Technology was supposed to be the answer to the work-life
balance and whisper it, decrease the number of meetings! I just
didn’t believe the techies. Well surprise surprise, recent research
has said that most managers spend at least 60% of their time
in meetings in comparison to 45% in the 1970´s.
Managers complained that at least 50% of their time spent in
meetings was a complete waste of time.
So what can be done? Well it’s not rocket science, here are
tips I compiled from the experts:
Do we need to meet?
"What a stupid question", you say "of course
we need to meet". Well dig deep and honestly ask yourself
and colleagues, "Do we really need to meet?" Maybe
you can solve issues through other communication tools, talking
over a coffee or by using technology such as instant messenger,
blogs, emails, forums. If you do have a meeting, be clear about
what you want to achieve either as the meeting leader or as
an attendee.
Prepare well
Surprise surprise, those people who prepare answers to key
issues before going into a meeting,
achieve their goals quickly and
painlessly. Only invite those who are essential and relevant
to the meeting
issues. When giving
invitees
background information,
keep it brief,
to the point and relevant.
Make sure you
book the meeting room and check it has everything you need,
like a projector and teleconference facilities, etc.
Leading a meeting
Some cultures (e.g. North Americans and Northern Europeans)
use meeting agendas to prevent rambling and irrelevancy. Other
cultures hate being constrained by such a rigid structure and
prefer to have more free flowing meetings. Both methods have
their merits, what is important to both, is the meeting leader
or chair. This person needs to be respected by all attending,
have a strong personality to control the meeting covering all
major points/issues and to promote an inclusive atmosphere.
In the summary the meeting leader should gain commitment to
action points by meeting attendees.
Do what you say
We’ve all been to meetings, where attendees agreed to action
points and then at the next meeting turned up and gave excuses.
Trust is broken, motivation plummets and nobody takes the meetings
seriously. So think before you agree to an action point and
if you’re over stretched, just say no and explain why. Shoddy
work helps nobody.
Meeting Minutes
It’s the worst job in the meeting,
taking meeting minutes, but someone has to keep a record of
what was said by everybody. Why why why? Well, those meeting
minutes provide
clues if you need to meet again and if so, what should be
included and not included. Also it makes sure that people
do what they say and when! So keep meeting minutes accurate,
brief, action-orientated and get all attendees to agree to
what they said.
Tongue-tied
We’ve all been in international meetings where we wanted
to speak but we couldn’t and sat in silence, tongue-tied unsure
of the correct English expression or phrase to use. Before
you go to meetings, remember past occasions where you’ve communicated
successfully in English and focus on how great you felt
afterwards.
Take a deep breath and quickly relive that feeling before
you speak during the meeting. Secondly use pauses and eye
contact, say something like "We should consider.........,
PAUSE (2 seconds), because............". Pauses focus
attention on what you have to say, people assume it's important,
while also giving you time to think.
Respect people
Well, I’m not suggesting we’re rude people or we lack manners.
However in the heat of the moment, we often forget our manners,
interrupting and shouting at people we don’t agree with. Often
we become emotional and make issues personal and make personal
comments instead of keeping things objective. This maybe acceptable
in some cultures but others find it confrontational and not
the best way to facilitate cooperation. So agree meeting ground
rules before starting a meeting and don’t be afraid to remind
people of these during the meeting!
Work-life
balance - making sure you don’t let stress at work
affect your health. - equilibrio entre la vida y el trabajo.
Whisper - to speak in a soft, quiet way. - susurrar. Techies
- IT (information technology) workers or people good with technology.
- entusiastas de los ordenadores o informáticos.
Spend time in meetings - to use time in meetings.
- pasar tiempo en reuniones.
At least - not less than - al menos.
Complain - to say that you are irritated or unhappy
because of something - quejarse.
Waste of time - spending time badly - pérdida
de tiempo.
It's not rocket science - it is something that is simple
and common sense. - es algo simple o no muy difícil como
lo sería la ciencia de los cohetes.
Tips - helpful practical advice - consejos prácticos.
Compile tips - to gather or bring together different
tips. - recopilar, reunir consejos prácticos.
Dig deep - analyse in more detail the answers to your
questions. - analizar más profúndamente las respuestas
a tus preguntas.
Issues - problems or worries that somebody has about
something. - asuntos, cuestiones.
Tools - an instrument that helps you do something.
- herramientas.
Talking over a coffee - to talk about something informally
in a stress-free place. - hablar informalmente sobre algo en
un bar o similar.
Achieve - to be successful in reaching an objective.
- lograr.
Attendee - a person who attends an event. - asistente.
Painlessly - in a way that is without pain. - de forma
indolora, sin sufrimiento.
Invitees - the people who are invited to an event.
- invitados.
Background information - information that is essential
to understanding a situation or problem. - información
que es esencial para entender una situación o problema.
Keep it brief - to do something in a way that doesn't
last very long. - hacerlo breve.
To the point (stick to the point) - to keep talking
about the main topic set for a conversation without getting
distracted. - mantenerse centrado en la cuestión principal
de la conversación.
Make sure - to establish something without a doubt.
- asegurarse.
Book the meeting room - to reserve the meeting room.
- reservar la sala de reuniones.
Meeting agendas - a list of major points/issues to
be discussed in the meeting. - orden del día.
Rambling - not focusing on one point at a time. - que
divaga.
Irrelevancy - the lack of a relation of something to
the matter at hand. - irrelevancia.
Constrained - to restrain or limit. - limitar.
Chair - group leader. - presidente.
Commitment - a promise to do something. - compromiso.
Action points - follow-up actions people have agreed
to do. - puntos de actuación.
Turn up - to appear or come. - aparecer o llegar.
Motivation plummets - Motivation drops quickly. - la
motivación cae en picado.
Take the meetings seriously - to respect the meetings.
- tomar las reuniones en serio.
Over stretched - too much work to do at one time. -
abrumado con mucho trabajo.
Shoddy work - badly done work. - chapuza.
Taking meeting minutes - writing down everything that
is said by everybody in the meeting. - levantar actas.
Clue - evidence that helps solve a mystery. - pista.
Keep meeting minutes accurate - write the notes of
the meeting correctly. - mantener la exactitud de las actas.
Tongue-tied - not being able to talk because of nerves.
Successfully - in a satisfactory way. - de una forma
satisfactoria, con éxito.
Afterwards - after something. - después.
Take a deep breath - to breathe one time deeply. -
respira hondo.
Lack manners - to not behave in a correct and proper
way. - ser maleducado.
In the heat of the moment - in an intense emotional
moment. - en la excitación o nerviosismo del momento.
Make issues personal - to feel personally attacked.
- tomárselo de forma personal.
Make personal comments - to insult or attack in a personal
way. - insultar o atacar de forma personal.
Keeping things objective - to act and think in a rational
way. - mantener la objetividad de la situación.
Confrontational - to be argumentative. - polémico.
Not the best way - there are better ways to do something.
- no es la mejor manera.
Ground rules - meeting rules that everybody agrees
to. - las reglas establecidas para la reunión.
Remind people - to help people to remember something.
- recordar algo a alguien.
A business-English
activity
Madrid
English teacher Christopher Wright writes about Meetings. You can do
the interactive activities in this order: 
Work-life
balance - making sure you don’t let stress at work
affect your health. - equilibrio entre la vida y el trabajo.
Team Building Event Meeting:
by 
