Stating Concerns

and
Causes of Production
Problems
The Problem-Solving Meeting
A What is discussed in each kind of meeting?

Can you think of any other types of meetings?

What kind of meeting is most common for you?

 PRESENTATION
A Some of the things you might discuss in an information- sharing meeting are listed below, but
the second word in each collocation has been switched with another. Switch them back . The
first two have been done for you.
Collocations
production margin quality campaigns customer budgets
balance appraisals sales chains recruitment setting
market channels advertising control salary support
staff sheets cost development training relations
profit methods supply projections price procedures
distribution trends product cutting IT reviews
Discussion

B Use the template below to help you talk about the meetings you attend . Use some of the
phrases above or choose others that are more relevant to your own line of business .

Well, a lot of the meetings I go to these days tend to be about _______ and
usually that will involve discussing things like _______. The most important figures we
look at are _______. So I'll probably have to prepare and issue copies before the meeting.
If there's any real disagreement, it will generally be about _______. But, frankly, the worst
thing about the meetings _______.
 PRESENTATION
A Use the template below to help you talk about the meetings you attend.

Well, a lot of the meetings I go to these days tend to be about _______ and
usually that will involve discussing things like _______. The most important figures
we look at are _______. So I'll probably have to prepare and issue copies before the
meeting. If there's any real disagreement, it will generally be about _______. But,
frankly, the worst thing about the meetings _______.
 PRESENTATION
A Complete the collocations in the boxes. They are all things the leader of a meeting might do.
the agenda the main goals areas of conflict
the final decision the meeting an action plan
the participants points of view other speakers
the key issues troublemakers follow-up tasks
 PRESENTATION
A Complete the collocations in the boxes. They are all things the leader of a meeting might do.
the agenda the main goals areas of conflict
the final decision the meeting an action plan
the participants points of view other speakers
the key issues troublemakers follow-up tasks

the meeting other speakers

the participants areas of conflict

the agenda troublemakers

points of view an action plan

the main goals follow-up tasks

the final decision the key issues

• They are falling short of their target.
• There is a shortfall of about 150 units.
PRESENTATION Problem-solving techniques
A Do you have a special procedure for dealing wit h more complex problems?
Complete the checklist below using the verbs in the boxes.
a-d
brainstorm define review select
e- l
assign break criticize draw up eliminate explore invite restate
PRESENTATION Problem-solving techniques
A Do you have a special procedure for dealing wit h more complex problems?
Complete the checklist below using the verbs in the boxes.
a-d
brainstorm define review select
e- l
assign break criticize draw up eliminate explore invite restate

break
define
restate

invite
brainstorm
criticize

review explore
eliminate

select draw up
assign
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
• Okay, basically, the problem is this. We’re concerned about …
• As you probably know, …. That is why / therefore……
• I think there are three main aspects to the problem.
• How can we ….?
BRAINSTORMING
• I'd like to hear what you all have to say.
• Now, what we need are as many ideas as possible.
• Okay, that's a nice idea.
REVIEW YOUR IDEAS
• Okay, let's see what we've got so far.
• I think we'll have to reject this idea for now
• Let’s think about what we can do, instead of what we can’t.
SELECT THE BEST SOLUTION
• All things considered, l think we should go with this idea.
• How could we make this idea work?
• Now, how do we implement this?
• Chris, can I leave the details to you?
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
• Okay, basically, the problem is
this. We’re concerned about …
• As you probably know, …. That
is why ……
• I think there are three
main aspects to the
problem.
• How can we ….?
BRAINSTORMING
• I'd like to hear what you all
have to say.
• Now, what we need are as
many ideas as possible.
• Okay, that's a nice idea.
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
• Okay, basically, the problem is this. We’re concerned about …
• As you probably know, …. That is why / therefore……
• I think there are three main aspects to the problem.
• How can we ….?
BRAINSTORMING
• I'd like to hear what you all have to say.
• Now, what we need are as many ideas as possible.
• Okay, that's a nice idea.
REVIEW YOUR IDEAS
• Okay, let's see what we've got so far.
• I think we'll have to reject this idea for now
• Let’s think about what we can do, instead of what we can’t.
SELECT THE BEST SOLUTION
• All things considered/All in all, l think we should go with this idea.
• How could we make this idea work?
• Now, how do we implement this?
• Chris, can I leave the details to you?

MEETINGS
Meeting 1
A Okay, as you may have heard, we’ve been having
problems with the retail stores. Basically, we can't get
them to stock our new product due to the fact that it’s
too expensive. Therefore the question is: how do we get
access to the customer?
B What if we offered it on a sale or return basis?
A I’m not sure that’s the best solution. If we did that,
we'd just create cash flow problems for ourselves.
B Hmm. Well, another option would be to sell it direct
online.
A That might be a possibility, but I really don't think we
know enough about e-commerce to take the chance and
if we started bringing in Internet specialists, we could
end up spending a fortune.
B Of course, we wouldn' t have this problem if we’d
priced the product more sensibly in the first place.
Meeting 2
A Right, our objective for this meeting is to think of ways
we can get the supplies we need. As I'm sure you've
all heard, our sole supplier is about to go bankrupt. As
a result, we need to find an alternative.
B Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if it does we'll
certainly have to act fast. Suppose we bought the
company out?
A If we did that, we’d have to take on all their debts
wouldn’t we? I don’t think that would be a possibility
for us!
C Alternatively, we could just manufacture our own
components. I've spoken to our technical department.
They say they can do it.
A Yes, but do you have any idea how long it would take
to get an in-house production facility operational?
C Well, what choice do we have? Unless we do
something, we'll be out of business within six months!
B What I want to know is why our suppliers didn't tell us
they were in trouble. If we'd known this was going
to happen, we could have had our own production
plant up and running by now.
 CAUSE AND EFFECT

A
 CAUSE AND EFFECT

A
CAUSE AND EFFECT

B
 PRESENTATION
C Problem-solving meetings should start with a clear objective and end with clear actions. Look at the problems
and objectives below and try to complete the suggestions for each problem.
a to shift production to somewhere like Southeast f sell it off at a discount
Asia. g raising prices
b to sell direct online h we involved the police
c delay the new product launch i bought the company out
d offered it on a sale or return basis j manufacture our own products
e encrypting our most confidential information
PRACTICE
Do you think ... ? Yes, I do because ...
How do you feel No, I don't because ...
A Work with a colleague. You are meeting to discuss some of your about ...? I agree because ...
company's problems using BOOST.
What do you think? I disagree because ...
A We need to discuss ... What do you think we should do?
B I strongly recommend (that)…
PROBLEM ALTERNATIVES

Reduce the workforce

staffing with layoffs. Offer early retirements

management Hire a CEO from outside Promote someone from within

the company

marketing Focus on new consumer Continue with current strategy

sectors
employee offer a 10% salary offer 5% and a
compensation increase productivity bonus

products Promote our current Develop new ones

offerings
reduce budget cut training spending freeze hiring

I strongly recommend…ing…
1 We ought to consider…ing … 2 By …ing…., we could 3 As a result…
Why don’t we …? would be able to…. Consequently,…
How about …ing… might…
PRACTICE
 Brainstorming Making Suggestions
I think we should ….
Starting How about ….?
OK, let's get down to business.
Why don’t ……?
Right, can we start, please?
Maybe / Perhaps we could ……..
Stating objectives
The purpose of the meeting this morning is to ... Agreeing
What we need to achieve today is ... Yes, that's a good idea because ...
Our objective here is to ... Absolutely because ...
Exactly because ...
Encouraging contributions You're (absolutely) right because ...
Don't hold back. Say whatever comes to mind.
At this stage we want all your ideas,
however crazy you think they are. Expressing enthusiasm
The rule is, there are no bad ideas. That's great!
Are there any other ideas? That's the best idea I've heard for a long time.
That's a(n) (excellent/unusual/creative) suggestion/idea.
Asking for Opinions
Let’s go around the table once, and then open the Disagreeing
discussion up. I see / know what you mean, but I’d like to add
So, who’d like to get the ball rolling? something to that.
How do you feel about that? That could work, but I think ….
What's your view on this? That’s an interesting suggestion, but that’s may not be
Would you like to weigh in on this? enough. We also …

STARTING
Thank you all for coming (today).
I’m very happy to see you all
here today.
OK, let's get down to business.
Right, can we start, please?
SETTING OBJECTIVES
I’ve called today’s meeting to …
The purpose of this meeting
is ...
The aims of this meeting are ...
SETTING THE AGENDA
Have you all seen the
agenda?
As you can see from the
agenda, we’ll be going
over…
GIVING CONTEXT KEEPING TO THE POINT
As you may have heard,… We seem to be getting side-tracked.
therefore….. Perhaps we could get back to the
You are probably aware that ….. point.
For this reason ….. This may not be the right time to
As you probably know, …. discuss that.
That is why ……
SPEEDING UP
I think we should move on now.
TRANSITIONING
Can we come back to that?
First, let have a look at ….
Moving right along, let’s
discuss… SLOWING DOWN
Let’s move on to the next item on Hold on, we need to look at this
the agenda. in more detail.
I think we should discuss
DEALING WITH this a bit more.
INTERRUPTIONS
Could you let him finish, please? SUMMARISING
Could you just hang on a OK, let's go over what we've
moment, please? agreed.
You’ll get your chance in a Right, to sum up then ...
moment.
 Meeting
MAKING SUGGESTIONS DISAGREEING
STARTING I think we should ….. I see / know what you mean, but I think
Thank you all for coming (today). there's a problem.
How about …?
I’m very happy to see you all here I'm not so sure. …
Why don't we ……?
today. Maybe, but that's not enough.
Maybe / Perhaps we could ….
OK, let's get down to business.
Right, can we start, please? SUMMARISING/CLOSING
GIVING OPINIONS OK, let's go over what we've agreed.
I think /I don't think that's a
GIVING CONTEXT I think that’s about as far as we can
good idea….because
As you may have heard,… therefore….. go at this stage.
In my opinion, we need to
You are probably aware that ….. For Right, to sum up then ...
….
this reason …..
I strongly believe …
As you probably know, ….
That is why …… AGREEING
That's true.
ASKING FOR REACTIONS I (totally) agree.
How do you feel about ...? Absolutely./Exactly.
What do you think? I think so, too.
Do you have any thoughts about this?
Would you like to weigh in?
Meeting
Asking for opinions
Does anybody have any
strong feelings about ...?
How do you all feel
about….?
Giving opinions
Well, unfortunately, I think
we'll probably have to ...
I fear we will need to…
Interrupting
Sorry to interrupt, but …
Can I just say/add
something quickly?
I’d like to comment on that if I
may.
Making suggestions Adding a condition
What about if we ...? I agree, providing we can ...
Why don’t we try ..ing We can do that, as long
instead of …ing? as ...
Agreeing Emphasising
I think I'd agree with you I keep going on about
there ... this, but ...
That sounds like a great I think it is worth
idea! mentioning again, …
Disagreeing Summarising
Well hold on ... So, we've agreed that ...
I’m not so sure about We are in agreement that …
….ing…
PRESENTATION
PRESENTATION Diplomatic Disagreement

Disagreement Examples
strategies
a. I think I'm going to go with Janines idea, but tell me more about your idea
I Show support first.
before you disagree b. That's not quite how I see it but how about looking at this a different way?
c. I'm not so sure, but maybe I'm missing something here. Run me through it
2 Disagree but ask
again.
for more detail
d. I'm not against your whole idea, just the part about pricing.
3 Check you've e. While I agree with a lot of what you say, I think you may be exaggerating
understood the problem.
correctly f. I don't quite agree with you there. However, you've given me another idea.
g. I'm not so sure I'm going to agree with this. I'd like to hear more about it,
4 Be specific about
though.
your disagreement
h. Before I answer that let me just check I understand what you're saying.
5 Disagree but offer i. I can understand exactly how you feel, but at the moment its just not an
an alternative option.
j. It's not so much your actual plan I have a problem with as how you intend
to
implement it.
PRESENTATION