Cap.

10 Business Meetings in English

Cuprins:

1. Preparing for a Meeting

2. Opening a Meeting

3. Following the Agenda

4. Closing a Meeting

5. Vocabulary

1
 Fie ca tineti o intalnire de afaceri, sau participati la una, este
important sa intelegeti cuvinte si expresii de baza in limba engleza legate de
sedinte .Cu o pregatire adecvata si o organizare atenta, intalnirea va decurge
fara surprize.
Stabilirea obiectivelor și a termenelor, menținerea la ordinea de zi,
precum și a ști cum să va reorientati, sunt componente cheie ale unei
reuniuni eficiente. Acest lucru poate suna simplu, in limba nativa, dar este
un pic mai complicat atunci când participanții nu vorbesc fluent limba
engleză. Aceste pagini vă vor ajuta să țineți sau să participati la o sedinta de
afaceri in limba engleza si sa aveti succes.
Scenario

Următoarele pagini vor fi bazate pe un scenariu: o sedinta de afaceri

in cadrul unei companii fictive numită Paris Tours.Proprietarul companiei
de turism este Pierre. El are zece angajați, inclusiv patru supraveghetori,
Kana și Thomas (ghizi de turism ), Nolan (șofer), și Jane
(recepționerul).Acesti patru supraveghetori vor fi chemați la o întâlnire
pentru a discuta despre sezonul turistic viitor.

In paginile care urmeaza veti vedea cum se pregătește Pierre pentru

întâlnire, precum și modul în care personalul său participă.

1. Preparing for a Meeting

2
Calling a Meeting/ Convocarea unei sedinte

Există diverse moduri în care puteti chema pe cineva sau puteti fi

chemat la o sedinta. Unele întâlniri sunt anunțate prin e-mail, iar altele sunt
postate pe aviziere. Dacă o întâlnire este anunțata la sfârșitul altei sedinte,
este important să se emită un memento. Un memento poate veni, de
asemenea, sub forma unui e-mail sau notificare. Anunțurile verbale sau
memento-urile ar trebui să fie întotdeauna susținute de cele documentate.

Data, locul, ora, durata, și scopul reuniunii ar trebui să fie incluse (The
date, location, time, length, and purpose of the meeting should be included).
De asemenea, este important să se indice exact cine va participa, și cine nu
.Daca planificati sa alocati cuiva un anumit rol in cadrul sedintei, contactati-l
personal pentru a-l informa de acest aspect.

Sample E-mail:

To: jane@paristours.com
cc: kana@paristours.com; thomas@paristours.com;
nolan@paristours.com
From: pierre@paristours.com
Subject: Meeting

Hi Everyone,

We will be having a meeting next Friday from 2:00 PM-4:00

PM in Room 3.
All supervisors are expected to attend. The purpose of the
meeting is to
discuss the upcoming tourist season. As you probably have
heard, this
could be our busiest season to date. There are already
twenty bus tours
booked from Japan, and fifteen walking tours booked from
North America.
We are also expecting Korean and Australian tours in late
summer. Please
make arrangements to have other staff members cover your
duties during
the meeting.

Thank you,
Pierre

3
Sample Notice:

MEETING
LOCATION: Room 3
DATE: Friday, May 5th
TIME: 2:00 PM-4:00 P.M.
FOR: Supervisors only
SUBJECT: Tourist Season
ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY

Writing an Agenda*
“Agenda”, in lb, engleza se traduce adesea ca: plan de lucru, ordinea de zi

În scopul de a menține reuniunea din sarcină în cadrul de timp stabilit

, este important să avem o agendă, un plan. Agenda ar trebui să indice
ordinea desfasurarii și o valoare estimativa de timp pentru fiecare punct.(The
agenda should indicate the order of items and an estimated amount of time
for each item.).
Dacă în timpul reuniunii vor vorbi mai multe persoane, planul sedintei
ar trebui să indice cand este randul fiecaruia de a " lua cuvantul "("to have
the floor"). In cele mai multe cazuri este util sa transmiteti ordinea de zi
participanților înainte de ședință.Astfel oamenii vor participa mai activ la
intalnire, punand intrebari si oferind feedback, daca stiu dinainte ce subiecte
vor fi discutate, si astfel se pot pregati.

Sample Agenda:

1 Welcome, Introduction: Pierre and Stella (5 minutes)

2 Minutes from previous meeting: Jane (10 minutes)
3 Japan Tours: Pierre (15 minutes)
4 N.A. Tours: Pierre (15 minutes)
5 Korean Tours: Pierre (15 minutes)
6 Australian Tours: Pierre (if time allows 10 minutes)
7 Feedback from last year: Everyone (15 minutes)
8 Vote on staff picnic: Everyone (15 minutes)

4
9 Questions/Closing remarks/Reminders: Everyone (5 minutes)

Allocating roles
Persoana responsabilă de organizarea unei reuniuni poate decide să
aloce anumite roluri membrilor personalului .Cineva poate fi invitat să se
ocupe de procesul-verbal, cineva se poate ocupa de conferintele telefonice
cu partenerii din strainatate, iar altcineva să vorbească pe un anumit subiect.
Aceasta alocare a rolurilor poate fi facuta fie personal, fie printr-un e-mail.
Mai jos regasiti exemple in acest sens:

Sample Personal Request:

Pierre: Hi Jane, did you get the e-mail about next week's meeting?
Jane: Yes, I'll be there.
Pierre: Great. I'd like to put you in charge of reviewing the minutes from
last meeting for us.
Jane: Sure, I can do that. I think there is a copy of the minutes in my file.
Pierre: Thanks, you'll have ten minutes to remind us of what we discussed
last meeting. This will be good for Stella to hear. Stella will be our new
private tours coordinator.

Sample E-mail:
To: jane@paristours.com
From: pierre@paristours.com
Subject: Minutes

Hi Jane,

I just wanted to make sure that you would be available

to review last month's minutes and present them at Friday's
meeting. We have a new staff member joining us, so I'd like
to give her a chance to see where things have been going
since the last meeting.

If you have any concerns about this, let me know.

Thanks,
Pierre

5
 2. Opening a Meeting

Small Talk

Fie că sunteți cel care ține întâlnirea sau un participant la aceasta, este
politicos să faceti conversatie în timp ce așteptați sa înceapa ședința. Ar
trebui să discutati lucrurile nu au legătură cu întâlnirea, cum ar fi vremea,
despre familie, sau planurile de weekend.

Sample Dialogue:

Pierre: Hi Thomas. How are you?

Thomas: Great thanks, and you?
Pierre: Well, I'm good now that the warm weather has finally arrived.
Thomas: I know what you mean. I thought winter was never going to end.
Pierre: Have you dusted off your golf clubs yet?
Thomas: Funny you should ask. I'm heading out with my brother-in-law for
the first round of the year on Saturday.

Welcome

După ce toată lumea a sosit, președintele, sau oricine este responsabil de

întâlnire ar trebui să salute în mod oficial pe toată lumea și sa le
mulțumeasca participanților.

• Well, since everyone is here, we should get started. (Ei bine, din moment
ce toată lumea este aici, ar trebui să începem.)
• Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming today. (Bună ziua, tuturor. Vă
mulțumim că ați venit astăzi.)
• I think we'll begin now. First I'd like to welcome you all.( Cred că vom
începe acum. În primul rând aș dori să vă urez bun venit tuturor.)
• Thank you all for coming at such short notice.( Va multumim tuturor ca
ati venit in timp atat de scurt.)
• I really appreciate you all for attending today.( Apreciez ca participati
astăzi.)
• We have a lot to cover today, so we really should begin.( Avem multe de
acoperit astăzi, așa că într-adevăr ar trebui să începem.)

6
Sample Welcome:

Pierre: I think we'll begin now. First I'd like to welcome you all and thank
everyone for coming, especially at such short notice. I know you are all very
busy and it's difficult to take time away from your daily tasks for meetings.

Introductions

Dacă cineva de la întâlnire este nou in cadrul grupului, sau în cazul în

care există un vorbitor oaspete, aceasta este momentul în care ar trebui să fie
facuta introducerea. Persoana responsabilă de reuniune poate introduce noile
persoane, sau poate cere persoanei de a se prezenta personal:

• I'd like to take a moment to introduce our new tour coordinator.( Aș

dori un moment pentru a va prezenta noul nostru ghid turistic).
• I know most of you, but there are a few unfamiliar faces.(Ii cunosc pe
majoritatea dintre voi, dar sunt si cateva fețe noi.)
• Stella, would you like to stand up and introduce yourself?(Stella, ai dori
sa te ridici sis a te prezinti?)
• Hi everyone. I'm Judy Strauss. I'll be acting as Amanda's assistant
while Nancy is away on maternity leave.( Buna tuturor. Sunt Judy Strauss.
Voi fi asistenta Amandei cat timp Nancy este în concediu de maternitate.)

Roll Call/Apologies (Apel nominal / Ne cerem scuze)

Daca la sedinta participa putine persoane, nu este necesar sa se faca

prezenta cu voce tare. Cel care tine sedinta ii cunoaste deja pe toti personal,
si poate spune cine este sau nu prezent. Într-o întâlnire mai mare, ar putea fi
necesar să circule o foaie de prezență sau sa se strige numele fiecarui
participant. În cazul în care o figură importantă este absenta, poate fi necesar
ca președintele să-mi cer scuze pentru absența lui sau a ei și de a oferi o
scurtă explicație pentru asta:

• It looks like everyone is here today.( Se pare ca toata lumea este aici
astăzi.)
• If you notice anyone missing, please let Jane know so that she can
make a note of it.(Dacă observați ca cineva lipsește, va rugam sa o anuntati pe
Jane, astfel încât ea sa noteze.)

7
 • Unfortunately, Ken cannot join us today. He has been called away on
business.( Din păcate, Ken nu ni se poate alătura astăzi. El este plecat cu
afaceri.)
• Mike will be standing in to take the minutes today, as Lisa is home
with the flu.(Mike va lua notite astazi, deoarece Lisa este racita.)

Objectives

Unele persoane care prezideaza sedinte de afaceri preferă să distribuie in

sala copii ale agendei de lucru, iar altele pot posta o copie mare pe un perete,
sau vor folosi un proiector.Indiferent ce format este folosit, participanții ar
trebui să poată să urmareasca ordinea de zi pe masura ce sedinta
progresează. Înainte de a începe cu primul punct,vorbitorul ar trebui să
ofere o scurtă schiță verbală a obiectivelor urmarite.

Sample Introduction to the Agenda:

Pierre: As you can all see here on the agenda we will be mainly talking
about the upcoming tourist season. First we'll discuss the groups that will be
coming in from Japan. After that we'll discuss the North American Tours,
followed by the Korean tours. If time allows we will also discuss the
Australian tours which are booked for early September. Next, I'm going to
request some feedback from all of you concerning last year's tours and
where you think we can improve. And finally, we'll be voting on where and
when to have this year's staff picnic.

8
 3. Following the Agenda

Taking the Minutes

Oricine, inclusiv tu, poate fi atribuit cu sarcina de a lua notite la o

întâlnire. Adesea, cineva care nu participă la ședință va fi desemnat sa ia
notite. Înainte de o întâlnire cel care ia notite ar trebui să revizuiască
următoarele:

• The minutes from previous meeting (notitele de la intalnirea precedenta)

• All of the names of the attendees (if possible)(numele tuturor
participantilor, daca este posibil)
• The items on the agenda (punctele cuprinse in ordinea de zi)

Este, de asemenea, utila crearea unei schițe înainte de a merge la întâlnire. O

schiță ar trebui să includă următoarele:

• A title for the meeting

• The location of the meeting
• A blank spot to write the time the meeting started and ended
• The name of the chairperson(presedintele, purtatorul de cuvant)
• A list of attendees that can be checked off(or a blank list for attendees
to sign)(O listă de participanți, care poate fi verificata (sau o listă pentru
participanți de a semna)
• A blank spot for any attendees who arrive late or leave early(Un loc gol
pentru participanții care sosesc cu întârziere sau pleaca mai devreme.)

9
Sample Minutes Outline:

Supervisor's Meeting
Friday, May 5
Room 3
Start: ________ Finish: ________
Chair: Pierre
Attendees:
1._________
2._________
3._________
4._________
5._________
Late to arrive:_________
Early to depart:________

Watching the Time

Unul dintre cele mai dificile lucruri la o întâlnire eficientă este

incadrarea în limitele de timp . O buna planificare va contura cât timp este
alocat fiecarui element al discutiei.Gasiti mai jos câteva expresii care pot fi
utilizate pentru a menține reuniunea în ritmul adecvat..

• I think we've spent enough time on this topic.

• We're running short on time, so let's move on.
• We're running behind schedule, so we'll have to skip the next item.

10
 • We only have fifteen minutes remaining and there's a lot left to cover.
• If we don't move on, we'll run right into lunch.
• We've spent too long on this issue, so we'll leave it for now.
• We'll have to come back to this at a later time.
• We could spend all day discussing this, but we have to get to the next
item.

Regaining Focus

Este usor sa deviezi de la subiect cand sunt atatia oameni in sala cu care
discuti.Este responsiblitatea președintelui de a păstra discuția axata pe
subiect.Iată câteva expresii pentru a menține reuniunea centrată pe
elementele care apar pe ordinea de zi:

• Let's stick to the task at hand, shall we?

• I think we're steering off topic a bit with this.
• I'm afraid we've strayed from the matter at hand.
• You can discuss this among yourselves at another time.
• We've lost sight of the point here.
• This matter is not on today's agenda.
• Let's save this for another meeting.
• Getting back to item number 5...
• Now where were we? Oh yes, let's vote.

Voting

Atunci când problemele nu pot fi rezolvate sau deciziile nu pot fi ușor

de luat, ele sunt adesea supuse la vot. Cele mai multe voturi au loc în timpul
întâlnirilor. Voturile pot fi deschise, în cazul în care oamenii își ridica
mâinile, în opoziție sau în favoarea problemei.Într-un vot deschis,
rezultatele sunt evidente imediat. Alte voturi, cum ar fi cine ar trebui să fie
ales să-și asume un anumit rol, sunt private sau închise. În timpul votului
privat, participanții completează buletinele de vot și le pun într-o cutie
pentru a fi apoi numarate.Rezultatele vor fi numarate după întâlnire. Mai jos
sunt câteva expresii specifice utilizate în votul deschis:

• All in favour?
(Those who agree raise their hands or say "Aye".)
• All opposed?
• Motion to hire more tour guides, moved by Thomas.
(Suggestions or ideas that are put to a vote are called motions. When

11
 a person makes a suggestion, the term to use both during the meeting
and in the minutes is moved.)
• Motion to hire more tour guides seconded by Nolan.
(When another person agrees with the motion, it is seconded.)

Cand o motiune a fost votata si agreata, aceasta se numeste “carried”. Cand

a fost votata si dezagerata, se numeste “failed”.

Sample Voting Session:

-Pierre: Okay, now that we've covered most of the business, it's time to vote
on the staff picnic. Jane and I have come up with two different ideas. I'll give
Jane the floor now, and she'll outline these two options. After that we'll vote.
I don't think there is any reason to have a private vote, so I'll just ask to see
a show of hands. Jane, would you do the honours?
-Jane: Thanks Pierre. Okay, so, as you all probably assumed, we are going
to wait until most of the tours have passed through before we have the staff
picnic. That way most of you should be able to attend. So we've chosen the
last Sunday of September. I hope that works out for all of you. Now, the first
option is to have a BBQ at Mariposa Beach. We would do this on the last
Sunday of September. The second option is to have a potluck dinner/pool
party in Pierre's backyard. The only problem with this is if it rains, there
isn't much in the way of shelter there. I don't think Pierre and his wife will
want all of us dashing inside in a thunderstorm.
- Pierre: Well, if we had to we could probably squeeze everyone in the
basement. Anyhow, those are the options, so let's put it to a vote. All in
favour of option number one? Raise your hands please...okay, one vote. And,
all in favour of option number two? That's four. Okay, so it looks like a pool
party at my house.
- Jane: Great. I'll put up a sign up sheet and everyone can write down what
they plan to bring.

Comments and Feedback

În timpul reuniunii, participanții vor comenta, oferi feedback, sau pune

întrebări. Iată câteva modalități de a face acest lucru politicos:

• If I could just come in here...

• I'm afraid I'd have to disagree about that.
• Could I just say one thing?
• I'm really glad you brought that up, Kana.

12
 • I couldn't agree with you more. (I agree)
• Jane, could you please speak up. We can't hear you at the back.
• If I could have the floor (chance to speak) for a moment...
• We don't seem to be getting anywhere with this.
• Perhaps we should come back to this at another time?

4.Closing a Meeting
Wrapping Up

Există diferite motive de ce o reuniune a ajuns la final.

Timpul alocat poate fi epuizat, sau toate elementele din
ordinea de zi pot fi acoperite. Unele întâlniri se vor încheia
mai devreme decât se astepta, iar altele mult mai tarziu
târziu. Uneori o sedinta se poate incheia brusc, din cauza
unei probleme neașteptate sau o circumstanță neprevazuta.
Aici sunt o varietate de moduri de a suspenda o reuniune:

• It looks like we've run out of time, so I guess we'll finish here.
• I think we've covered everything on the list.
• I guess that will be all for today.
• Well, look at that...we've finished ahead of schedule for once.
• If no one has anything else to add, then I think we'll wrap this up.
• I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short. I've just been
informed of a problem that needs my immediate attention.

Reminders

Există aproape întotdeauna un lucru de spus ultimul, chiar și după

observațiile finale.Managerul ar putea închide ședința și să facă apoi un
memento în ultimul minut:

• Oh, before you leave, please make sure to sign the attendance sheet.
• I almost forgot to mention that we're planning a staff banquet next
month.
• Don't forget to put your ballot in the box on your way out.
• If I didn't already say this, please remember to introduce yourself to
the new trainees.

13
 • Could I have your attention again? I neglected to mention that anyone
who wants to take home some of this leftover food is welcome to.
• If you could all return your chair to Room 7 that would be
appreciated.
• Please take all of your papers with you and throw out any garbage on
your way out.

Thank You's and Congratulations

Finalul reuniunii este, de asemenea timpul potrivit să-i mulțumiti cuiva

caruia nu i-ati mulțumit la începutul reuniunii. Felicitări sau urari de bine
(good-luck!) pot fi, de asemenea, oferite aici cuiva care are o experiență
nouă, cum ar fi primirea unei promovari, căsătorie, sau va avea un copil:

• Before I let you go let's all give a big thank you (everyone claps) to
Thomas for baking these delicious cookies.
• Again, I want to thank you all for taking time out of your busy
schedules to be here today.
• Most of you probably already know this, but Nolan's wife just gave
birth to a baby boy.
• As you leave today, don't forget to wish Stella luck on the
weekend.The next time you see her she will be happily married.

Follow Up

În observațiile finale, președintele sau participanții pot dori să discute

data și ora pentru următoarea întâlnire. Acesta este, de asemenea,momentul
potrivit pentru a oferi informatii de contact, cum ar fi modul de a trimite o
întrebare prin e-mail sau pe cine puteti suna în ceea ce privește o anumită
problemă:

• We'll meet again on the first of next month.

• Next time we meet I'll be sure to have those contacts for you.
• If anyone has any questions about anything we discussed today, feel
free to send me an e-mail.
• The minutes from today's meeting will be posted as of tomorrow
afternoon.
• I'll send out a group e-mail with the voting results.

14
5. Vocabulary

Word
Meaning Example Sentence
Part of speech

The vice president is

absent
not present absent due to unforeseen
adj
circumstances.

We have a lot to
accomplish
succeed in doing accomplish today, so let's
verb
begin.

I hope we do not have to

address
deal with; speak on address this matter again
verb
in the future.

If there are no further

adjourn
close a meeting comments, we will
verb
adjourn the meeting here.

Please forward the agenda

agenda list of objectives to cover in a
to anyone who is speaking
noun meeting
at the meeting.

AGM Annual (yearly) General We always vote for a new

noun(abbr.) Meeting chairperson at the AGM.

I forgot to allocate
allocate assign roles/tasks to certain
someone to bring
verb people
refreshments.

AOB Any Other Business The last item on the agenda

noun(abbr.) (unspecified item on agenda) is AOB.

item on agenda announcing Everyone is present today,

apologies
people who are absent; so we can skip the
noun
apologies for absence apologies.

Please fold your ballot in

ballot a type of vote, usually in
half before you place it in
noun writing and usually secret
the box.

group of elected members of The board of directors

board of directors
an organization/company who meets once a month to
noun
meet to make decisions discuss the budget.

15
 The boardroom is
a large meeting room, often
boardroom reserved for a managers'
has one long table and many
noun meeting, so we'll have to
chairs
meet in the lounge.

Let's take a few minutes

brainstorm
thinking to gather ideas and brainstorm some
verb
ways that we can cut costs.

deciding vote (usually by the The role of treasurer was

casting vote
chairman) when the votes are decided based on the
noun
otherwise equal chairman's casting vote.

As chair, it is my pleasure
chairperson/chair the person who leads or
to introduce to you, Mr.
noun presides at a meeting
Allan Davis.

Before we address this

clarification/verification explanation/proof that matter, I'll need some
noun something is true/understood clarification as to who was
involved.

last thoughts spoken in a I just have a few closing

closing remarks
meeting (i.e. reminders, thank remarks and then you will
noun
yous) all be free to go.

The board fell apart

collaborate
work together as a pair/group because the members had
verb
difficulty collaborating.

We will commence as
commence
begin soon as the last person
verb
signs the attendance sheet.

If you have a comment,

comment express one's opinions or
please raise your hand
verb or noun thoughts
rather than speak out.

Before the conference

formal meeting for discussion,
conference there will be a private
esp. a regular one held by an
noun meeting for board members
organisation
only.

telephone meeting between Please make sure I have no

conference call
three or more people in interruptions while I'm on
noun
different locations the conference call.

16
 Any financial information
confidential shared during this meeting
private; not to be shared
adjective should be kept
confidential.

If we cannot come to a
consensus consensus by the end of
general agreement
noun the meeting we will put it
to a vote.

The deadline for buying

deadline
due date for completion tickets to the conference is
noun
May 25th.

If no one volunteers to take

designate
assign the minutes I will be forced
verb
to designate someone.

Everyone knows who is

a procedure (often
formality going to be the next vice
unnecessary) that has to be
noun president, so this vote is
followed due to a rule
really just a formality.

The first item on the

grievance agenda relates to a
complaint
noun grievance reported by the
interns.

I am delighted to welcome
person who joins the group in
guest speaker our guest speaker Holly,
order to share information or
noun who is going to be offering
deliver a speech
some sales pitch tips.

It's not a question of

whether or not we're going
implement make something happen;
to use this idea, it's whether
verb follow through
or not we know how to
implement it.

It is mandatory that all

mandatory
required supervisors attend Friday's
adjective
meeting.

Before we begin with

minutes a written record of everything today's meeting, let's
noun said at a meeting quickly review the minutes
from last month.

17
motion The motion to extend store
a suggestion put to a vote
noun hours has been passed.

I'm pleased that we were

objectives able to cover all of the
goals to accomplish
noun objectives today within the
designated time.

As I mentioned in my
chairperson or leader's first
opening remarks opening remarks, we have
words at a meeting (i.e.
noun to clear this room before
welcome, introductions)
the end of the hour.

I'm going to put a pie chart

machine with a special light
on the overhead projector
overhead projector that projects a document onto a
so that everyone can
noun screen or wall so that all can
visualize how our profits
see
have declined.

Can I have a show of hands

participant person who attends and joins of all of those who were
noun in on an event participants in last year's
conference?

There must have been one

proxy vote a vote cast by one person for proxy vote because I count
noun or in place of another twelve ballots but only
eleven attendees.

Firstly, I want to thank you

punctual
on time (not late) all for being punctual
adjective
despite this early meeting.

I recommend that you sit

recommend
suggest closer to the front if you
verb
have trouble hearing.

From the show of hands it

show of hands raised hands to express an appears that everyone is in
noun opinion in a vote favour of taking a short
break.

We need to come up with a

strategy strategy that will allow us
plan to make something work
noun to have meetings less
frequently.

18
 The vote was unanimous
unanimous in complete agreement; united
to cut work hours on
adj in opinion
Fridays.

to express (the expression of) We need to vote for a new

vote
an opinion in a group by voice vice chairperson now that
verb or noun
or hand etc Jerry is retiring.

Let's wrap up here so that

wrap up
finish we can get back to our
verb
desks.

19