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Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today's lesson on how to manage the discussion during a meeting.
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Bad meetings can waste time and leave everyone confused.
But a well-run meeting can help create new ideas, solve problems, and move a project forward.
Running a great meeting is about more than just following an agenda.
It means guiding the conversation effectively.
If you're running formal meetings as a manager or team leader, this skill is essential.
But even if you're just a team member who wants to make sure your team has good discussions, it's good to understand what's behind running a meeting.
And you never know when it might be your job to facilitate.
Good meeting management often means keeping the discussion focused and inviting different viewpoints or opinions.
It also means widening the discussion, moving to a new agenda item, and checking for agreement.
In this lesson, we'll rejoin a meeting about budget cuts at an international shipping company.
Martin, the general manager, is facilitating the meeting.
We'll also hear Sandra, Sam, and David, three employees in the meeting.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, how does Martin respond to Sam's comment about pizza?
Two, what does Martin say once they have finished talking about the outsourcing issue?
Three, at the end of the conversation, what question does Martin ask everyone if they agree on?
Sandra, would you please kick off?
Well, this is a great way to cut a lot of fat.
My figures show that we can save almost $50,000 with this one.
Can I just come in here?
That reminds me, we really can't have pizza for lunch again.
It's unhealthy.
Sorry, Sam, but I think this is a bit of a sidetrack.
Let's try to keep to the agenda, okay?
I want to get everyone out of here on time.
Of course.
So, as I was saying, outsourcing the cleaning can really save a lot of money.
It's a no-brainer if you ask me.
Uh-huh.
What do others think?
Is there anything else we should consider?
Well, frankly, I think it's a little harsh just to let people go.
After all, we've been working with them side-by-side for years and we have to think about how it will affect morale.
Right.
We seem to have dealt with the outsourcing issue.
Now, let's move on to the brochures.
We've budgeted $68,500 to redesign and reprint all the sales and marketing brochures.
Dave, this is your area of expertise.
What do you think?
Well, obviously if we're facing a shortfall, we need to make cuts.
And this cut would be less painful than many of the others.
But we really have to prioritize sales.
Perhaps we can consider a limited redesign?
I agree.
I do too.
You know Dave, speaking of the brochure, you should really consider using a different vendor for the brochures this time.
I didn't think they did a good job on the last ones at all.
You may have a point there, Sandra.
But let's leave that for the regular team meeting on Thursday.
We still have a lot to cover.
Okay.
All right.
Can we go around the table to make sure everyone agrees?
All those in favor of a limited redesign of the brochure?
Yeah.
Aye.
All those against?
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at how Martin manages the discussion about budget cuts.
The first topic on the agenda is outsourcing cleaning.
This means paying another company to do the cleaning, rather than using your own employees.
Sandra, would you please kick off?
Well, this is a great way to cut a lot of fat.
My figures show that we can save almost $50,000 with this one.
Sandra likes the idea of outsourcing cleaning because it could save a lot of money.
Or, as she says, it could cut a lot of fat.
Let's hear how Sam responds to this expression.
Can I just come in here?
That reminds me, we really can't have pizza for lunch again.
It's unhealthy.
Sorry, Sam.
But I think this is a bit of a sidetrack.
Let's try to keep to the agenda, okay?
I want to get everyone out of here on time.
Sandra uses the expression, cut a lot of fat, to talk about saving money.
But this idiom reminds Sam of their unhealthy lunch.
So he takes the opportunity to comment on the food choices.
Of course, the topic of pizza isn't on the agenda and, as a facilitator, Martin's job is to keep everyone focused on the points for discussion.
Right away he tells Sam that his comment is a sidetrack or a topic that isn't important to the discussion.
Martin emphasizes that keeping to the agenda will help everyone finish on time, and that's a great way to keep the discussion focused.
Let's try some more ways of doing this.
Let's come back to the main topic for a moment.
I think we're getting off track, so let's return to the issue at hand.
Just to refocus, we're trying to agree on the budget today.
Let's get back to the dialogue and to the topic of outsourcing the cleaning.
Of course.
So, as I was saying, outsourcing the cleaning can really save a lot of money.
It's a no-brainer if you ask me.
Uh-huh.
What do others think?
Is there anything else we should consider?
Martin asks Sandra to talk about this first topic and it's clear that she thinks outsourcing cleaning is an easy decision or a no-brainer, but she's the only one who has given an opinion about the issue so far.
When you run a meeting, you want to make sure there's broad participation.
In fact, there's no point in having a meeting if you can't get more than one person's opinion.
So Martin asks what other people think.
He asks a very open question about anything else we should consider.
What are some other ways of widening the discussion and getting input from more than one person?
Let's practice some more examples.
Let's open this up.
Are there other ideas we haven't considered yet?
I'd like to hear from others on this before we move forward.
What do other teams think about this approach?
Are there other options we should be looking at here?
Martin has invited others to give their opinion, and Dave is happy to share his.
Let's listen.
Well, frankly, I think it's a little harsh just to let people go.
After all, we've been working with them side by side for years and we have to think about how it will affect morale.
Dave doesn't really agree with Sandra.
For him, it's not just about saving money.
They also have to think about how people will feel if they let people go or fire them.
Now that they've had a couple of opinions on the issue of outsourcing cleaning, Martin wants to move on to the next topic on the agenda.
Right.
We seem to have dealt with the outsourcing issue.
Now, let's move on to the brochures.
Martin says they are finished with outsourcing and asks them to move on or continue with the topic of brochures or printed marketing materials.
Changing the topic to new agenda items is a skill that everyone running a meeting must have.
Let's try some more ways of moving the discussion on.
Let's move ahead and look at the issue of employee benefits.
Okay, I think we've said about all we can on that, so let's move on.
If there's nothing else to discuss on this for now, let's look at the next item.
Thanks, everyone.
Now let's talk about the project timeline.
Once Martin has introduced the general topic of brochures, he states the exact issue.
We've budgeted $68,500 to redesign and reprint all the sales and marketing brochures.
Dave, this is your area of expertise.
What do you think?
As you can hear, the group is planning to change the brochures.
And while many people might have opinions about this, Martin invites input from Dave in particular.
Martin says the marketing materials are Dave's area of expertise.
This means that Dave is an expert on the topic.
His opinion on the issue is very important.
Martin wants the expert opinion first, so he identifies Dave clearly and asks him to speak first.
Let's run through some more ways of inviting input from one particular person.
Lena, do you have anything to add?
Tom, I'd be interested to hear your perspective.
Now let's hear Dave's opinion about redesigning and reprinting the brochures.
Well, obviously, if we're facing a shortfall, we need to make cuts.
And this cut would be less painful than many of the others.
But we really have to prioritize sales.
Perhaps we can consider a limited redesign?
I agree.
I do too.
You know Dave, speaking of the brochure, you should really consider using a different vendor for the brochures this time.
I didn't think they did a good job on the last ones at all.
David suggested a limited redesign.
This means that the design of the brochures wouldn't be completely changed.
It would be simpler than a complete redesign and help them save money.
Sam and Sandra agree with this idea.
And Sandra goes on to suggest a vendor or printing company with better quality.
This particular issue of the vendor for the brochures isn't exactly what they're supposed to be talking about.
You may have a point there, Sandra, but let's leave that for the regular team meeting on Thursday.
We still have a lot to cover.
Okay.
All right.
Can we go around the table to make sure everyone agrees?
All those in favor of a limited redesign of the brochure?
Yep.
Aye.
All those against?
Aye.
After letting Sandra know that her suggestion is best for another meeting, Martin wants to refocus on the idea of a limited redesign.
And on this issue, the group really needs a decision.
Sometimes a meeting is just to come up with ideas, but sometimes a decision needs to be made.
As the person running the meeting, Martin wants to make sure everyone agrees.
He's already heard agreement from a couple of people, but good decisions have full support of everyone.
So he wants to go around the table and everyone will say if they are in favor of or against the idea.
That means they support it or they oppose it.
How else can we ask for agreement from a group of people in a meeting?
Let's practice a few examples.
Does everyone agree with that approach?
Are we all on the same page here?
Just to check, are we all okay with this decision?
Asking for everyone's agreement like this is critical when group decisions have to be made.
Sometimes teams might take a vote on certain decisions, but often the best decisions are made by consensus, meaning that everyone agrees on the right way to move forward.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you are a manager at a manufacturing company.
You've called a meeting to discuss the budget and timeline for a project.
You'll hear a cue from a meeting participant.
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.
Sorry, I just wanted to mention that I really don't like the new office signs.
Start by saying, that's a good point, but you want to focus on budget planning for now.
Answer.
That's a good point, but let's stay focused on the budget planning for now.
Right, sorry.
Back to the numbers.
Then they look pretty good, in my opinion.
Now say that's great and ask if anyone else has some input.
Answer that's great and does anyone else have input on this?
Seems like everyone is pretty happy with it.
Now say that you agree and move on to the topic of the project timeline.
Answer.
Okay then.
Let's move on to the next topic, which is the project timeline.
Sounds good to me.
Now ask Robin to give an opinion about whether the current timeline looks possible.
Answer.
So, Robin, can you tell us whether the current timeline looks possible?
Yes.
Well, it should be fine as long as there are no production delays.
Finally, tell a group you want to check whether everyone agrees with Robin's opinion.
Okay, and just to check, does everyone agree with Robin's opinion?
That's all for this lesson on managing a meeting.
We've learned how to keep the discussion focused and how to widen the discussion if needed.
We've also looked at moving on to a new agenda item inviting input from a specific individual and checking that everyone agrees.
For more practice.
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