Meetings and teamwork
Meeting Vocabulary: 8 Terms Used at Work
Meeting vocabulary helps a group move from discussion to a clear decision. These terms describe what the group will discuss, what it decided, and who is responsible for the work afterward.
8 meeting terms in context
Listen for these words near the beginning and end of a meeting. They often reveal the purpose of the conversation and the work that follows it.
- Agenda
- The ordered list of topics a group plans to discuss.Example: “The hiring timeline is the second item on today’s agenda.”
- Action item
- A specific task created during a meeting.Example: “My action item is to compare the two proposals by Friday.”
- Alignment
- Shared understanding or agreement about a goal or plan.Example: “Before we begin, let’s confirm alignment on the project scope.”
- Decision
- The choice the group has agreed to make.Example: “The decision is to launch the pilot with one team first.”
- Owner
- The person responsible for completing or coordinating a task.Example: “Who is the owner of the customer research action item?”Note: Ownership describes responsibility; it does not necessarily mean doing every part alone.
- Blocker
- A problem that prevents work from moving forward.Example: “Access to the data is the only blocker for this analysis.”
- Parking lot
- A list of useful topics saved for later so the current meeting can stay focused.Example: “Let’s put the pricing question in the parking lot and return to it tomorrow.”
- Recap
- A short summary of the main decisions and next steps.Example: “I’ll send a recap with each action item after the call.”
How to confirm a meeting outcome
Before the meeting ends, use a short confirmation question to prevent different interpretations:
- “To recap, what did we decide?”
- “Who owns each action item?”
- “What is the deadline for the next step?”
Keep learning with BizLinga
Look up unfamiliar words in our 40-term business English glossary, explore another free guide, or practice in the BizLinga iPhone app.