Using English at Work

Lesson 7 - Scheduling a Meeting

SCRIPT

At 3 p.m., I get a call from one of our vendors who wants to set up a meeting for the following week. Since I was away from my desk at the time, she left a voicemail message. When I get back to my desk, I retrieve the message and listen to it, and then return her call. I call her twice, but she isn't there, so I leave a voicemail message for her. We're playing phone tag. Finally, at 4 p.m., she calls again and since I am at my desk, we can talk at last.

Andrea asks me if it is possible for us to meet early in the week next week. I check my calendar and I tell her that I'm tied up Monday and Tuesday, but that I'm free Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. She says that Wednesday afternoon suits her and asks what time would be good for me. I tell her the earlier the better, since I will be entertaining clients that night and need to leave work a little early that day. She suggests 1 p.m. I check my scheduled again to confirm that 1 p.m. Wednesday is free and clear and it is. She says that she will send me an email Wednesday morning as a reminder and I thank her. After all of that back and forth, we finally have a meeting set for next week.

GLOSSARY

vendor - a company that sells a product or service to other companies

* Which company is your vendor for computer products?

to set up - to schedule; to arrange; to set a time for

* Let's set up a meeting with all of the department heads for next Thursday at 11:30.

away from (one's) desk - not at one's desk; not near the phone at work; not in one's office

* I put your mail on your chair when I saw that you were away from your desk.

retrieve - to get information that was stored on a computer or in a voicemail system

* Were you able to retrieve the files after your computer stopped working?

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Using English at Work

Lesson 7 - Scheduling a Meeting

to return (one's) call - to call someone back on the telephone after he or she has called you and left a message because you weren't there

* I would appreciate it if you could return my call as soon as you get this message.

to play phone tag - to repeatedly leave messages for someone because he or she is not there to answer the phone when you call, and to have him or her repeatedly call you back and leave messages for you when you are not there

* Monty and Vito both had several meetings this week, so they were playing phone tag with each other.

early in the week - Monday or Tuesday of a week; the first days of a week

* I'm available early in the week, but from Wednesday through Friday I will be at a conference.

calendar - schedule of appointments; appointment book; a piece of paper or book showing when one is available and when one is busy; a schedule showing the days of the week or month

* Marco keeps Rhonda's calendar, so if you want to make an appointment with Rhonda, you need to call Marco to find out when she's available.

tied up - busy; occupied; not available

* Jorge was tied up in meetings all morning and we couldn't speak to him until the afternoon.

free - available; not busy; not occupied

* When are you free for an interview next week?

to suit (someone) - to be convenient or good for someone; to not be inconvenient or bad for someone

* I'd like to send you my resume via email, if that suits you.

the earlier the better - as soon as possible; preferably very soon

* Please come to my office anytime tomorrow morning, the earlier the better because I have lots of afternoon appointments.

to entertain clients - to take important customers to dinner and/or a show while they are visiting one's city to try to improve the relationship between them and one's company

* When you're entertaining clients, don't talk about the company and our products too much or they'll get tired of hearing about them.

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