TAX, DEATH AND MORE MEETINGS»

Michael Moore,

American film-maker and social critic

 

              Meeting (n) – 1. an occasion when people gather to discuss things and     

                                        make decisions

            to attend a meeting

            to hold a meeting

            to be in/at a meeting

          2. the meeting (formal) all the people who attend a meeting

          3. an occasion when two people meet unexpectedly or as

              planned     

          4. a competition between two teams or players

          5. a meeting of minds- a situation in which people have the                  

              same opinions or ideas

Why have a meeting?

   A great many important matters are quite satisfactorily conducted by a single individual who consults nobody. A great many more are resolved by a letter, a memo, a telephone call, or simple conversation between two people. Sometimes five minutes spent with six people separately is more effective and productive than a half-hour meeting with them all together.

  Certainly a great many meetings waste a great deal of everybody’s time and seem to be held for historical rather than practical reasons, But having said that, we cannot deny that meetings fulfill a deep human need. Man is a social species. In every organization and every human culture, people come together in small groups at regular and frequent intervals, and in larger “tribal” gatherings from time to time.

If there are no meetings in the places where they work, people’s attachment to the organizations they work for will be small, and they will meet in regular formal or informal gatherings in societies, clubs, or pubs when work is over.

  There is a world of science fiction, and a world of human reality; and those who live in the world of human reality know that it is held together by face-to-face meetings. A meeting still performs functions that will never be taken over by telephones, teleprinters, Xerox copiers, tape recorders, television monitors, or any other technological instruments of the information revolution.

If all other things fail, we can always have a meeting. Meetings have become the standard default means of exchanging information and sharing ideas at work, and often we do not consider the alternatives that could save us time and allow us to achieve more.

You may view meetings as a delight, a place where decisions are made, or try to avoid them like the plague because they take up too of your time. Many people see them as a necessary evil rather than considering the positive properties they bring. But whatever your view, meetings are here to stay, as they perform a valuable role as a forum for discussing useful information and making informed decisions.

In business, meetings are for moving the company forward, a process or framework on which the business relies to enable future growth. Meetings can be described as being forward thinking, and while they may discuss the background or history to an event, the reason for this is to influence the future and aid in developing a solution. Business needs meetings, whether large board meetings or informal one-to-ones.

Discussing the reading. Talk about your answers to these questions:

1)  What ways of doing business are given in the text?

2)  What is the most unpleasant thing about meetings?

3) How can you explain the following statement: “Man is a social species”?

4)  Why do we still have meetings?

5) What are the aims of having a meeting?

6) Are meetings important in business? Why? Why not?

7) What two types of meetings in business are discussed in the text above?

8) What do most people dislike about meetings?

9) What is a meeting for you –‘a delight or the plague’?