Looking at both sides in meetings practice

Looking at both sides in meetings - practice

Choose an agenda topic from the next page. Roleplay chairing a meeting in which you look at the pros and cons of that thing, then try to reach agreement on if it is a good idea or not. You might need to decide more about your company, your roles, etc before you start.

Useful language for looking at both sides although backfire but despite despite the fact that even though however in spite of in spite of the fact that in the long term/ in the long run/ in the end looking at it another way, it could also be said that nevertheless nonetheless on the contrary on the other hand on the other side of the coin pros and cons/ benefits and drawbacks/ advantages and disadvantages/ good and bad points/ positive and negative aspects/ desirable and undesirable effects though turning from… to… unintended consequences yet

Share one decision and see if other groups agree. Then ask about any things on the next page you don’t understand, found it difficult to talk about, etc, discussing how good or bad the ideas are each time. Then ask about any language above you couldn’t use.

What are the differences between these pairs of concession phrases? They could be differences in grammar, meaning, etc, including some quite small differences.

but/ however

however/ although

although/ even though

although/ despite

despite/ in spite

however/ on the other hand

however/ on the contrary

however/ nevertheless

nevertheless/ on the contrary

on the other hand/ nonetheless

 

Do the first activity again, this time with your own ideas for things to look at both sides of.

 

Ideas to look at both sides of

Choose an agenda topic from below. Roleplay chairing a meeting in which you look at the pros and cons of that thing, then try to reach agreement on if it is a good idea or not. You might need to decide more about your company, your roles, etc before you start.

Using AI to deal with basic online customer queries

Someone from outside being the first point of contact for allegations against staff

Semi-annual staff appraisal meetings

Regularly changing which company does your audits

Accepting a government bailout

Declaring bankruptcy to clear your debts

Brainstorming new product ideas in meetings

Outsourcing the company cafeteria to a catering company

A public ceremony to name sales rep of the year

Taking turns being chair/ facilitator

Using more cloud computing/ cloud services

Company cars for sales staff

Needing consensus from the board before taking big decisions

Using consultants to look into the corporate culture

Cutting excessive executive pay

Having fully flexible working hours

Switching to hotdesking for all staff (including managers)

Selling more mass-market products

Recruiting more experienced mid-career candidates with relevant experience

Classifying staff as freelance contractors to avoid having to pay minimum wage

More permanent employees

Paying piece rates instead of minimum wage at your factories

Focus on profit margins (maybe losing market share)

Sales targets which are five percent higher than in the last financial year

A soft product launch/ A beta product launch

Taking over a small start-up

Selling off a subsidiary

Unlimited telecommuting/ working from home

Moving more upmarket

Vertical integration/ Bringing manufacturing in house

Share one decision with the class and see if other groups agree.

Ask about any things above you don’t understand, found it difficult to talk about, etc, discussing how good or bad the ideas are each time.

Ask about any language on the first page above you couldn’t use, working together to make example sentences using it each time.

Do the first activity again, this time with your own ideas for things to look at both sides of.