9 Korean phrases for meetings, from 시작하겠습니다 to 수고하셨습니다
Korean meetings run in a register most learners rarely practise: the formal -습니다 style, humble forms for yourself, honorifics for the room. The sentences are not hard, but they are different sentences from the ones you use at lunch with the same people.
These nine cover a meeting end to end, from the opening line to the 수고하셨습니다 that releases everyone. The pattern to watch is how disagreement and delay are softened without becoming vague.
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회의 시작하겠습니다.
hoeui sijakagetseumnida.
Let's begin the meeting.
-겠습니다 announces what the speaker is about to do, and it is the backbone of meeting Korean. Whoever runs the meeting says this; everyone else goes quiet.
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제가 먼저 말씀드리겠습니다.
jega meonjeo malsseumdeurigetseumnida.
I'll start, if I may.
Literally: I will humbly speak first.
말씀드리다 is the humble form of 'to say', used when you address people above you or a room in general. 제가 is the humble 'I'; 내가 does not belong in a meeting.
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한 가지 질문 있습니다.
han gaji jilmun itseumnida.
I have a question.
Literally: One thing, a question exists.
한 가지 (one thing) makes it sound contained, which matters when the senior person is talking. Raise a hand slightly; interrupting outright is rare.
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다시 한번 설명해 주시겠어요?
dasi hanbeon seolmyeonghae jusigesseoyo?
Could you explain that once more?
-(으)시겠어요 is a notch more deferential than 주세요. It also lets you ask for a repeat without admitting 못 알아들었어요 (I did not catch it).
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제 생각은 조금 다릅니다.
je saenggageun jogeum dareumnida.
I see it a little differently.
Literally: My thought is a little different.
The standard way to disagree with someone senior. 조금 (a little) is doing diplomatic work even when you disagree completely. 틀렸어요 (that is wrong) is for peers, and only friendly ones.
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확인하고 다시 말씀드리겠습니다.
hwaginhago dasi malsseumdeurigetseumnida.
I'll check and get back to you.
The universal way to buy time without saying no or guessing. 확인 (check, confirm) is one of the most used nouns in Korean offices for exactly this reason.
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이번 주까지 가능할까요?
ibeon jukkaji ganeunghalkkayo?
Would this week be possible?
How deadlines get set without an order being given. -(으)ㄹ까요 turns it into a question about possibility; the answer 네, 가능합니다 is a commitment.
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오늘 회의는 여기까지 하겠습니다.
oneul hoeuineun yeogikkaji hagetseumnida.
That's all for today.
Literally: Today's meeting, (we) will do up to here.
여기까지 (up to here) closes anything: a lesson, a call, a meeting. Said by the person who opened it.
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수고하셨습니다.
sugohasyeotseumnida.
Thank you all for your work.
The closing line, said by and to everyone. The past honorific -셨습니다 marks finished work; 수고하세요 is for leaving while others are still working. Some older managers dislike hearing either from a junior, so match what your colleagues say.
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If you are junior, the safest contributions are the question, the request for a repeat and the promise to confirm. Those three say you are engaged without claiming a position, and in a Korean meeting that is the hard part done.