Chinese For Dummies (83 page)

zhìdìng huìyì yìchéng
制定会议议程
(
制定會議議程
) (jir-deeng hway-ee ee-chung) (
set an agenda
)

What is your role at these meetings? Are you the one to
zhǔchí huìyì
主持会议
(
主持會議
) (joo-chir hway-ee) (
lead the meeting
) or just to
cānjiā huìyì
参加会议
(
參加會議
) (tsahn-jya hway-ee) (
participate in the meeting
)? Are you the
xiétiáorén
协调人
(
協調人
) (shyeh-tyaow-run) (
facilitator
) of the meeting, trying to elicit as much
fǎnkuì
反馈
(
反饋
) (fahn-kway) (
feedback
) as possible? Or do you always have the unenviable task of contacting everyone to
qǔxiāo huìyì
取消会议
(
取消會議
) (chyew-shyaow hway-ee) (
cancel the meeting
)?

Suppose you're the one who's leading the meeting and you want to make sure everyone has a say in matters. Here are some phrases you can use to try to include everyone in the process:

Jack, nǐ hái yǒu shénme xūyào bǔchōng ma?
Jack,
你还有什么需要补充吗
? (Jack,
你還有什麼需要補充嗎
?) (Jack, nee hi yo shummuh shyew-yaow boo-choong mah?) (
Jack, do you have anything else to add?
)

Shéi hái yǒu shénme yìjiàn huòzhě wèntí?
谁还有什么意见或者问题
? (
誰還有甚麼意見或者問題
?) (shay hi yo shummuh ee-jyan hwaw-juh one-tee?) (
Who still has any comments or questions?
)

Wǒmen xūyào duì zhèige xiàngmù biǎojué ma?
我们需要对这个项目表决吗
? (
我們需要對這個項目表決嗎
?) (waw-men shyew-yaow dway jay-guh shyahng-moo byaow-jweh mah?) (
Do we need to vote on this item?
)

Making the initial greeting

Suppose you've already had some contacts with your business counterparts on the phone or via e-mail but have never actually met them until now. A mere “nice to meet you” may not suffice, especially if you want to emphasize how very glad you are to finally be speaking face to face. Here are a couple of phrases you can use:

Hěn gāoxìng jiàn dào nín běnrén.
很高兴见到您本人
. (
很高興見到您本人
.)
(hun gaow-sheeng jyan daow neen bun-run.) (
I'm glad to meet you in person.
)

Zǒngsuàn jiàn dào nín le, shízài ràng wǒ hěn gāoxìng.
总算见到您了
,
实在让我很高兴
. (
總算見到您了
,
實在讓我很高興
.) (dzoong-swan jyan daow neen luh, shir-dzye rahng waw hun gaow-sheeng.) (
It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
)

Always greet the person who holds the highest rank first before saying hello to others. Hierarchy is important to the Chinese, so try to always be conscious of this convention, or you may unintentionally cause someone to lose face by not acknowledging his or her importance in the overall scheme of things. This consideration goes for your side of the equation as well. The leader of your team should enter the room first and then wait to be seated by the host of the meeting.

The people you meet with may have one of the following titles:

chǎngzhǎng
厂长
(
廠長
)
(chahng-jahng) (
factory director
)

dǒngshì
董事
(doong-shir) (
director of the board
)

fù zǒngcái
副总裁
(
副总裁
) (foo dzoong-tsye) (
vice president
)

jīnglǐ
经理
(
經理
)
(jeeng-lee) (
manager
)