You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for this episode on making the most of your meetings.
What's the difference between a good meeting and a bad meeting?
An effective meeting, and one in which people talk, but nothing really gets done.
In many cases, the difference is in the person running the meeting.
Whether he or she is the regular chairperson or a facilitator brought in from the outside, that person needs to make sure the meeting meets its objectives.
So, how can you do that?
How can you make meetings work?
That's what we're looking at in this series.
And the skills and techniques we're demonstrating are useful not just for meetings.
They can also be applied to all types of group discussions.
Today we're going to learn how to encourage quiet people, push for clarity, avoid committing to a position, conduct satisfaction checks and praise good work.
We'll rejoin Tony, Annette, and Jake as they discuss solutions to a problem in their company.
The meeting is being run by Liz, who has been brought in from another department to make sure the meeting is effective.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
One, what does Jake think is one of the basic problems?
Two, why doesn't Liz want to give her opinion?
Three, what are they going to talk about next?
All right.
Just to recap here, we need a solution to the leadership issue.
Tony has weighed in with some suggestions.
And we've heard from Annette.
But how about you, Jake?
Your perspective is really valuable here.
Can you envision a feasible solution to this problem?
Well, I kind of think a lot of it comes down to meeting structure and style.
Structure, huh?
What exactly do you think needs to change?
Well, the manager who's running the meeting always sets the agenda.
So, maybe if we tried something like rotating the chairperson at the weekly meeting.
Every week, a different employee can take charge of setting the agenda and chairing the actual meeting.
Liz, don't you think that could work?
Well, it's not really my place to say.
As you know, I'm just here to help you guys come to some decisions, but I do want to get that idea up here on the board.
Hold on a minute.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Okay, but for now let's just get some ideas up here and then we can talk about feasibility.
All right?
Now, let's look at what we've done.
I'm just going to circle the main ideas we've hammered out.
Is everyone happy with where we're at?
Yeah, some good ideas up there.
I think we've done okay.
I think so too.
In fact, we've come pretty far in these last two meetings.
You guys have done some great work.
Now, let's keep things rolling and talk about what's going to be possible.
Yeah, that sounds great.
All right, let's get to it.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques being used to facilitate the discussion.
We join the meeting in the middle of a discussion.
All right.
Just to recap here, we need a solution to the leadership issue.
Tony has weighed in with some suggestions.
And we've heard from Annette.
But how about you, Jake?
Your perspective is really valuable here.
Can you envision a feasible solution to this problem?
Liz begins by recapping or summarizing what has already happened.
She mentions Tony and Annette's contributions and then says, but how about you, Jake?
Jake is not a very talkative person, but his contribution is still important.
Liz encourages him by saying that his perspective is valuable.
She then puts the question to him directly, asking him whether he can envision or imagine a solution to the leadership issue.
When we run a meeting, we need to make sure we have a balance of input from all participants.
To do this, we often need to encourage quiet people, as Liz does.
Let's hear some other ways we can do this.
Notice how the speaker uses people's names and tries to draw out their ideas.
Margo, we haven't heard much from you yet.
Any ideas on this?
I think we need the employee perspective.
Greg, could you help us out here?
I can see you thinking pretty hard about this, Wendy.
Want to share your thoughts?
I'd really like to hear what Ernie has to say.
Ernie?
Now, how does Jake respond?
Well, I kind of think a lot of it comes down to meeting structure and style.
Structure, huh?
What exactly do you think needs to change?
Jake believes that the problem comes down to meeting structure and style.
This means that meetings are the most important part of the problem.
But this statement is a little bit vague.
Jake hasn't really given a solution, so Liz pushes for clarity.
She restates part of what Jake says and adds, huh, as an invitation to say more.
Liz then asks very directly what Jake thinks needs to change.
Making sure ideas are clear is an important job of the person running the meeting.
Listen to some more examples of pushing for clarity.
You said options.
Precisely which options are you talking about?
The general idea is interesting, but could you flesh it out for us with a few more details?
When you say people, which people are you referring to?
Why exactly do you think that would work?
Now back to the dialogue as Jake explains exactly what he means.
Well, the manager who's running the meeting always sets the agenda.
So, maybe if we tried something like rotating the chairperson at the weekly meeting.
Every week, a different employee can take charge of setting the agenda and chairing the actual meeting.
Liz, don't you think that could work?
Well, it's not really my place to say.
As you know, I'm just here to help you guys come to some decisions, but I do want to get that idea up here on the board.
Jake talks about meetings and says it is always a manager who sets the agenda or prepares the meeting outline.
He suggests changing this and having a different employee take charge of each meeting.
In other words, an employee will control and run the meeting.
Jake then asks Liz whether she thinks that his idea would work, but as a meeting facilitator, Liz is not there to give her opinion.
Her job is simply to help the group come to decisions, so she has to avoid committing to a position.
That's what she means when she says, it's not really my place to say.
She reminds the group that she is there to help, but not to give her opinion.
What are some other ways we can do this tactfully?
Well, I don't think my opinion is relevant here.
It could go either way.
I'll leave it for you folks to decide.
There are certainly pros and cons on both sides, but I really don't know which is better.
That's not really for me to say.
I'll just stick to making sure we're keeping to the agenda here.
Let's hear what happens next.
Hold on a minute.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Okay, but for now let's just get some ideas up here and then we can talk about feasibility.
Alright,
Now, let's look at what we've done.
I'm just going to circle the main ideas we've hammered out.
Is everyone happy with where we're at?
Annette thinks Jake's idea is a recipe for disaster.
This is a way of saying that she thinks it would cause huge problems.
But Liz wants to go step by step and just get ideas before talking about feasibility or what is and isn't possible.
Before moving on, Liz asks the group to look at what they've done.
We can imagine them looking at the notes on the whiteboard as Liz circles the main ideas.
Liz then asks everyone if they're happy with their progress.
She is taking a moment to pause the process and conduct a satisfaction check.
This is important because in a meeting, we want people to all be working together and satisfied with the process.
Let's listen to some other ways we can conduct a little satisfaction check.
Everyone okay with this?
Before we move on, I just want to make sure we haven't missed anything.
Let's step back for a moment.
Are we making good progress here?
We've been working on a majority rules basis.
Everyone still good with that?
How does the group respond to Liz's satisfaction check?
Yeah, some good ideas up there.
I think we've done okay.
I think so too.
In fact, we've come pretty far in these last two meetings.
You guys have done some great work.
Now, let's keep things rolling and talk about what's going to be possible.
Liz hears some positive feedback from Tony and Jake.
Then, before moving on to the next topic, Liz gives the group some praise.
She says they've come pretty far or made a lot of progress.
Liz also says they've done great work.
Praising a group's work in this way can help set up a positive or constructive attitude for the rest of the meeting.
It can also help people feel good about the entire session.
What are some other ways we can praise people's good work?
Let's listen to a few examples.
All right.
Way to go, people.
I think you've come to some great decisions.
Nice work.
There was a lot of tough stuff to get through today, but you did great.
Fantastic job, folks.
Give yourselves a big pat on the back.
Now, listen to the end of this dialogue.
Yeah, that sounds great.
All right, let's get to it.
It sounds like they're ready to tackle the next issue on their agenda, and Liz has done a good job of moving the group along.
Now, let's practice some of the language we've learned for pushing for clarity.
For each practice, you'll hear a statement.
Then, you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to ask for more clarity.
For example, if you hear... You can say, Exactly which decisions do you mean?
We'll play example answers after the practice.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Interesting idea.
Give.
Details.
Answer That's an interesting idea, but could you give me more details?
But some departments are really underperforming.
When, say, some departments, which ones?
Answer.
When you say some departments, which ones do you mean?
I really think we need to rebrand ourselves as makers of luxury items.
Why, exactly, think, work Answer.
Why exactly do you think that would work?
What kind?
Problems.
Think.
Have.
Answer.
What kind of problems do you think we'll have?
Now, let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences where the words replace with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear... Okay, before we continue, let's... our last discussion.
You can say, Okay, before we continue, let's recap our last discussion.
We'll play the correct answer after each question.
Let's begin.
The sales manager usually sets the for the staff meeting.
Answer The sales manager usually sets the agenda for the staff meeting.
Hiring people with no experience is a recipe for Answer.
Hiring people with no experience is a recipe for disaster.
I think we've come pretty... in the past year.
Answer.
I think we've come pretty far in the past year.
I'm really glad that Jerry took... of our new project.
Answer I'm really glad that Gerry took charge of our new project.
We've reached the end of this episode, the second in our two-part series about making meetings work.
We've looked at how to encourage quiet people, praise good work and conduct satisfaction checks.
We've also learned how to avoid committing to a position and push for clarity.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
