions reached Summarize assignments Give staff manager next

meeting requirements

MINUTESMINUTES

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 MEETINGAFTER 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 MINUTESPREPARING MINUTESLike an agenda, minutes should carry out the following items:1. Organization name2. Introduction – nature, date, time and place of the meeting3. 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 secretary5. Minute headings6. Minute paragraphs7. A closing

Taking the minutes http://www.youtube

.com/watch?v=_Uv70J7DTYs&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. The Chairperson: Miss Lee, could you ring the moving company and get a quotation for us please?

2. The Chairlady: I’m wondering if we can use the area near Block F as an extension car park.

3. Mr Law: Why don’t we organize a contest for staff to design a logo for the Department?

4. 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.