Key roles in international meetings

Start your international meeting by agreeing on how it should be run sth.etw. durchführen, leitenrun. Particularly for the first meeting, don’t jump straighthier: direktstraight into business. Invest a little time at the beginning to save a lot of time later. You’re setting the ground rules for the future. Decide and describe the various roles in the meeting.

Facilitator

What do you expect from the person running the meeting? The facilitator helps the participants reach a satisfactory conclusionhier: Endergebnis, Abschlussconclusion to the meeting as a whole or to individual agenda itemTagesordnungspunktagenda items. Usually, they prepare the agenda and make sure the the minuteshier: das Protokollminutes are distributed afterwards. The facilitator should outline sth.etw. umreißenoutline the goals and the procedure of the meeting, and make regular summaries to check that everyone understands. 

Another important role of the facilitator is to allow everyone the chance to contribute. This can include getting quiet members to speak and, if the discussion gets heated, managing potential conflicts and bringing the meeting to order.

Timekeeper

Punctuality and timing are key to a well-run meeting, but different cultural concepts of punctuality and lateness can lead to conflicts. You might decide to start meetings on time — even if some participants aren’t there yet. Or you might allow a little small talk at the beginning. 

During the meeting itself, timing is ­often neglect sth.etw. vernachlässigenneglected. In international meetings, not everyone may speak English fluentlyfließendfluently, and some might need more time to get their point across. Occasionally, misunderstandings need to be cleared up, or colleagues might translate particular words and phrases for each other. 

This is why an international meeting may take longer than one in your own language and culture. If you put timingsZeiteinteilungentimings on the various items on the agenda, keep these in keep sth. in mindetw. im Hinterkopf behalten, an etw. denkenmind. The timekeeper reminds the facilitator and participants how much time is available.

Scribe 

The scribeSchreiber(in)scribe is sometimes called a “moderator”. This person maintain sth.hier: etw. betreuen, verwaltenmaintains a written summary of the important discussion points while the meeting is in progress. This is particularly useful in videoconferences, via the chat function. The scribe will need to know the subject matterThema, Materiesubject matter well, so that participants can check their understanding by referring to the notes or asking a question in the chat.

With large differences in language levels among participants, you have two options: appoint sb.jmdn. ernennen, bestimmenappoint a scribe or run the meeting with interpreterDolmetscher(in)interpreters. You’ll need to change scribes regularly. It’s tiringanstrengend, ermüdendtiring to write notes and contribute to the meeting at the same time.

Secretary

It’s not always necessary to have a scribe and a secretary. The secretary takes detailed minutes of what is discussed and decided in the meeting. You should agree on what kind of minutes you want: descriptions of the discussion, or a simple recordhier: Protokollrecord of the decisions and action points?

Interpreters are there to help, but using them can be tricky

Interpreter

Interpreters are there to help when there’s no commonhier: gemeinsamcommon language you can work in, but using them can be trickyschwierig, kniffligtricky. Interpreters need time to prepare, especially if they’re not familiar with the subject matter. Go through the procedure with them.

Ask participants to speak clearly and not too fast. Unless you have simultaneous translation, speakers must pause after every two or three sentences to allow the interpreter to speak. It may also be necessary for interpreters to discuss nuances of meaning, for example. All of this takes time.

Also, remember that interpretingDolmetscheninterpreting is demandingfordernd, anspruchsvolldemanding. Plan breaks or use more than one interpreter.

Participants

For everyone else, you can agree on some basic rules of participation. Of course, most people know they shouldn’t talk over sb.über jmdn. hinwegreden, jmdn. unterbrechentalk over others, but in larger groups, there are often side conversations. Sometimes, these can be helpful, but you should set a time limit for them. 

Once you have invested some time in setting up these roles and rules, your international meetings should run smoothly and more effectively.