Meetings: The role of the chairperson
A. Before the meeting
Hilary Rhodes is a management consultant who specializes in meeting skills:
‘A good chairperson has to be a good organizer. What they do before the meeting is as important as the meeting itself. They should make sure the agenda (the list of things to be discussed) is complete by asking those involved what should be on it and then circulating (distributing/giving something to everyone there) it to everyone concerned. They should check the venue (place where the meeting is held), making sure the room will be free, without interruptions (people coming in and out and stopping the meeting), until the end of the meeting.’
B. During the meeting
The chairperson should be a good timekeeper (watch how long the meeting is supposed to be). They should start the meeting on time, without waiting for latecomers (people that are late).
They should appoint a minute-taker (someone who take notes on the important things that happen at the meeting)to take the minutes, making sure that opinions and action points (where participants agree get something done) are noted. They should make sure each point on the agenda (the list of reasons for the meeting) is allocated the time it deserves (exact of amounts of time for each point) and should keep to the timetable. When the time allocated (given to for a purpose) to one point is up, the chair should make sure that discussion moves on to the next point, (goes to the next topic) even if the issue has not been completely covered or resolved (finished deciding about).
The chair should make sure that each participant(people involved) has the chance to make their point, and should deal tactfully (being care to be nice and not hurt anyone’s feelings) with disagreements, making sure that each side feels their point of view has been noted. They should also try to avoid digressions (not sticking to the topic being talked about), where people get off the point. Finally, they should ensure the meeting finishes on time (the agreed ending time), or early.
C. Follow-up
After some meetings, it’s necessary for the minutes(written important points of the meeting) to be circulated to everyone, especially if there are action points(things that have to be done) that particular people are responsible for.
At the next meeting, the chair should ask for the minutes to be read out and see if all agree that it is an accurate record(it was done correctly) of what happened, and see if there are any matters arising (any points from the last meeting that need to be discussed). And they should check what progress(improvement or advancement) has been made on the action points from the previous meeting.
Questions
I. Find a word related to each clue. The first and last letters of the answers are given.
1. List of the things to be discussed at a meeting
1. a ______a
2. Keep to this or the meeting will finish late
2. t ______e
3. How the Chair should deal with disagreements
3. t ______y
4. Someone who gets to the meeting after it has started
4. l ______r
5. When someone goes off the point in a discussion
5. d ______n
II.Match the verbs (1—7) with the nouns (a—g) that they go with.
1. take a. a minute-taker
2. appoint b. the minutes
3. circulate c. time
4. allocate d. the agenda
5. move on e. to the next point
6. avoid f. on time
7. finish g. digressions
III. Replace the underlined phrases in this article with correct expressions from A and B on page 1.
1. ______2. ______3. ______
4. ______5. ______6. ______
7. ______8. ______
I don’t know how to chair a meeting!
I’ve been asked to chair a meeting about the Christmas office party, but I’m incredibly nervous as I’ve never chaired one before. Is there a secret for success?
You may never have chaired a meeting but as you’ve probably been to lots you’ll have seen it done well and badly. Think about the things that please and annoy you and build on them. (1) Make sure everyone gets the agenda well in advance, and check that you know enough about the participants and issues being discussed. Arrange for (2) the room where the meeting is held to be cool rather than warm; people will be less likely to go to sleep.
See yourself as a referee whose job it is to ensure fair play through careful watching and listening. You must make sure that the timid (3) (shy people)have a chanceto say what they want; deal (4) in a diplomatic way with the argumentative people and to be kind to the (5) person you have asked to take notes. Getting that individual on your side is essential if you want the record to reflect your desired outcomes. It’s normal to suggest what should be left out of the minutes and how any difficult pieces of information should be written. Make sure you stick to the (6) time you have allowed for each point and keep things moving by not letting people (7) talk about things that aren’t related to the meetings topics. Get decisions made and recorded, even if it’s only to postpone (delay) matters until the next meeting. If someone is being difficult, defuse things by offering to continue the discussion personally at a more appropriate time.
If the meeting is likely to be more than a couple of hours long, try to include a break at the mid-point; it acts as a marker and stops people getting restless.
Aim to leave everyone feeling they have had a chance to say what they wanted to say and gain lasting and well-deserved popularity by (8) finishing when you said the meeting would finish.
IV. Choose the best word to fill each gap from the alternatives given below. Put a circle around theletter, A, B or C, of the word you choose.
My name is Stuart Macintosh and I am personal assistant to the CEO of Eastern Oil. He is the
(1) ______of the company’s finance committee. I’m responsible for arranging the monthlymeetings. I have to prepare the (2)______and then I have to (3)______it to all the participants. I also have to send copies of the (4) ______of the last meeting. It’s my job to check the (5) ______, to make sure that the meeting room is suitable and that lunch has been ordered. You have to be a good (6) ______to do a job like this.
1. A. chairlady B. chairperson C. chairwoman 4. A. hours B. minutes C. seconds
2. A. diary B. calendar C. agenda 5.A. avenue B. revenue C. venue
3. A. circulate B. circular C. circle 6. A. organize B. organizer C. organization
V. The statements below were made at a meeting. Write one word in the gap to complete each statement.
1 ‘Juliet, will you t ______the minutes today?’
2 ‘Does everyone agree that the minutes are an accurate r ______of the last meeting?’
3 ‘Are there any ______arising?’
4 ‘In the a ______points it says Bob is responsible for writing the report. Is that right?’
5 ‘Now, we have a ______30 minutes to the discussion of point 1, so let’s get started.’
6 ‘I want to make the p______that we are still two people short in the office.’
7 ‘We haven’t r ______this issue so we’ll discuss it next week and make a decision then.’
Focus on Grammar Understanding ‘Make’ more comprehensively
I. Fill in the blanks with make or do.
1. I always ______mistakes when I speak English.
2. Let’s go to bed now. We can ______the dishes in the morning.
3. I’m going to ______some coffee. Would you like a cup?
4. The children always ______a lot of phone calls in the evening.
5. If I ______my homework every day, my English will improve.
II. Complete the sentences with make(s) me (feel) or made me (feel).
1. That movie ______sad.
2. Exams at school always ______nervous.
3. The salesclerk wasn’t very nice to me; it ______angry.
III. Fill in the blank with the correct form of make.
1. She’s ______a photocopy of the boss’s papers.
2. He’s ______a phone call to his wife.
3. They’re ______a home movie of the wedding.
IV. Correct the mistakes.
1. I have to make my homework. I have to do my homework.
2. Can I make a photo of you?
3. He’s 35, but he never makes his own laundry. He takes his dirty clothes to his mother’s.
4. I have to take an appointment with the dentist.
5. Do students have to make an exam at the end of their English course?
6. Yes or no? We have to do a decision today.
V. Fill in the blanks for these sentences
1. A: Ivan plays his music loud late at night. B: I know Ivan ______a lot of noise.
2. A: Phil has to write down everything the teacher says. B: I know Phil ______notes in his text book.
3. A: Rose is baking a cake for Rick’s birthday. B: I know she is going to ______a cake.
4. A: Grandpa is filming the wedding celebration. B: I know he is going to ______a movie.
5. A: Milly is cutting out a dress from some cloth she bought. B: I guess she’s ______a dress.
6. A: Her bed was such a mess when she left for work this morning. B: She doesn’t ______her bed until she gets home.
7. A: She’s not very good in math. B: She can’t ______math.
VI Put these words in italics in the right column.
your homeworka noise an appointment a mistakesome exercises the housework your best the dishes a decision the cooking
Do Make
VII. There are mistakes in this letter correct them.
I’ve had such a busy day. After school I made my homework. I did it very quickly so I think I probably did a lot of mistakes. Then my friend and I went to a movie. The hero died and it made us feel very happy. After the movie we went to a restaurant. The food smelled good which made us feel very thirsty. The food wasn’t very good but at least I didn’t have to make the dishes.