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Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today's lesson on how to deal with interruptions during a meeting.
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Meetings are a very important part of work life.
They are where decisions are made, relationships are built, and work is coordinated.
When meetings go smoothly, they can feel very productive, but meetings can easily become messy and unfocused.
In many cases, people compete for time and attention during meetings.
They interrupt each other to give new ideas, disagree or try to get their way.
Knowing how to deal with interruptions is a critical skill if you want to participate fully in a meeting.
Interrupting people is easier if you learn some useful phrases.
You can also learn language to help you stop an interruption and finish what you are saying.
In some cases, you might need to concede someone else's point, either partly or fully.
When we concede a point, we are saying, OK, you're right.
Sometimes that's the key to moving on after an interruption.
In today's dialogue, we'll join a meeting at a manufacturing company.
Bill is the production manager. and Mei Lin and Sam work in HR.
They are discussing staffing and recruiting for a new production line.
Bill is keen to hire new staff, but Sam and Mei Lin want to explore alternative approaches, so there's a lot of disagreement and interrupting during the meeting.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, what does Bill say is the purpose of the meeting?
Two, what is one of the expressions Mei Lin uses to interrupt Bill when he's speaking?
Three, what does Bill say to get back to what he was trying to say after being interrupted?
So the reason I called this meeting is to work out any, shall we say, kinks in the approval process, so that we can get recruitment started immediately.
As you know, we've been working very closely with Trilogy on their new MP3 launch... Sorry, Bill.
Excuse me for interrupting you there.
But we've been looking at your headcount request.
Yes?
And it didn't really clarify for us exactly why you need to increase headcount.
Yeah, don't you have engineers you could transfer from other production lines?
Well, as I was saying...
Trilogy's new product is absolutely critical to our business.
They're a key customer.
You could say the key customer.
We know that, but it still doesn't tell us why... Just a moment.
I haven't finished what I was saying.
I'm pretty busy, and maybe I wasn't totally clear in the original request.
Look, this is a completely different technology.
What do you mean?
Instead of plastic cases, we're using stamped aluminum cases.
It's a totally different material. so we need engineers with a different skill set.
Can't you just have them learn what they need to know on the fly?
You've got a lot of smart people.
Sure, they're smart, but we're supposed to go into production by October.
We need experienced people, otherwise it's going to come off half-assed.
There are all sorts of questions about retooling the machines, how to work with the material.
Just a moment, Bill.
Let me just come in here for a second.
That's all well and good.
I think Sam and I can both appreciate now that there is a real business need here.
But there's still the question of who commits the resources to find the engineers you need.
What do you mean?
Well, as you know, we're just about to go into our fall recruiting drive.
And we're short-staffed too.
Plus, you know best what qualifications you're looking for.
You mean you want us to do the search for candidates ourselves?
Well, not entirely.
Recruiting can provide support, but you'll have to drive the process.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques used to deal with interruptions.
The meeting starts with Bill explaining why he's called or asked for the meeting.
So the reason I called this meeting is to work out any, shall we say, kinks in the approval process, so that we can get recruitment started immediately.
As you know, we've been working very closely with Trilogy on their new MP3 launch.
You've probably been in a meeting where the purpose was quite unclear.
You can't really blame people for getting off topic if they don't even know what the topic is.
That's why Bill clearly states the purpose of the meeting right at the beginning.
As Bill explains, they need to sort out problems or kinks with approving new staff so they can start recruitment.
Recruitment is when a company actively looks for new employees.
Bill adds some detail about a specific project to emphasize how important this conversation is.
What are some other ways we can encourage focus by stating the meeting purpose?
Let's practice some more examples.
What we need to deal with today is the issue of staffing.
Today I'd like to focus on updates to our strategic plan.
I called this meeting to work out details of our new marketing plan.
The purpose of this meeting is to make a decision on the benefits package.
Now let's listen as the interruptions begin right at the start of the meeting.
Sorry Bill, excuse me for interrupting you there, but we've been looking at your headcount request.
Maylynn wants to highlight her concerns about headcount, or the number of staff that Bill thinks he needs.
As this is an important concern for HR, she interrupts Bill to make her point.
Mei Lin is careful to say that she's interrupting, which is a good idea if you want people to listen to you.
She says sorry and excuse me to make her interruption more polite.
There are other things we say to make a polite interruption, as you can hear in these examples.
Can I come in here?
Could I just interrupt you there?
Could I add something here?
Sorry to interrupt, but hasn't this been agreed already?
Now let's get back to the dialogue, as Bill shows one way of dealing with an interruption.
Yes?
And it didn't really clarify for us exactly why you need to increase headcount.
Yeah, don't you have engineers you could transfer from other production lines?
Well, as I was saying, Trilogy's new product is absolutely critical to our business.
They're a key customer.
You could say THE key customer.
We know that.
At the start of the meeting, Bill mentioned a new product they're making for a company called Triology.
He had more to say about this when Mei Lin interrupted with her concerns.
But this new development is key to Bill's argument that they need to hire new staff.
So he wants to finish making his point.
Notice that Bill uses the expression, as I was saying, to return to his point.
We used this expression when we were interrupted in the middle of talking about something.
Let's try some more ways of stopping an interruption and finishing what you wanted to say.
Hold on.
Let me just finish what I was saying.
Let me come back to that point later.
I'll get to that in a moment.
So, as I was saying... Sorry, I haven't finished my point.
As you can hear next...
Malin is determined to discuss why Bill needs to hire new staff.
You could say the key customer.
We know that, but it still doesn't tell us why... Just a moment.
I haven't finished what I was saying.
I'm pretty busy, and maybe I wasn't totally clear in the original request.
Look, this is a completely different technology.
Bill uses another expression to stop Malin's interruption, saying that he hasn't finished what he was saying.
But Bill also recognizes that he needs to acknowledge Mei Lin's concerns or the interrupting is likely to go on forever.
For this reason, we can hear Bill show some understanding for Mei Lin's concerns.
He says maybe he wasn't totally clear on his request.
Admitting this or partly conceding that there's some confusion is another way to deal with someone's interruption, especially when they are very determined to make a point.
Let's run through some more ways to partly concede a point when someone is interrupting.
I can see what you mean, but... There may be something to that.
However... Well, that may be the case sometimes.
There's some truth to that.
But it's not the whole story.
Now let's listen, as Bill is finally able to explain how the new product is connected to his reason for needing additional staff.
What do you mean?
Instead of plastic cases, we're using stamped aluminum cases.
It's a totally different material, so we need engineers with a different skill set.
Can't you just have them learn what they need to know on the fly?
You've got a lot of smart people.
Sure, they're smart, but we're supposed to go into production by October.
We need experienced people, otherwise it's going to come off half-assed.
There are all sorts of questions about retooling the machines, how to work with the material.
Just a moment, Bill.
As Bill explains, the new product requires people with a different skill set or combination of abilities.
And when Mei-Lin suggests that the current staff can learn how to do it, Bill states clearly that they need experienced people to really do a good job.
But as we can hear, Bill can't finish his explanation because he's interrupted again.
Just a moment, Bill.
Let me just come in here for a second.
That's all well and good.
I think Sam and I can both appreciate now that there is a real business need here.
But there's still the question of who commits the resources to find the engineers you need.
Mei-Lin uses another interrupting phrase before showing that she understands Bill's point.
She says that is all well and good, meaning it is reasonable.
And she emphasizes that she and Sam understand the need for the staff.
In this way, May Lynn is completely conceding Bill's point.
That is, she's admitting that he's right.
Of course, May Lynn goes on to introduce another problem about who's going to pay for the new engineers.
But still, Bill has successfully made his point.
Let's try a few more ways of completely conceding a point.
Yes, I think that makes perfect sense.
Okay, I think you've really got an important point there.
That's definitely something we need to consider.
Right, well, it seems pretty clear if you put it that way.
As we come to the end of the dialogue, let's find out a bit more about this issue that Mei Lin has brought up.
What do you mean?
Well, as you know, we're just about to go into our full recruiting drive and we're short-staffed too.
Plus, you know best what qualifications you're looking for.
You mean you want us to do the search for candidates ourselves?
Well, not entirely.
Recruiting can provide support, but you'll have to drive the process.
Bill is trying to understand what Sam and May Lynn are really trying to say.
They seem to be suggesting that Bill has to recruit his own engineers rather than the usual process.
This kind of indirect strategy is another thing that can make meetings very difficult.
All in all, sorting out what people want and dealing with interruptions is very tricky work.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you are leading a meeting with a project team.
You've called the meeting to talk about delays on a big project and you need to deal with interruptions.
You'll hear a cue from one of the team members.
Then, I'll give you a suggestion for what you can say in response.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Alright, looks like we're all here.
Start by thanking everyone for coming and saying that you've called the meeting to deal with the project delays.
Answer.
Great, thanks for coming everyone.
I've called this meeting to deal with the project delays.
Delays are one thing, but we're also dealing with some pretty important issues with finance.
Now say you'll get to that in a moment and continue by saying you want to look at how to deal with the delays.
Answer.
I'll get to that in a moment.
First, I want to look at how we can deal with the delays.
Fair enough, but can I just point out that it's not our fault?
The client hasn't kept us up to date.
Next, partly concede the point by saying there's some truth to that, but it's not the whole story.
Answer.
Well, there's some truth to that, but it's not the whole story.
No, it's not everything, but they did say that they'd have feedback to us within three days.
Now concede this idea by saying they have a very important point there.
Answer.
Indeed, I think you've got a really important point there.
We've reached the end of this lesson on dealing with interruptions.
We've looked at how to state the meeting purpose clearly and how to make an interruption.
We've also covered finishing what you're saying and conceding other people's points.
For more practice.
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Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
