Unit 13. Office documentation

Every business meeting is supplied with standard written documentation. All those papers will probably differ very little in various organizations. All the documents should be prepared beforehand to inform participants about the agenda of the meeting. It will help to save time at discussions and avoid unnecessary explanations. There are basic documents we are to prepare for the meeting: the notice,; the agenda, the minutes and meeting reports. The notice is prepared to inform people when and where the meeting will take place. If the notice is sent outside the organization it should be done about two weeks before the meeting and be sent to everyone whose presence is needed. If the date was fixed at the previous meeting then the reminder notice may be sent a week before the meeting. Inside the organization many meetings are held at a short notice. Each notice should contain the following information: the name of the organization, the place of the meeting, the date and the time of the meeting, the date of the notice and the signature of the person convening the meeting. The agenda is the programme of items to be discussed at the meeting in the order in which they will be taken. The order of items is very important. Urgent matters should be introduced earlier. Controversial items, which need long discussions, should be pushed to the end of the meeting. The agenda shouldn't be overloaded with more items than can be covered in the time available. Try to avoid meaningless headings for the agenda, it may lead to misinterpreting them and makes participants prepare themselves to talk on wrong subjects. Sometimes supplementary documents, agenda papers are needed for participants of the meeting. If participants are able to prepare for discussions, the decision-making at the meeting may be speeded up. The minutes must be short but give sufficient information to enable someone not present at the meeting to understand fully what took place. They must be written in complete sentences and produce the whole contents of the meeting and a logical account of every speech.

Meeting reports are usually much shorter than minutes. They are often used for display on a bulletin board. The meeting report should have clear heading and indicate the names of people having reported.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Translate into Russian

To be supplied with; written documentation; to be prepared beforehand; participants; the agenda of the meeting; to avoid unnecessary explanations; minutes; to take place; outside the organization; whose presence is needed; the date is fixed; the previous meeting; the reminder notice; inside of the organization; contain; the person convening the meeting; items to be discussed; the order in which they will be taken; urgent matters; to be introduced earlier; controversial items; to be pushed to the end; to be overloaded; the time available; meaningless headings; misinterpreting; wrong subjects; supplementary documents; agenda papers; decision-making discussion; the meeting will be speeded; sufficient information; understand fully; in complete sentences; produce the whole contents; logical account; display on a bulletin board; indicate the names of people reported.

Exercise 2. Translate into Еnglish

Быть перегруженным; быть представленным ранее; вопросы, кото­рые должны быть обсуждены; внутри организации; чье присутствие не­обходимо; повестка собрания; предыдущее собрание; порядок, в котором они будут обсуждаться; лицо, созывающее собрание; срочные вопросы; дата установлена; предложения, написанные полностью; имеющееся вре­мя; вывесить на доске объявлений; указать имена выступавших; понять полностью; ничего не значащие заголовки; быть подготовленным зара­нее; обеспечиваться чем-либо; логический отчет; участники; ненужные объяснения; обсуждения, связанные с принятием решений; протокол со­брания; записка-напоминание; вне организации; содержать; проводиться; спорные вопросы; быть перегруженным; продвигать к концу; неправиль­ное толкование.

Exercise 3. Answer the questions.

1. What should every business meeting be supplied with?

2. When are all the documents for the meeting to be prepared?

3. What are the basic meeting documents?

4. What is the purpose of preparing the notice?

5. When should the notice be sent to people outside the organization?

6. When may the reminder notice be sent?

7. What information should the notice contain?

8. What is the agenda of the meeting?

9. When should urgent matters be introduced?

10. What may meaningless headings lead to?

11. What is minutes?

12. How must minutes be written?

13. What's the difference between minutes and meeting reports?

Exercise 4. Answer the additional questions.

Can you describe the correct procedure for calling a meeting?

What types of meetings do you know?

How is the meeting of the UNO called?

Exercise 5. Thomas and Maria have to arrange a meeting. Rewrite the underlined phrases using the words in brackets. Do not change the original meaning

T: Can we fix a meeting soon?

M: Yes, when do you want to meet? (like / meet)

T: I think early next month, (rather / be)

M: Hmm. I think that should be okay, but it would be better for me on Monday, (prefer)

T: That's no problem. Now, where? Where's best for you? Your office or mine? (prefer)

M: If possible, in a beautiful holiday resort, Bermuda for example! (rather / meet)

T: Yes, Bermuda's great. But my choice is your office, (like / come) You have better coffee (prefer). Also, I always enjoy going to that French restaurant round the corner (like/go).

Exercise 6. Look at the messages in notes A, B.

A

MEMORANDUM

To: Penny Klapp Date: 1^st May

Tim Hodges

Cc: Lara Thatcher

From: Howard Colley

Re: Planning Meeting

В

MEMO

To: All staff

From: James Wilton

Subject: Stuff Meeting

I hope you're all feeling relaxed after your holiday! We'll have a meeting tomorrow at 2 p.m. to talk about new projects. I'm afraid it probably won't end untill about 6 p.m. so will you try to be late?!

1. What is the short form of memorandum ?

2. Is Lara invited to the planning meeting? What does "cc" mean?

3. Which two words introduce the reasons for the notes?

4. Which message is friendlier and less formal? How do you know?

5. Are the notes about past or future meetings? Which words and phrases tell us this?

Exercise 7. During a meeting to discuss the breach of a contract by a supplier, Arco Metal. The following suggestions were made

John Smith: We ought to get our Legal Department to examine exactly how they are breaking the terms of the contract.

Carla Viraggio: We should ask Arco for a meeting to discuss ways to resolve the problem.

Tom Henson: I think you should get independent legal advice.

Meeting conclusion: No decision yet. Meet again on Monday.

Complete the note below to a colleague who missed the meeting because of a trip abroad. Report the three suggestions and the conclusion. Use the verbs below

recommend

suggest

advise

agree

CONFIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM

To: HF

From: JS

Re: Arco Metal - Contract dispute

Since you will be away for a few more days, I thought 1 would give you an update on the above problem. At a recent meeting, three suggestions were made:

John Smith ………………………

Carla V. …………………………..____________________________________

Finally, Tom H. …………………

In conclusion, it …………………

Look forward to hearing your views.

Best wishes.

Exercise 8. Read the following extract from a Chairman's speech to a shareholder’s annual General meeting. Fill in the spaces with appropriate adverbs. The first letter of each one is already given

___________share price ------------

capital investment fund ………….

"The continued rise in our share price has been v…………. beneficial to the Board, enabling us to raise money for further capital investment. This has been e…………useful, giving us a better basis for future growth. The stock market has noticed our h……………..prudent investment policies. And consequently, investors have felt q………………confident about our ability to give a good return on their investments. All of this proves that we are r………………..justified in expecting further success in the future".

Exercise 9. Read the following extract from a report of the meeting. Fill in the spaces with the right form of the verb in brackets

MEETING REPORT

Meeting: 12 March 200.., Paris

Subject: Distribution channels

Participants: FD, HF, GF, TR, SA, MF

Summary

The preferred route for …… (ship) our products to Europe is by air from Tokyo to London. We have successfully used this route for seven years. …… (use) alternative routes in the past would have required more complicated distribution arrangements. Until now, our European distribution operations have centred on the UK. …… (change) this does not seem appropriate at the moment, but we can ………(look at) alternatives. It is certainly worth …… (find out) the costs of ……(open) a new distribution centre in southern Europe. We agreed …… (set up) a committee…………(investigate).