A meeting is a good time to exchange ideas and come to some agreement.

MEETINGS are held in almost every company and business firm to convey knowledge and information, discuss crucial issues, investigate projects and make decisions.

In business, various problems crop up from time to time, requiring immediate resolution. Participants have to exchange opinions, analyse issues, propose strategies and arrive at a common stand.

Although there are arguments and disagreements, the chairperson has to monitor the situation and see that everyone reaches a consensus by the end of the session.

A meeting is part and parcel of a company’s life and is essential to the success of the organisation. Some workers may find meetings monotonous and unproductive, but meetings go beyond sharing information and viewpoints; they foster and strengthen mutual understanding and reveal to team members the importance of taking a united approach towards tackling corporate problems.

An agenda guides the meeting and provides subject matters for discussion. It lists the topics and sets the scope for brainstorming. Although other topics are important, they should not be discussed in depth at the meeting if they are not included in the agenda. The agenda, which also indicates the objectives of the meeting, should be sent to all participants well in advance of the meeting.

If the chairperson finds that the arguments and counter-arguments are heading nowhere, he should postpone discussion of the topic to another meeting. It is then proper to proceed to the next topic. If a certain topic merits further discussion, include it on the coming agenda.

Here are some common expressions used in a meeting:

Welcoming and introducing participants

Please join me in welcoming Cik Zuhairah ...

It’s a pleasure to welcome Mr Krishnan ...

I’d like to introduce Mr Pritam ...

I don’t think you’ve met Dr Hanafi ...

Stating the objectives

We’re here this afternoon to discuss ...

Our aim is to look into the revised employment act ...

I’ve called this meeting in order to ...

Apologising on behalf of an absentee

I’m afraid Mr Yong can’t be with us today. He has gone to Shanghai ...

I have received an apology for the absence of Madam Vijaya, who is in Paris negotiating a business project ...

Reading the minutes of the last meeting

First, let’s go over the minutes of the last meeting, which was held on ...

Please read the minutes of our last meeting, which was held on ... After that could someone kindly propose the minutes be passed, and could someone else second it.

Requesting a brief report

John, can you tell us how our condominium project is progressing?

Cik Azizan, how is the sales promotion campaign coming along?

Sundram, when can our video-conferencing facilities be ready?

Introducing the agenda

Please refer to the agenda today ...

There are four items on the agenda. First, ...

I suggest we look at item 3 first ...

Appointing duties

Ms Susila has agreed to take the minutes ...

Cik Fatimah, would you mind taking the minutes?

Introducing the first item

Let’s start with item 1 ...

Shall we start with item 1 ...

The first item on the agenda is ...

Closing an item

I think that covers the first item ...

Shall we leave that item?

If nobody has anything else to add, let’s move on to item ...

Next item

Let’s move on to the next item ...

The next item on the agenda is ...

Summarising

Before we adjourn the meeting, let me summarise the main points ...

To sum up, ...

In brief, ...

Shall I go over the main points?

Finishing up

Good, we have covered all the items ...

Is there any other matter?

Proposing the next meeting

Shall we fix the next meeting?

So, the next meeting will be on Aug16 at 2pm, at the same place.

What about the following Wednesday?

Thanking participants for attending

Thank you all for attending.

Thanks for your participation.

Closing the meeting

The meeting is adjourned.

We have come to the end of our meeting.

> Yong Ah Yong is a lecturer at UTAR (Perak).

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