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Teaching materials, lesson plans and articles on different aspects of methodology for English Language Teaching.
Chairing a meeting
by Guy Perring
The ability to guide a meeting to a successful conclusion is a skill much valued by organizations. The start of the meeting is crucial, since it is at this stage that the chairperson can establish the structure of the meeting and his authority in sticking to an agreed agenda. The opening remarks by the chairperson need to cover these areas:-
Here is a typical start to a meeting with the highlighted language:-
Right, if we could start now. First of all, I’d like to welcome you all to Bunbury Industries and, in particular, our guests from our regional offices in Europe and Asia. As you will be aware, we’ve called this meeting in order to clarify some of the issues arising from our 2010 strategy. I trust you all have a copy of the agenda and the meeting should take about two hours, so I aim to finish by 12.30 at the latest. John has agreed to take the minutes and Peter is going to give us some background.
So Peter, would you like to start…
In these opening remarks, the chairperson has gone a long way to making sure the meeting reaches a successful conclusion. It should be noted that the above represents a very formal opening to a meeting and regular sectional or departmental meetings will use more informal language. The following short and snappy opening would be appropriate:-
OK, let’s start. Thanks for coming and you all got a copy of the agenda by email. Let’s try and finish by 11. First item on the agenda is recruitment, Claire?
One of the main reasons for a meeting dissolving into chaos is departing from the agreed agenda and a chairperson’s role is to pull back the discussion. He can do this in several ways:-
The chairperson will also need to keep the clock in mind and move the discussion on.
A good chairman also ensures all participants contribute. In encouraging the quieter members of the meeting, it is not a good idea to highlight the fact with phrases such as you’ve been very quiet or we haven’t heard from Tricia yet. Instead you should highlight the value of their expertise or opinion in this area. You have knowledge in this field, Emma. What’s your view?
Finally the chairperson will need to close the meeting appropriately.
Well, can I draw the meeting to a close now. Let’s review the main points of our discussion. We decided that……………. Mel, you are going to check…………………. Thank you, that’s all for today.
Guy Perring is Director, Professional Development Unit (PDU), at the British Council Malaysia. The PDU offers a wide range of learning opportunities from management and communications skills training to developing English skills. Contact the British Council in Kuala Lumpur at Tel: 03-2723-7900 or Penang at Tel: 04-263-0330 or visit www.britishcouncil.org.my
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