Meeting

The personnel manager (PM) of Generation hospital, A children hospital, calls all nurses to attend a meeting to improve the hospital services.

PM : Good afternoon. I think we should begin. As you may know, there were some complaints on the local newspaper this week about our hospital. So I called this meeting for all nurses in plant 1. The main objective of our meeting is to attend the matter, to improve our service quality. First, let’s understand the complaints. Mr X complained on the dirty toilet. Mrs. Y was unhappy with the bed smell from the rubbish bins. What’s the general feeling about the matter ?
Nurse1 :I feel quite sure that we have to respond it as soon as possible. We know that the toilets in plant 1are not in a good condition anymore. Some taps don’t work so there is no water. They are dingy too.
PM : Thank you. Any....
Nurse2 : Excuse me. I saw many times there weren’t any black plastic bags attached in the rubbish
PM : Thank you Nurse Brown. Yes .. Nurse Smith
Nurse3 : I am sure that the bins are rarely washed!.
PM : Thank you. What do you think the solution are?
Nurse4 : I think the hospital should change the old taps with the new ones and change the toilets lamps, with the brighter ones. .
PM : It’s a good idea, nurse Liu. More suggestion/
Nurse5 : For the toilets, it will be better if they are painted with the brighter color, too. And for rubbish bin, the hospital should remind the cleaning service agent to be more responsible with their job.
PM : Thank you, nurse Forest.
Nurse2 : Excuse me, Mr. Hill. Putting notices on the bin will be useful to remind the patients and the visitors to put their rubbish into the bins.
PM : Thank you, nurse Brown. You have a good idea. So, we’ve discussed the problems. Can we now try to reach a decision. The hospital should attend the problems as soon as possible. For the toilets: changing the taps and the lamps and repainting the walls. And for the smelly rubbish bins: reminding the cleaning service agent about their job and putting notices on the bins. Does anyone have anything else to add? Right then I think we can end the meeting at this point. Thank you. Let’s go back to work.


  1. Opening a meeting (non-protocol or without a Master of ceremony)

    2. Some one who manages a meeting is called a chairman. One of her tasks is opening a meeting. This part consist of four elements of opening: Starting a meeting, telling the background, stating the objectives, and keeping the meeting moving. Some useful phrases to uses here are given below:


    1. Starting the meeting

      2. Well ladies and gentlemen, I think we should begin.

      Perhaps we’d better get started/get down to business

      Right then, I think we should begin

      Let’s begin/ get going, shall we?

      Shall we start?


    2. Summarize the background

      3. As you may know, we............................... So I called the meeting.....

      As you read on the agenda,........................ So I called the meeting.....


    3. Stating the objective

      4. The purpose of the meeting is first, to...................... and secondly to....

      We are here today to consider firstly,...... secondly.....thirdly........

      The main objective of our meeting is ......

      I’ve called the meeting first to..........secondly to...........


    4. Would you like to begin/ to open the discussion..?

      What do you think?

      Would you like to comment here?

      Shall we continue?

      Let’s move on

      What about you?


  2. Opinions
    1. Asking for Opinion

      2. Expression to get someone’s opinions can be directed specifically at one person or a group.

      Other phrases that can be used here are:

      To a Perspn To a group
      SWhat are your views on....? Any reaction to that?
      What are your feelings about? Has anybody got any strong feeling about/views on that?
      What’s your opinion about that? What’s the general view on/feeling about that?
      What do you think about? Has anybody got any comment to make?

    2. Giving Opinions

      3. During the meeting a number of people give opinions about the subject being discussed. An opinion can be expressed in a strong way, in neutral way (the most common) or tentatively (with some hesitation or reservation). Phrases that can be used are:

      strong neutra tentative
      I’m sure that.............. I think/I believe that.... It seems to me that
      I’m convinced that.... As I see it....... I’m inclined to think that....
      I feel quite sure that..... From a financial point of view........ My inclination would be to....
      It is perfectly clear to me that... The way I see it is that..... I tend to favour the view that......

  3. Closing a meeting

    4. Before ending the meeting, the chairman or a person who conducts the meeting usually do these three steps;

    1. Summarizing the main points

      2. In this step, the chairman summarizes the main points and the essential problems. This enables the minutes-taker or the secretary and the meeting-member to capture the result of the meeting. The chairman usually says the following;

      “Now, I’ve listened to both sides of the argument and we’ve discussed the difficulties of introducing flexitime in the production department. I’m sure you both agree that this problem is serous and that some sort of compromise has to be worked out.”

      Other phrases are:

    2. Coming to a conclusion

      3. The chairman tried to draw a conclusion. The phrases that are used are:

    3. Bringing the meeting to an end

      4. Finally the chairman checked everything that had been covered in he meeting.