Let’s discard the last point, as we can’t implement it 8 I’m afraid we have to exclude John’s suggestion.

Listening Questions

B. Eliminating impractical ideas

7. Let’s discard the last point, as we can’t implement it 8 I’m afraid we have to exclude John’s suggestion.

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Unit 214 - Meetings: Finishing Up and Action Points

It’s the end of a meeting, and everyone wants to go, but wait! We have one last thing to do: Action points. That means: Tell everyone who is going to do what, and when. Having no clear action points is a number one reason meetings are unproductive. So in this episode, we’ll study language we can use to assign work to people, and also some phrases to finish off the meeting. We’ll be listening in to a group of bank managers discuss how to deal with credit risk problems before a major year-end report to top management.

They have already discussed and decided what to do, and now they need to finish the meeting. As you listen, pay attention to how the boss, Lisa, gives action points to her team, that is, reminds them of what they need to do.

Vocabulary

To get to the bottom of something: To find the root cause. “To get to the bottom

of employee turnover, we conducted an extensive investigation.”

To knock someone dead: To impress someone with your performance. “We knocked

them dead with our presentation – they signed the contract right away.”

Any other business: Anything not on the agenda; typically the last point of

discussion. “Before we finish up today, is there any other business?”

Action points: Actions to be taken. “Now let’s just run through the action points

– I want to be clear about who is doing what.”

Risk analysis: The analysis of risk (danger). “It is important to perform good

analysis of the types of risk that your company may encounter.”

Revolving credit: Short-term loans, like credit cards. “We need to conduct a risk

assessment of our revolving credit products.”

Non-performing loans: Financial obligations (loans) that are not being met.

“Non-performing loans led to a major financial crisis last year.”

Short-term loans: Loans given to someone over a short period of time, often for

consumers to buy products that they want. “Short-term loans of under one year is a major growth area for our credit department.”

To get to the bottom of something: To find the root cause or fundamental reason

for something. “We need to get to the bottom of this problem or we will never understand what really happened.”

To wrap something up: To finish something – typically a meeting or discussion.

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Dialog

Lisa: All right, I think that just about covers everything we wanted to get to today. Is there any other business? No? All right. Let’s just go through the action points to finish off.

James: Quick question: When exactly is our next round of meetings going to be?

Lisa: Let’s see how things go; I expect we’ll be ready to look at the results by the middle of next month.

James: Thanks.

Lisa: Sure. Okay. Bryan, your team is going to conduct a risk analysis our new revolving credit products, and send me a report by next Friday.

Bryan: Yep.

Lisa: Great. Cecilia and Charles, you’re meeting with Telos next week to discuss the possibilities for cooperation.

Charles: Right.

Lisa: And you’ll be writing a proposal based on that meeting. Cecilia: And giving it to you for your comments.

Lisa: Good. Finally, James – you’re team is going to look into the issue of non- performing short-term loans.

James: Uh huh.

Lisa: It’s extremely important that we get to the bottom of this. James: I understand.

Lisa: Good. We’ll I think that just about wraps it up. Any final questions? No? Great. That’s all for today. Everyone get busy. We’ve got the best team in the country here. So let’s show management what we can do.

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Debrief

The dialog starts with Lisa signaling the end of the meeting, then dealing with any unfinished business.

Lisa: All right, I think that just about covers everything we wanted to get to today. Is there any other business? No?

What are some other ways to do this?

 That’s about everything we wanted to get through today. Are there any loose ends left to wrap up? No?

 Well, I think that’s just about all for our meeting today. If there aren’t any more questions, let’s just wrap it up here.

As you can see, “to wrap it up” is a common idiom that means “to finish.” What does Lisa say next?

Lisa: …All right. Let’s just go through the action points to finish off.

How else can you say this?

 Great. Let’s just go over what everyone needs to do.  Good. So, is everyone clear about what they need to do?

 Great. Let me just check and make sure you’re all clear about your duties. But James has a quick point he wants to clarify.

James: Quick question: When exactly is our next round of meetings going to be?

What are some other ways you ask a quick question at the end of the meeting?  Just a quick one here.

 Can I just ask a quick question.

 Sorry, Lisa, I just have a little question.

 Excuse me for a moment, there’s just one more I think we need to talk about.

How does Lisa respond to James’s question about when the next meetings will be?

Lisa: Let’s see how things go; I expect we’ll be ready to look at the results by the middle of next month.

“Let’s see how things go” is a way of “playing it by ear.” To play something by ear means to improvise, that is, to make it up as you go along, like jazz musicians. Here are some more expressions you can use.

 Let’s play it by ear.  Let’s wait and see.

 We’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out.  Let’s take it one thing at a time.

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Now Lisa moves into the first action point.

Lisa: Sure. Okay. Bryan, your team is going to conduct a risk analysis on our new revolving credit products, and send me a report by next Friday.

Bryan: Yep.

“Revolving credit” refers to short-term loans of less than one year.

Lisa uses “going to” to remind Bryan of what he needs to do. “Going to” is used for future plans, things that we have already decided to do. It’s often more polite to assign duties with the language of plans than with the language of a direct order. Lisa can use “going to” like this because, as the boss, she has the power to make plans. Here are some more examples of discussing action points with going to.

Style 1: Going to

 Heather and Mick are going to check up on the buyer, and I’m going to look through our database.

 Bill, you’re going to investigate this issue and get back to me in a couple weeks.

Next, Lisa tells Cecilia and Charles what to do.

Lisa: Great. Cecilia and Charles, you’re meeting with Telos week to discuss the possibilities for cooperation.

Charles: Right.

This time she uses a different style. She says “you’re meeting with Telos next week.” This is the present continuous tense, “is doing,” with a future meaning. When talking about the future, the present continuous is used to discuss things that we have both planned and arranged.

What’s the difference between “going to” and present continuous with a future meaning? “Going to” emphasizes the decision whereas the present continuous emphasizes the arrangement. Listen to some examples.

First, let’s listen to emphasizing the decision with “going to.”

 So we’re all agreed. We’re going to work hard until we solve this problem! Now let’s listen to emphasizing the arrangement with present continuous:  So it’s all arranged. You’re doing the proposal and I’m doing the PowerPoint. Be careful to differentiate clearly between going to and “I am doing.” For example, note that “I’m going to go to Paris” is different from “I’m going to Paris.” The first one – “I’m going to go to Paris” – uses the “going to” form. The second one– “I’m going to Paris” – is actually the present continuous form: “I’m going” (verb) “to” (preposition) Paris.

120 The difference between “going to” and the present continuous is often just a difference in emphasis: “I’m going to go to Paris” emphasizes that I’ve made up my mind while “I’m going to Paris” emphasizes that I have arranged everything. The present continuous with a future meaning is especially common with action verbs, such as “to have lunch,” “to meet with someone,” “to go somewhere,” “to travel somewhere,” “to play a game,” and so on. Here are some more examples of action points with the present continuous.

Style 2: I’m doing.

 Sally, you’re meeting with an important potential client next week.

 Frank, you’re traveling to Hong Kong in November to oversee the office’s implementation of the new security procedure.

Going back to our dialog now, remember that Lisa has just told Cecilia and Charles that they will be meeting with a client, Telos, next week. Then he has one more thing to add.

Lisa: And you’ll be writing a proposal based on that meeting. Cecilia: And giving it to you for your comments.

“You’ll be writing” is a third style of giving action points. This is another tense, the future continuous, “will be doing.” The future continuous is a simple description of future events, and it is often used in the same way as the present continuous to discuss arrangements. But it is often more polite to use the future continuous than the present continuous to ask people about their plans – So, “Will you be coming to the party?” may sound more polite than “Are you coming to the party?”

In the same way, it may be more polite to use “will be doing” to assign work to people, especially work they don’t want to do, like writing reports or working an extra shift.

Style 3: Future continuous

 And Charles, you’ll be working the morning shift in October and November while Cecilia is on holiday.

 Sven, you’ll be going through our database carefully page by page to look for errors.

What’s the final action point that Lisa covers in his meeting?

Lisa: Good. Finally, James – you’re team is going to look into the issue of non-

performing short-term loans.

James: Uh huh.

Lisa: It’s extremely important that we get to the bottom of this. James: I understand.

A “non-performing” loan is a bad loan, one for which the lenders are not paying. Lisa uses the first style, “gong to,” to give James this task. Then she emphasizes

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its importance: “It’s extremely important that we get to the bottom of this.” To get to the bottom of something is to find the root cause.

Here are some more ways to emphasize your action points:  I can’t stress enough how important it is to succeed with this.  It’s critical that we solve this problem.

In the last part of the dialog, Lisa wraps up the meeting.

Lisa: Good. We’ll I think that just about wraps it up. Any final questions? No?

Great. That’s all for today.

Here are a couple more ways to wrap it up.  That’s it for today.

 That covers it all. Any last questions? No? Okay, see you next time. Finally, Lisa says some words to motivate or encourage his staff.

Lisa: …Everyone get busy. We’ve got the best team in the country here. So let’s show management what we can do.

Can you think of any more motivating phrases? You might try these:  I know you’re going to succeed.

 I have great faith in you.

 Get out there and do your best. Let’s knock ‘em dead.

The last, “to knock someone dead,” means to impress someone with your performance.

Before we wrap it up today, let’s practice. You’ll hear a series of three action points – someone’s name and what they are supposed to do. Use “going to,” the present continuous or the future continuous to assign your staff their duties. For example, if you hear “George, write a report about this case,” you can say, “George, you’ll be writing a report about this case.” Are you ready?

In document Meeting Essentials (Page 115-121)