Getting

organised

in company 3.0
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Activity: Managing meetings

Teachers notes

Getting organised when managing a meeting is an important business skill. Try this meeting-related activity with
your students.
Level: Upper Intermediate / CEFR B2
Time: Approx 20-30 minutes
How to use this activity:
The lesson can be done in class or in a one-to-one situation. Give students a copy of the photocopiable Students worksheet.
The answers are below.

1.

Write these six stages of a meeting on the board or refer students to the first part of their worksheet.

Managing the discussion

Closing the meeting

Assigning follow-up tasks

Opening the meeting

Managing other speakers

Setting the agenda

2.

Check students understanding of the language and ask them to rank the stages in the order they would occur.

3.

Check the answers and students pronunciation by asking them to read their answers aloud.

4.

If necessary for your class, pre-teach any of the vocabulary or phrases for the next section, such as: side-tracked,
summarize, calm down, position. Using their worksheet, ask them to complete the next section in pairs to fill in the
missing vowels for the useful expressions for each stage of the meeting.

5.

Check their answers by asking them to read them out aloud.

6.

Give further practice by calling out different language functions and eliciting the correct expression(s), e.g. opening
the meeting, moving the discussion on, coming back to the main point, asking someone to wait their turn, etc.

Answers:
1.

Opening the meeting

Okay, lets get started, then, shall we?

Thanks for coming, everybody.

2. Setting the agenda

c

As I said in my email, the purpose of todays

meeting is to

By the end of this meeting Id like some kind of

decision on this

3. Managing the discussion

e

Jack, could Pieter just finish what he

was saying?

Okay, okay! Lets all just calm down, shall we?

Tania, whats your position on this?

5. Assigning follow-up tasks

k

Pieter, can I leave that with you?

Tania, can you get back to me on that?

6. Closing the meeting

We seem to be getting side-tracked here.

f
Can we go back to what we were discussing
earlier?
g

Managing other speakers

Okay, so just to summarize what weve said

so far

I think thats about as far as we can go at

this stage.

Im afraid well have to stop it there.

Adapted lesson extract taken from In Company 3.0 Upper Intermediate, unit 6.
For more information and to download sample units from In Company 3.0 visit www.macmillanincompany3.com

www.macmillanincompany3.com

Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015.

P
C HO
an T
O
fro be d CO
m ow PI
w n AB
eb lo L
si ad E
te ed

MACMILLAN LIFE SKILLS

4.

Getting
organised

in company 3.0
www.macmillanincompany3.com

Activity: Managing meetings

Look at the following stages in a meeting and put them in the right order by ranking them 16.

2.

Students worksheet

1.

Managing the discussion

Closing the meeting

Assigning follow-up tasks

Opening the meeting

Managing other speakers

Setting the agenda

The following expressions can be useful when chairing a meeting. Complete them by filling in the missing vowels.
The first expression has been completed as an example.
1.

Opening the meeting

a. _
O kay, l_
e ts g_
e t st_
a rt_
e d, t h_
e n , s h_
a ll w_
e ?
b. Th _ nks f_ r c_ m_ ng, _ v_ r y b _ d y.

2.

Setting the agenda

c. _s _

s_ _d _n my _m_ _ l, th_

d. By th_

_ nd

3.

4.

_f th_s m_ _ t_ ng _d l_k_ s_m_ k_nd _f d_c_s _ _ n

Managing the discussion

e

W_

C _ n w_ g_ b_ ck t_ w h_ t w_ w e r_

_ kay, s_

s_ _ m

t_

j_ st

b_

t_

g_ t t_ n g

s_ d _ - t r_ c k _ d

s_ m m _ r _ z_

h_ r _ .

d_ s c_ s s i n g e _ r l i _ r ?

w h_ t

w_ v _

s_ _ d

s_

f_ r.

Managing other speakers

i.

_ kay, _ kay! L_ ts

j.

Tania, wh _ ts

_ ll

y_ _ r

w h_ t

j_ st c_ lm

p_ s _ t_ _ n

h_

w_ s

s_ y _ n g ?

d_ w n , s h_ l l w _ ?
_n

t h_ s ?

Assigning follow-up tasks

l.

Tania, c _ n

y_ _

th_ t

g_ t

w_ t h y_ _ ?

b_ c k

t_

m_

_n

t h_ t ?

Closing the meeting

m. I

th_ nk

n. _ m

th_ ts

_ fr_ _ d

_ bo _ t
w_ ll

as

f_ r

h_ v _

t_

_s

we

s t_ p

c_ n
_t

g_

_t

t h_ s

s t_ g e .

t h_ r _ .

Adapted lesson extract taken from In Company 3.0 Upper Intermediate, unit 6.

www.macmillanincompany3.com

Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015.

P
C HO
an T
O
fro be d CO
m ow PI
w n AB
eb lo L
si ad E
te ed

MACMILLAN LIFE SKILLS

Pieter j_ st f_ n _ s h

k. Pieter, c_ n I l _ _ v _

6.

_s t_

_n th_s.

h. Jack, c_ _ ld

5.

p_rp_s_ of t_d_ys m_ _ t_ng