Company Meetings
You should never go to a meeting (or make a telephone call) without a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve.
— Steve Jobs
The more you participate, the better you will feel, and the easier the encounters in English will be.
Don’t invent the rules.
What do you know about company meetings?
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Some Types of Company Meetings
Statutory Meeting
Annual General Meeting
Extraordinary Meeting
Board of Directors Meeting
What is the Companies Act 2006?
CHAPTER 46
An Act to reform company law and restate the greater part of the enactments relating to companies; to make other provision relating to companies and other forms of business organisation; to make provision about directors’ disqualification, business names, auditors and actuaries; to amend Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002; and for connected purposes.
[8th November 2006]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
What is the difference?
May, Must, Will & Shall
May: a legal right
Must/Will: a legal obligation
Shall: a legal obligation on a person/party
Statutory Meeting
Every company limited by shares and every company limited by guarantee and having a share capital shall, within not less than one month and not more than six months from the date at which the company is entitled to commence a business (incorporation), hold a general meeting of the members/shareholders of the company.
This meeting is called the ‘statutory meeting.’ This is the first meeting of the members/shareholders of a public company and is held only once in the lifetime of a company.
Statutory report:
The Board of Directors shall, at least 21 days (based on Companies Act) before the day on which the meeting is to be held, forward a report, called the ‘statutory report,’ to every member of the company.
Procedure at the meeting:
A. List of members,
B. Discussion of matters relating to a formational aspect,
C. Adjournment.
Objects of the meeting and report:
A. To put the members of the company in possession of all the important facts relating to the company,
B. To provide the members an opportunity of meeting and discussing the management, methods, and prospects of the company,
C. To approve the modification of the terms of any contract named in the prospectus.
Annual General Meeting
Company to hold an annual general meeting every year. Every company shall in each year hold, in addition to any other meetings, a general meeting as its annual general meeting and shall specify the meeting as such in the notice calling it.
There must not be more than 15 months between one annual general meeting and the other. However the first annual general meeting must be held within 18 months from the date of its incorporation.
The Registrar may, for any reason deemed special, extend the time for holding an annual general meeting by a period not exceeding 3 months. But no extension of time is granted for holding the first annual general meeting.
Every annual general meeting will be called during business hours on a day that is not a public holiday.
It may be held either at the registered office of the company or at some other place within the city, town, or village in which the registered office of the company is situated.
As regards holding of the annual general meeting, no distinction is made between a public company and a private company.
A general meeting of a company may be called by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing.
Annual general meeting a statutory requirement:
The annual general meeting of a company is a statutory requirement. It has to be called even where the company did not function during the year.
Canceling or postponing of convened meeting:
Where an annual general meeting is convened for a particular date, and notice is issued to the members, the Board of directors may cancel or postpone the holding of the meeting on that date provided power is exercised for bona fide and proper reasons.
Canceling or failure to hold an annual general meeting:
A. Any member may apply to the Company Law Board for calling the meeting.
B. The company and every officer who is in default shall be punishable with a fine.
Powers of Company Law Board to call an annual general meeting:
If a company defaults in holding an annual general meeting, any member of the company may apply to the Company Law Board for calling such a meeting.
Penalty for default:
If a company makes the default is holding a meeting by Company Law or in complying with any direction of the Company Law Board is calling a meeting, the company, and every officer of the company who is in default, shall be punishable with fine.
Extraordinary General Meeting
A statutory meeting and an annual general meeting of a company are called ordinary meetings.
Any meeting other than these meetings is called an extraordinary general meeting. It is called for transacting some urgent or special business which cannot be postponed till the next annual general meeting.
It may be convened. (1) By the Board of Directors on its own or on the requisition of the Members; or (2) by the requisitionists themselves on the failure of the Board of Directors to call the meeting.
1. The extraordinary meeting convened by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may call an extraordinary general meeting:
a. On its own.
b. On the requisition of the Members.
2. An extraordinary meeting convened by the requisitionists Power of Company Law Board to order meeting: If for any reason it is impracticable for a company to call, hold or conduct an extraordinary general meeting, the Company Law Board may call an extraordinary meeting.
Board of Directors Meetings
What is a board of directors?
A board of directors is a group of people. They are the governing body of a company, elected by the members/shareholders in the case of public companies to set strategy and oversee management. The board typically meets at regular intervals. Every public company must have a board of directors. Some private companies and nonprofit organizations also a board of directors.
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Requisites of a Valid Meeting
A meeting can validly transact any business if the following requirements are satisfied:
- The meeting must be duly convened by proper authority.
- Proper notice must be served in the prescribed manner.
- A quorum must be present.
- A chairperson must preside.
- Minutes of the proceedings must be kept.
Did you know?
Fun Meeting Facts
How to pronounce “percenta”…
Over 70% of directors bring other work.
Around 90% of people daydream during the meeting.
Over 25% of the time irrelevant topics are brought up.
39% of members admit to dozing off.
75% of members and shareholders think virtual meetings set up better polling options.
34% of companies plan to dive into VR Tech for virtual meetings within 5 years.
47% of directors and members say that Mondays are the least productive day to go over meeting topics.
What they say…
Quotes from some famous users…
“When the outcome of a meeting is to have another meeting, it has been a lousy meeting”
-Herbert Hoover
“Keep things informal. Talking is the natural way to do business. Writing is great for keeping records and putting down details, but talk generates ideas. Great things come from out luncheon meetings which consist of a sandwich, a cup of soup, and a good idea or two. No martinis.”
-T. Boone Pickens
“It took me years to work out the difference between net and gross. In meetings I just used to say, ‘Tell me if it’s good or bad news.”
-Richard Branson
Verb Collocations
COLLOCATION TYPE 1:
Verb + Infinitive form
to offer
to decide
to refuse
to hesitate
to fail
to plan
to hope
to please
to arrange
to seem
to want
to prepare
Examples
to offer to negotiate
to decide to sign
to plan to resign
to hope to meet
to prepare to find
to seem to be
PRONUNCIATION TIP:
Connect your first verb and then, make your pause between the “to” and the second “verb”.
For example, “Do you want-to go to the meeting.”
For example, “Do you want to go to the meeting.”
And then do not pronounce “to” as “two” or “too”, it has a different pronunciation as “ta”.
“Do you wanta go to the meeting.”
COLLOCATION TYPE 2:
Verb + ing form
to suggest
to practice
to postpone
to deny
to admit
to discuss
to risk
to complete
to finish
to avoid
to consider
to understand
Examples
to suggest reviewing
to discuss defaulting
to consider offering
to risk losing
to finish setting out
to postpone performing
Some/Any Advice
What is the difference between some and any?
Well that is an interesting question. Both of them are positive, and both of them are unidentified.
The difference is that some is real, and any may or may not exist.
For example:
If you have any questions or comments… (maybe you have questions, maybe you don’t)
If you have some questions or comments… (you do have questions, but they are unidentified)
So, if you think your email or letter was very clear, you outlined everything, and left the reader knowing exactly what to do, you probably want to use any, instead of some. However if you feel there certainly are questions, but you just don’t know what they are, use some. In either case, avoid using doubts, or a doubt, as this brings a negative connotation in English.
In a meeting, you want to sound normal and follow the normal rules in order to reach your objective more effectively. When you use standard lines and phrases, you sound normal. As native speakers, we all grow up seeing and hearing these expressions everyday and use them in and out of the boardroom. We like what feels familiar, and therefore we get together with and come to agreements with people who make us feel that way.
Tips to help you speak & write more clearly.
Check out the full article here on Legal English Writing Tips
Tip # 1
Avoid Adverbs
Be careful about using adverbs. Adverbs exaggerate what you are trying to say and can backfire and make what you are trying to say seem is much weaker than what you are really trying to say. If you need to express this to your reader, then it shouts to the reader that you are overcompensating for something. Take adverbs out of your writing.
Tip # 2
Avoid Aggressive Language
This has no place in a professional environment. Passion is great, but control it. When you have a clear, cool head, the facts show much better. There is no reason to get angry over opposing counsel’s arguments or positions. Attack the argument’s validity and substance, not the language.
Tip # 3
Avoid Legal Jargon
Join the plain English movement. This was a law passed over 20 years ago in the UK, and nobody wants to hear this anymore. Modern day lawyers use this style, and it makes communication much easier and clear. Did you know that less than 2% of a document actually needs to be in legalese?
Tip # 4
Avoid Pronouns
One of the biggest confusions can be pronouns. If you are not a grammar pro, these are words like: I, you, we, they, he and she. When you are writing the document, it may seem clear to you, but remember that for the reader, everything may not be so clear. Take 1 minute, reorganize the sentence for clarity.
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Pop Quiz Question
Which line is correct?
I looking forward to hearing from you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I looked forward for hearing from you.
I looks forward to hearing from you.
I look forward to hear from you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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About the Author
Eric Froiland
Eric is a legal English teacher from the United States and has been based out of Bogota, Colombia for the last 10 years. He is the owner and founder of Legal English Innovation SAS, which is recognized as the top legal English academy in Colombia and is an official Test of Legal English Skills (TOLES) examination center.
