Business Meetings

What do corporate leaders do all day? _ _ _ _ of their

time is _ _ _ _ _ in meetings. Meetings are the
cornerstone of teams, which _ _ turn are the basis of
corporate existence. But meetings, like teams, do not
necessarily achieve _ _ _ _ they set out to do. One
recent study by Synectics, a consultancy, found that
senior and middle _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ spent more
_ _ _ _ three-quarters of _ _ _ _ _ time in meetings.
_ _ average, only 12% of managers thought their
meetings _ _ _ _ productive. In high-performing
companies, that figure _ _ _ _ to 25 %, and in the
unsuccessful _ _ _ _ it dropped to 2%.

Business Meetings
B

R _ _ _ _ _ _ meetings well is clearly an art. Lots of

meetings, of course, _ _ _ _ _ _ in the corridor or around
the coffee machine, and _ _ _ _ _ are probably the most
efficient sort, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ they tend to be spontaneous,
small and quick. Bigger meetings are ususally more
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Often, not enough thought goes into
the agenda, the location, the people asked to _ _ _ _ _ _
and the outcome. That allows unimportant ideas to be
given too _ _ _ _ time or tedious individuals to _ _ _ _ _
too much.

Business Meetings
C

Meetings tend to be _ _ _ _ either to _ _ _ _ _

information or to _ _ _ _ _ problems. For the first sort,
Roger Neill of Synectics advocates asking everyone to
_ __ at the end _ _ _ _ they think they have heard, and
correcting _ _ _ _ _ accounts if they are wrong. With
problem-solving, the aim should be not just brainstorming but _ _ _ _ _ _ proper attention to putting
solutions _ _ _ _ practice. He also thinks it is wise to
_ _ _ people what they liked about the things they
_ _ _ _ _ : criticism usually comes unasked.
Pessimism, scepticism and challenge all _ _ _ _ _
trouble.

Business Meetings
D

David Bradford, who specialises in studying teams,

argues that meetings often _ _ _ _ _ huge amounts of
time. The _ _ _ to get a good decision is to _ _ _ _ _ the
question carefully. If you _ _ _ _ to invest in
China, do not announce that you are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to
do this, or ask the meeting if you should. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
, enlist your colleagueshelp _ _ saying: We want to
be in the Chinese market: how __ we _ _ _ there?

Passive

Here are 2 common passive structures:

O X is/was

believed + to + verb
reported
said
considered
expected
thought

(His personal fortune is believed to exceed 500 million.)
O It is/was/ has been

agreed + that + sentence

announced
believed
considered
decided
expected /reported/said/suggested

(It was agreed that we should implement the new measures at

the end of the financial year.)

Complete the second sentence of each pair so that it means the same as
the first.
1. We expect that turnover will fall next year due to increased competition.
Turnover is ............................................................................................................................
2. We expect prices of raw materials will rise by 50 % in the next 6 months.
Prices of raw materials .....................................................................................................
3. According to the announcement, profits have reached record levels.
It has ........................................................................................................................................
4. It is reported that Sunshine Cruises is losing money.
Sunshine Cruises is ............................................................................................................
5. Most people think he is an excellent personnel director.
He is .........................................................................................................................................
6. We expect the project will meet its deadlines.
The project is ........................................................................................................................

Make the following statements more formal by using the passive.

1. Weve sent your application to head office.
Your application has been sent to head office.
2. The Minister for Trade and Industry will open the conference.
The conference ...................................................................................................................
3. You must submit your application by 19 March.
Your application .................................................................................................................
4. The Board of Directors has taken a number of important decisions this
morning .
A number of important decisions ................................................................................
5. Theyre interviewing candidates for the job at the moment.
Candidates ..........................................................................................................................
6. In our manufacturing process, we reject 9 % of finished articles as
substandard.
In our manufacturing process, 9 % ..............................................................................