英語の意思決定メモはどう書く？B2中上級：会議の表現、数量の言い方、見直しの条件

意思決定メモは、会議に出ていない人に、何を決めたか、根拠では示せないことは何か、どの大きな案を見送ったか、どんな結果が出たら再検討するかを伝えます。その前の会議では、事実に基づいて主張し（“If we look at the facts…”）、丁寧に異議を唱え（“I’m not convinced that…”）、議論を前に進める（“Can we move on to…?”）表現が必要です。このテーマはB2（中上級）レベルで、意思決定の会議を進行したり、決定を文書にまとめたりする管理職、チームリーダー、アナリストに向いています。1日10分で十分です。

この記事が向いている人

コスト、安全、時間の制約の中で、チームが複数の案から1つを選ぶ会議を進行する管理職やチームリーダー。
数字を報告し、データが証明していないことまで明確に伝える必要があるアナリストや業務担当者。
会議に出ていない人、つまり役員、経理、決定の影響を受ける社員のために、決定を文書にまとめる方。
まだ早い場合：会議で意見を言ったり尋ねたりするのがまだ難しいなら、根拠をもとに応募者を評価し次の対応を決めるB1の記事から始めましょう。
簡単すぎる場合：意思決定の会議の進行や文書化にすでに慣れているなら、テストの点数と通話の評価が食い違うC1の研修パイロットの決定に進みましょう。

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単語カード

present evidence

ground an argument in observable facts

If we look at the facts, we’ll see that Friday accounts for 46 percent of late calls.

state consequence

connect an option to its likely result

If we open every evening, it’ll mean much more overtime unless we recruit.

give an opinion

mark a judgement as your view rather than a fact

In my opinion, the mixed model is the safest starting point.

respond

agree, qualify or disagree directly

I’m not convinced. The winter sample may contain too many disruption calls.

clarify

request detail or restate another speaker’s meaning

So what you’re getting at is a Friday trial with an emergency line on other days?

manage participation

set purpose, invite a view and protect a speaker’s turn

Today, I’d like to establish our trial model. Owen, could you start us off? Hang on, let’s hear his evidence.

manage progress

control time, move topic and record action

I don’t want to spend too long on this point. Can we move on to safety? Then let’s draw up some action points.

会話

Maya Today, I’d like to establish which evening-service model we should test for twelve weeks. Let’s consider customer impact, staff safety and cost. Owen, could you start us off?

Owen If we look at the facts, we’ll see strong demand: 1,240 late calls in six weeks, and most were resolved without escalation. In my opinion, we should open until ten every day.

Maya I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day. Winter disruption may have created too many calls, and full opening costs €96,000 a year.

Owen The thing is, a Friday-only service could leave customers without help on other evenings.

Maya Could you give us some detail, please? Are you proposing staffed coverage or an emergency response on quieter days?

Owen What I mean is a staffed Friday service until ten and an emergency callback until eight on other weekdays. So that’s close to Priya’s €21,000 model.

Maya That limits both cost and fatigue. I don’t want to spend too long on the permanent model before we have summer information. Can we move on to measures?

Owen We should track call volume, resolution, missed connections, overtime and fatigue reports. If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, we review the hours.

Maya Agreed. Let’s draw up the action points: I’ll confirm the safety controls by Wednesday; you’ll prepare the rota and baseline by Friday; and we’ll review after week six and week twelve.

文の形

singular countable

use a, an, the or one: a proposal, an option, the journey, one fact

We need a proposal with one clear review date.

plural countable

use many, too many, not many, a few, few, fewer or a number

We received fewer complaints but too many fatigue reports to ignore.

uncountable

use much, too much, not much, a little, little or less

There is too much overtime and very little reliable summer information.

both plural and uncountable

lots of, plenty of, more, most, some, enough, hardly any, any and no work with both classes

We have enough chairs and enough equipment, but hardly any spare time.

most versus most of the

most refers generally; most of the refers to a specific known group or amount

Most customers prefer quick answers; most of the customers in our winter sample called after a cancellation.

fewer versus less

use fewer with plural countable nouns and less with uncountable nouns

The mixed model needs fewer employees and less overtime.

a few versus few; a little versus little

a few and a little mean some; few and little emphasise that the amount is almost insufficient

We have a few options but little evidence about employee preferences.

追加の練習

Cedar Transit: read behaviour, not labels

Maya and Owen compare evidence and decision behaviours.

Cedar Transit must decide whether its customer helpline should remain open until 22:00. In a six-week test, 1,240 calls arrived after 18:00. Most concerned same-day cancellations; 71 percent were resolved without escalation. The test required 186 hours of overtime and received two fatigue reports, neither involving an incident.

At the review, Rosa worked through cost, safety and demand in a fixed order. She recommended a smaller permanent late team. Joel immediately supported full opening because the first week had produced grateful customer messages. After seeing the overtime total, he asked to compare more options. Priya said little during the debate but later proposed a rotating 20:00 service plus an emergency line. Tariq opposed any extension at first because the depot had never offered it. When the group showed that missed connections peaked on Fridays, he accepted a Friday-only trial.

Finance estimates annual costs of €96,000 for full opening, €54,000 for Rosa’s smaller team and €21,000 for Priya’s mixed model. The six-week sample includes winter disruption, so it may overstate normal demand. It contains no employee preference survey and no evidence about summer. The director needs a recommendation today, but implementation can be reviewed after twelve weeks.

Know what can be counted directly

countable items

product, colleague, suggestion, fact, journey, proposal and document can take a/an and plural -s

A proposal contains three suggestions and two supporting facts.

uncountable communication

information, advice, news and correspondence normally have no plural form and take a singular verb

The information is incomplete, and the advice was based on old news.

uncountable resources

money, equipment, software, accommodation and insurance are treated as masses or categories in their general meanings

The software is ready, but some equipment, suitable accommodation and travel insurance are still needed.

uncountable activities

travel and expenditure are normally uncountable when referring generally to activity or spending

Business travel has decreased, but travel expenditure is still high.

paper — material or document

paper is uncountable as material; a paper is a document, article or newspaper

We used less paper after moving the figures into a short briefing paper.

business — activity or company

business is uncountable as commercial activity; a business is an organisation

Business is improving, and three local businesses have extended their hours.

experience — knowledge or event

experience is uncountable as accumulated knowledge; an experience is one event

Her scheduling experience helped the team learn from two difficult customer experiences.

time — duration or occasion

time is uncountable as a resource; a time or times refers to an occasion

We have little time, but we have tested the emergency line three times.

Write the service director’s decision memo

Maya and Owen review the decision memo and its evidence charts.

Subject: Decision — twelve-week evening-service trial

To: Service operations and workforce planning

We have agreed to test a staffed Friday helpline until 22:00, with emergency callbacks until 20:00 on other weekdays. The six-week winter test recorded 1,240 late calls, and 71 percent were resolved without escalation. However, it required 186 overtime hours and produced two fatigue reports. There is very little summer information and no employee preference survey, so the evidence does not support permanent full opening.

Full daily opening would cost an estimated €96,000 a year. The selected mixed model is estimated at about €21,000 a year and preserves support on quieter evenings. Maya will confirm safety controls by Wednesday. Owen will prepare the rota, employee consultation and baseline figures by Friday.

We will review call volume, resolution, missed connections, overtime and fatigue at weeks six and twelve. If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, the steering group will reconsider staffed hours. Any safety incident will trigger an immediate pause and review.

Please send rota or safety objections to Maya by 16:00 Thursday.

この単元を学ぶ

どの方法で学びますか？

アカウントをお持ちですか？

無料アカウントで1つの単元をずっと開いておけます。

先に根拠、次に異議

あるチームが、12週間試験運用する夜間の電話サポートの形を選んでいます。聞いて答えてみましょう。オーウェンは何を提案し、マヤはなぜ納得していないのでしょうか？（毎日夜10時まで開けることです。冬の混乱で需要が膨らんだ可能性があり、毎日開けると年間96,000ユーロかかります。）

Owen If we look at the facts, we’ll see strong demand: 1,240 late calls in six weeks, and most were resolved without escalation. In my opinion, we should open until ten every day.

Maya I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day. Winter disruption may have created too many calls, and full opening costs €96,000 a year.

会議の表現：主張する、応じる、進行する

どの文が事実で、どれが予測で、どれが自分の意見なのかをはっきりさせましょう。反対するときは人ではなく根拠を問題にします。“I’m not convinced that…”は「…とは言い切れないと思います」に近く、率直ですが失礼ではありません。「検討します」のようにぼかした言い方をそのまま英語にすると、賛成なのか反対なのかが伝わりにくくなります。司会は答えではなく進め方を管理し、各議題を行動項目で締めくくります。

“If we look at the facts, we’ll see that Friday accounts for 46 percent of late calls.”：根拠を示す
“If we open every evening, it’ll mean much more overtime unless we recruit.”：結果を述べる
“In my opinion, the mixed model is the safest starting point.”：意見を言う
“I’m not convinced. The winter sample may contain too many disruption calls.”：異議を唱える
“So what you’re getting at is a Friday trial with an emergency line on other days?”：相手の意図を確認する
“Today, I’d like to establish our trial model. Could you start us off?”：目的を示し、発言を促す
“I don’t want to spend too long on this. Can we move on to safety?”：次の議題に進む

可算か不可算か：名詞に合う数量の言い方

information、advice、news、evidence、equipment、overtimeは不可算名詞です。複数形にせず、動詞は単数扱いにし、数えるときは“a piece of”のような単位を表す語句を付けます。日本語には名詞を数えられるかどうかで区別する文法がないため、“informations”や“advices”という間違いが起きやすくなります。日本語の「少ない」も英語では2つに分かれます。複数名詞にはfewer、不可算名詞にはlessです。“a few”と“a little”は「少しある」、“few”と“little”は「ほとんどない」という意味です。“most”は一般論、“most of the”は特定の集団を指します。

“The mixed model needs fewer employees and less overtime.”：fewer＋複数名詞、less＋不可算名詞
“We have a few options but little evidence about employee preferences.”：案は少しあるが、根拠はほとんどない
“Most customers prefer quick answers; most of the customers in our winter sample called after a cancellation.”：一般的な顧客／特定のサンプルの顧客

決め方を説明する表現

動詞は名詞とセットで覚えましょう：weigh up the information（情報を比較検討する）、consider all the options、get different perspectives、delay a decision until…（…まで決定を保留する）。性格ではなく行動を描写します。“She was methodical in this review”のほうが“She is a methodical person”より公平です。

話し合ってみましょう：大事な決定のとき、あなたは計画的なタイプですか、直感的なタイプですか？データが増えると、チームは賢くなるどころか遅くなるだけ、ということはあるでしょうか？

“I’ll delay my decision until the revised safety assessment arrives tomorrow.”：特定の情報が届くまで決定を保留する

自分に合った方法でこの単元を学ぶ

6つの要素で書く意思決定メモ

読み手を1つに絞り、160〜190語で書きます。経理はコストを、影響を受ける社員は勤務表と安全を知りたがります。件名の例：“Decision: twelve-week evening-service trial”。2つの数字が一緒に動いているだけなら、“caused”ではなく“is associated with”と書きましょう。

決定：“We have agreed to trial a staffed Friday helpline until 22:00, with emergency callbacks on other weekdays.”
根拠と限界：“The winter test logged 1,240 late calls but needed 186 overtime hours, and summer data is missing.”
見送った案：“Full daily opening would cost about €96,000 a year, against €21,000 for the mixed model.”
担当者と期限：“The service manager will confirm safety controls by Wednesday.”
見直しの条件：“If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, we will reconsider staffed hours.”
回答期限：“Please send objections to the service manager by 16:00 on Thursday.”

よくある間違い

主張やメモを弱くしてしまう間違いです。

“There were less complaints.” “fewer complaints”に直します。
“We need more informations and advices.” “more information and advice”とします。
“Most of customers…” 一般論なら“Most customers”、特定の集団なら“most of the customers in our sample”です。
“I am not agree.” “I don’t agree”か“I’m not convinced”を使います。
“We will review it later.” 測る項目、日付、条件を書きます。

1日10分の練習

今週の実際の決定を1つ題材にしましょう。

3分：その決定について、根拠、意見、丁寧な異議を1つずつ言います。
3分：自分の数字を使って、fewer、less、a few、littleを入れた文を4つ書きます。
4分：決定、見送った案、測定できる見直しの条件を下書きします。

次のステップ

次は、価格の記憶と実際の購入を区別する店舗の試験導入の提案書、そして試験段階だけを承認してもらうアウトソーシングの提言です。

よくある質問

英語の意思決定メモはどう書けばよいですか？

決定とその範囲から始め、主な数字とその限界を示し、見送った案を書きます。続けて期限付きの担当者、測定できる見直しの条件、異議の受付期限を添えます。

“fewer”と“less”はどう使い分けますか？

“fewer”は複数名詞（“fewer complaints”）、“less”は不可算名詞（“less overtime”）に使います。話し言葉では複数名詞に“less”を使う人も多いですが、報告書では“fewer”が無難です。

英語の会議で丁寧に反対するには？

人ではなく根拠を問題にします：“I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day.” 続けて詳しい説明を求めます：“Could you give us some detail, please?”