OPENING THE MEETING

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OPENING THE MEETING

• BUSINESS SKILLS

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Introduction

• It is always good practice in any meeting to have
  one person act like chair. But being the chair is
  a very difficult role. Thats because the other
  people at the meeting are often peers rather than
  subordinates, which means your authority is
  limited and temporary.
• Chair predsedající
• Peers osoba stejného postavení
• Temporary prechodný, casove omezený

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Introduction

• Quick thinking and good linguistic skills are
  also needed, especially if it is a multinational,
  multicultural and multi-language group.
• If you have to chair a meeting in English, then
  get started in an organized way. Heres a useful
  checklist
• 1. Roll call (kontrola docházky)
• 2. Aims and motivation
• 3. Names protocol
• 4. Review agenda
• 5. Time problems

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Roll call

• First, you need to check that everyone is there
  who should be there. Then choose the secretary
  and the time-keeper. You might say something like
  this
• OK. Shall we start? Lets check whos missing.
  Does anyone know where John is? David is our
  secretary today and Marianne our timekeeper.
• Timekeeper - casomeric

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Aims and motivation

• Then make a general statement of aims, and go on
  to motivate and encourage the participants
• Its good to see you all. The main items we have
  to discuss today concern standardizing our IT
  systems and coordinating the way we decide on new
  applications. It is important to get both of
  these resolved as soon as possible. They are
  steps towards creating a global approach and Im
  sure we all have a lot of good ideas we can add
  to our discussions
• Resolved (an item) vyrešit, najít rešení (bodu
  jednání)

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Names protocol

• Next, talk about names and their use during the
  meeting. If people do not know each other very
  well, you might ask them what they want to be
  called
• So, before we start, there are one or two
  details we need to discuss. First of all, shall
  we use first or last names?

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Review the agenda

• The next practical step is to review and, if
  necessary, change the agenda
• Everyone should have received the agenda. Does
  anyone have any comments or suggestions for
  last-minutes changes or additions?
• Additions - doplnení

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Review the agenda

• Do remember, however, that participants will not
  have had time to prepare for any additional
  items. And you, as the chair, will not have had
  the chance to think about the best way to
  organize the discussion. Such additional items
  should be included only if an urgent decision is
  needed, or if the information is of great
  importance to the group. If possible, these
  adjustments to the agenda should be made by
  e-mail before the meeting.
• Adjustments - prizpusobení

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Time problems

• Another detail is to find out whether anyone has
  to leave early or whether someone is coming
  later. The chair should also make sure that
  participants keep their inputs short. You could
  say something like this
• A couple of practical things before we start
  does anyone have to leave early? Jane? When do
  you have to go? OK. We should have dealt with
  most of the points by then. Anyone else? No?
  Good. Finally, do remember to keep your inputs
  short, so that we can finish on time.
• Input - príspevek

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Time problems

• Have your checklist ready when you start the
  meeting, to make sure you cover these practical
  points, and to give yourself the chance to
  establish yourself as a well-organized meeting
  leader.

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The end

• Good luck with your meetings