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WRITING. Exercise 6. Do the written translation of the article «I don’t know how to chair a meeting!» for your senior manager
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Exercise 6. Do the written translation of the article «I don’t know how to chair a meeting!» for your senior manager. He would like to have the whole of the translation.
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IT IS INTERESTING TO KNOW.
In some cultures the main role of the chairperson is to control the meeting. This may include sticking to an agenda, keeping order and making sure that the meeting does not overrun. In other cultures the function of the chairperson might be to encourage participation and agreement. What is the main function of a chairperson in meetings in your country?
| Consensus-oriented | Results-oriented |
| In difficult situations, the chairperson may focus on compromise and mediation. | In difficult situations, the chairperson may attempt to control the meeting and use formal rules to keep order. |
| The chairperson may define their role as that of helping to achieve agreement or consensus. | The chairperson may define their role as that of helping to achieve objectives or decide on a series of action points. |
How to deal with difficult situations during the meeting.
Part 2. DIFFICULT SITUATIONS AT THE MEETING.
A. DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR.
Exercise 1. Look at the following examples of behaviour that a chairperson might have to deal with in a meeting. Which situation(s) should the chairperson deal with most urgently?
Discuss what strategies the chairperson could use in each situation:
1. A participant looks bored and is not contributing to the discussion.
2. Every time anyone makes a suggestion, one participant responds with a negative comment. They say why an idea won’t work, but don’t make any positive suggestions.
3. Two participants keep having private, whispered discussion during the meeting.
4. A participant doesn’t want to listen to anyone else’s ideas. They keep interrupting and try to dominate any topic discussed.
5. A participant is not very willing to give an opinion.
6. A participant keeps introducing irrelevant topics to the discussion.
B. DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE.
Exercise 2. Look at the suggestions below for dealing with difficult situations and choose the response that you think would work better.
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1. Help calm a difficult situation by acknowledging how the person feels.
a) You’re obviously pretty angry about this.
b) I can see that you feel strongly about this.
2. Try to find out why the person is being difficult.
a) Can you explain why you are feeling this way?
b) Why are you being unreasonable?
3. Show that you understand.
a) I can sympathise with your concerns.
b) I realise why you’re panicking about that.
4. Encourage quiet participants when they contribute, even if you don’t agree with their ideas.
a) Thanks for your suggestion, but you really need to think it through a bit more.
b) I think the basic idea is good, but perhaps we could discuss some of the details.
5. Be firm if people try to use the meeting to speak about personal grievances.
a) This isn’t the best place to discuss this.
b) Leave your personal differences out of this.
C. INTERRUPTING AND HANDLING INTERRUPTIONS.
Different styles of interrupting apply in different situations.
Appropriacy depends on place, context and the people involved.
For example, internal meetings or meetings with clients, friends, status of relationships, formality, urgency, time considerations, conventions, agenda, style of discussion etc.
Generally, the more informal the meeting, the more likely that interruptions will be acceptable.
In large formal meetings, interrupting may be reserved only for the chair.
Interruptions can have different intentions:
a) to ask for clarification;
b) to add opinion;
c) to ask for more details;
d) to change the direction of the discussion;
e) to disagree.
In some cultures, people like to work in a sequential manner, finishing one task before starting the next. Such people dislike being interrupted in the middle of a task and having to consider something else. In other cultures, people can happily handle several tasks at once. This means they don’t mind interruptions. These different attitudes can affect the way meetings are run.
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Exercise 3. Read the following discussion in the European sales office of an American off-road automobile manufacturer (Amass). It concerns the advertising plans for the launch of a new truck, the Rodeo 4 PLUS. Manager, Matt Haslam, is explaining his ideas.
Mark the following statements as True (T) or False (F).
| True | False | ||
| a) | The truck will be sold to professions users of off-road vehicles. | ||
| b) | It is not going to be used as a mass market on-road vehicle. | ||
| c) | Matt wants to keep the same agency they have already used. | ||
| d) | Matt used his own research to help him make decisions. | ||
| e) | Changing advertising agency would cost 50% more. |
| Paolo: | So, Matt, the next item on the agenda is the 4 PLUS advertising campaign. Tell us about your ideas for this. |
| Matt: | Okay. The central idea is that the Rodeo 4 PLUS is a new direction, a truck with no limits. The point is… |
| Rosa: | Excuse me, Matt, just a moment. That’s a big claim … |
| Matt: | Of course it’s big! The truck offers a total solution and that’s … |
| Paolo: | One moment! Can we start with a few basics? |
| Matt: | Sure. |
| Paolo: | Let’s just clarify who the audience are, what’s the target group? |
| Matt: | Professionals, people who need a professional workhorse for a truck. Later, we go for a more mass market. That’s the big idea of the 4 PLUS. |
| Paolo: | Yes, so, a professional market first, then the mass market, an on-road vehicle. |
| Matt: | Right. Now, as I said a month ago, I want to talk about agencies. |
| Rosa: | You plan to use our usual agency, CMA? |
| Matt: | Listen. We’ve been advised by independent consultants that we need a fresh marketing style. Our contract with CMA is almost through. We have an opportunity to take on a new agency. |
| Rosa: | But why? CMA have been okay in the past. |
| Matt: | We need fresh ideas, a new style. This product is different. We want to capture a specialist market and then move for a more mass market. This is new territory – a diff… |
| Rosa: | Yes, but Matt, if I can interrupt you again. We’re talking serious money here. We’ve got to be careful… |
| Matt: | The costs are not going to be much higher …. |
| Paolo: | What! Most agencies charge a lot more than CMA. |
| Matt: | That’s not true. In terms of total advertising budget. A new agency isn’t going to increase our costs by more than 5%. But we can talk about costs later. |
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| Rosa: | It’s the most important thing… |
| Matt: | Rosa, listen, can I just say what I want to say? Can I say what the consultants said? Later the costs, the market, the advertising, but let me tell you…I think it’s important to understand what the experts have said. So, let me explain that first. No more interruptions… |
| Rosa: | Okay, go on then. |
| Matt: | Right. We’ve been working with a marketing consultancy with huge experience in off-road and four wheel drive trucks. |
Exercise 4. Read the conversation again. Choose the interrupting phrases and write them down in the order in which you read them. There should be nine of them.
1. …………………………………………………….…………………………………
2. …………………………………………………………………………….…………
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ………………………….……………………………………………………………
5. ……………………………….………………………………………………………
6. ……………………….………………………………………………………………
7. ………………………….……………………………………………………………
8. ……………………….………………………………………………………………
9. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Exercise 5. a) Discuss the style of the Amass meeting.
b) How does Matt handle the interruptions? Does his approach change at any point during the extract?
c) Did you think the interruptions are appropriate?
QUICK COMMUNICATION CHECK. (optional)
Exercise 6. Stating opinion.
Complete the following phrases.
1. It s………………………………………………… to me that the price is too high.
2. I t…………………………………………….……. the price is too high.
3. I b……………………………………………..…… the price is too high.
4. In my o…………………………………………….., the price is too high.
5. In my v…………………………………………….., the price is too high.
Exercise 7. Asking for opinion.
Complete these exchanges using one of the words in the box.
think, interesting, great, agree, hear, opinion (2), right, information
1. What’s your (a) ……………………………………………………...……. on this?
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2. It’s a (b) ……………………………………………………………….……… idea.
3. Do you have any particular (c) …………………………………..… on the subject?
4. It’s (d) ………………….……, but I need more (e) ……………………………….
5. Mark, can we (f) ………………………………………………… from you on this?
6. I (g) …………………… with Madeleine, she’s absolutely (h) ……………….…...
7. Let’s hear what others (i) …………………………………………………….….….
Exercise 8. Interrupting.
Underline the correct word to complete these sentences.
1. Can I say/tell/talk something here? I think …
2. Excuse me, Mr Chairman, I want to interrupt/disagree/not agree with what Mr Ancram has said.
3. I’m sorry, may I add/interrupt opinion? It seems to me….
4. That’s not the true/true sure!
5. I’m afraid/pardon/sorry but I’d like to go/move on/continue another point.
Exercise 9. Handling interruptions.
Replace the marked words in the sentences below with words or phrases in the box that mean the same.
talk about, return, not talk about, interrupt, finish, anything to do with, go ahead
| 1. | – Can I come in here? – Sure, say what you want to say. | |
| 2. | – Paul, one point… – Please, let me conclude what I was saying. | |
| 3. | – But the agreement is for six months! – Can we come back to that point later? | |
| 4. | – Can I ask about the insurance? – That’s not really relevant to the topic. | |
| 5. | – We should discuss the contract. – Can we leave that today? I think that’s for another meeting. |