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Why meetings argue about the bike shed: as long as, provided that and unless

Teach as long as, provided that and unless with this B2 English for IT lesson plan on meetings that stay on track.

Grammar
Conditional linkers as long as, provided (that), on condition that, unless and suppose with the present (as long as you send it by five), and otherwise after a plan.
Topic
Meetings lost to small details, or bikeshedding, at a fictional payments startup, with words such as a tangent, a rabbit hole, a decision owner and park a topic.
Activities
A story, meeting notes and an email, a talk after the meeting, self-checking drills, a chat and boxes of offers, then a follow-up message and a meeting story to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Meetings, Meetings

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and talk about your meetingsSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the meeting vocabularyVocabularyTry it
    • Choose the word for each pictureChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: A Reactor and a Bike Shed

    • Read the story of the bike shedArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: Forty Minutes on a Badge

    • Read Fatima's meeting notesReal-life documentTry it
    • Read Fatima's follow-up emailReal-life documentUnlock
    • True or false? Check the notes and the emailTrue or falseUnlock
    • Match each offer with its conditionMatchUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: Let's Park That

    • Listen to Fatima and Daniel after the meetingListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the conversationQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: As Long As We Finish on Time

    • Study the scheme: offers and conditionsGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct linker to complete each sentenceChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: rewrite each sentence with the word in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Choose the sentence that joins the offer and the conditionQuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps in Daniel's messageDrag and dropUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Keep It on Track

    • Choose the right replies to keep the meeting on trackChatTry it
    • Open a box: make an offer with a conditionOpen the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Your Follow-up Message

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Daniel replies to FatimaChoose the optionUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: meeting wordsMemory gameUnlock
    • Write a follow-up message after a meeting that went off trackWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record the story of the strangest meeting debate you rememberSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

25 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • a rabbit hole
  • a facilitator
  • a decision owner
  • off topic
  • cosmetic
  • derail
  • park a topic
  • stick to something
  • weigh in

Grammar: as long as, provided, unless and otherwise

Each linker here does the work of if or if not in an offer or a plan, with a shade of its own: as long as and provided (that) mean “only if”, unless means “if … not”, and otherwise points back to a plan. As in the first conditional, the clause after the linker takes the present, even for the future; only otherwise is followed by the result.

Offers and conditions: as long as, unless, otherwise

Make an offer and say exactly what it depends on. After the linker, use the present, even for the future.

Only if: as long as, provided and on condition that

As long as, provided (that) and providing (that) all mean “only if”. Provided is a little more formal, and on condition that is formal and strict: I'll facilitate on condition that nobody argues when I park a topic. Suppose asks “what then?”: Suppose we still don't agree.

LinkerMeaningExample
as long as + presentonly if this happensWe can ship on Friday as long as nobody adds new fields.
provided (that) / providing (that) + presentonly if; a little more formalI'll bring three cases provided Kenji can join.
on condition that + presentonly if; formal and strictI'll facilitate on condition that nobody argues when I park a topic.
unless + positive verbif … notUnless we freeze the design today, we'll miss the date.
plan + ; otherwise + resultif not (it points back to the plan)Let's freeze it; otherwise we'll argue about colors again.
suppose / supposing + presentimagine this happens: what then?Suppose we still don't agree. Who makes the call?

The offer, the linker, then the condition

The offer can use will, can or an imperative: I can review it tonight as long as you send it by five. The condition keeps the present, as after if: as long as we finish, not as long as we will finish.

An offer with a condition

offer (will / can / imperative)linkercondition in the present

I can review it tonight as long as you send it by five.

Nobody will reopen the badge unless a merchant complains.

The present after the linker

After as long as, provided, providing, on condition that, unless and suppose, use the present for the future, just as after if: as long as we finish (not will finish). The other half of the sentence can use will, can, an imperative or the present for a fixed plan. Unless already means “if … not”, so its verb is positive: unless we freeze, not unless we don't freeze.

Unless or otherwise?

Unless already means “if … not”, so its verb stays positive: Unless we freeze the design today, we'll miss the date, never unless we don't freeze. Otherwise comes after the plan and gives the result if it fails: Let's timebox the badge; otherwise it will take the whole meeting.

unless: starts the condition

  • Unless we timebox it, the badge will take the whole meeting.
  • The badge will take the whole meeting unless we timebox it.

otherwise: comes after the plan

  • Let's timebox the badge; otherwise it will take the whole meeting.
  • Please reply by noon. Otherwise I'll book Thursday as planned.

Conditions in a follow-up email

The examples come from the story and from an email written after a meeting that went off track: Any color is fine with me as long as it passes the contrast check. I'll bring three real cases from support, provided Kenji can join.

  • The easiest topics take the most time unless somebody protects the agenda.
  • Any color is fine with me as long as it passes the contrast check.
  • I'll bring three real cases from support, provided Kenji can join.
  • Please reply by noon tomorrow; otherwise I'll book Thursday as planned.
  • Suppose we still don't agree on Thursday. Then Daniel and Kenji make the call.

Typical mistakes

  • We can ship on Friday as long as we will freeze the design.

    We can ship on Friday as long as we freeze the design.

    present after the linker, even for the future

  • Unless we don't freeze the design, we'll miss the date.

    Unless we freeze the design, we'll miss the date.

    unless = if … not: no second not

  • I'll join provided to finish by noon.

    I'll join provided (that) we finish by noon.

    provided (that) + subject + verb

  • Otherwise we freeze the design, we'll miss the date.

    We must freeze the design; otherwise we'll miss the date.

    otherwise comes after the plan; it can't replace if

More lessons on this grammar: Zero and first conditional lessons and exercises

Try the as long as and provided exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 3 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • make an offer with a condition: I can review it tonight as long as you send it by five.
  • keep the present after the linker, even for the future: as long as we freeze the design, not as long as we will freeze it
  • tell unless from otherwise: Unless we timebox it, the badge will take the whole meeting. Let's timebox it; otherwise…
  • facilitate a meeting that drifts and write the follow-up message: Let's park that. Who's the decision owner here?

Lesson 17 of English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code sits in unit 6, Stakeholders and scope, which trains learners to explain trade-offs and negotiate scope and deadlines diplomatically. It follows the diplomatic language of lesson 16 and builds on the first conditional with unless from English for IT B1, lesson 12; lesson 18 closes the unit with a scope negotiation. In a meeting, a yes is only as useful as the condition attached to it.

A wheel of questions about real meetings opens the lesson, and twelve word cards with pictures and audio add a tangent, derail, weigh in and park a topic. The story chapter explains Parkinson's law of triviality and the 1999 email to FreeBSD developers that made the bike shed famous. At work, Fatima's meeting notes and follow-up email lead to a true-or-false check and offers to match with their conditions, and an AI-voiced talk between Fatima and Daniel follows. The grammar chapter has the scheme and four drills that check themselves, from picking the linker that fits to Daniel's message with words to drag in. Students then facilitate a meeting in a chat and open boxes that ask for offers with conditions.

Homework opens with a phrase bank, followed by a choice drill and a memory game with meeting words that check themselves. Students then write a follow-up message after a meeting that went off track and record the strangest meeting debate they remember, and the teacher reviews both.

Grammar:
as long as / provided / unless · otherwise and suppose
Topic:
meetings · bikeshedding · facilitation

Teaching tips

  • Start with the group's own bike shed: ask which small topic ate the most time in a recent meeting and what got rushed because of it. In-company groups rarely need long to find one.
  • Put one offer and one condition on the board, such as I'll join the call and you send the agenda first. Pairs join them with as long as, provided and unless and spot the one that flips the meaning.
  • Turn the role-play box into a timed meeting: one student keeps drifting off topic, the facilitator answers with Let's park that or Can we come back to…?, and the group counts the parked tangents.
  • One-to-one, prepare the learner's next real meeting: write three offers with conditions for its agenda, then play a colleague who keeps raising a side topic until the learner parks it politely.

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The whole course: English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code

24 lessons at B2 for software teams, in American English. A year on at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, Iryna and her team estimate work, write docs and postmortems, argue trade-offs, give demos and negotiate scope. Each lesson starts from a real case, from the Apollo 11 alarms to Conway's law.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Planning and estimates

    estimates and deadlines: approximating numbers, the future continuous and perfect, likelihood

    1. Lesson 1It always takes longerApproximating numbers in estimates
    2. Lesson 2By New Year's Eve, we'll have fixed itFuture continuous and future perfect
    3. Lesson 3Let's play planning pokerLikelihood with bound to, likely to and may well

  2. Unit 2 Docs people read

    specs and design docs: modals for requirements, participle clauses, plain English

    1. Lesson 4MUST, SHOULD or MAY?Modal verbs for requirements in specs
    2. Lesson 5Four kinds of docsParticiple clauses in documentation
    3. Lesson 6Just a request for commentsPlain English for design docs

  3. Unit 3 Incidents and postmortems

    telling an incident without blame: narrative tenses, the passive, the third conditional

    1. Lesson 7The 1202 alarmNarrative tenses for incident stories
    2. Lesson 8Blameless by designActive vs passive voice in a postmortem
    3. Lesson 9If we had had an alert…The third conditional: a different past

  4. Unit 4 Architecture and trade-offs

    comparing options and recording decisions: contrast linkers, modals of deduction, mixed conditionals

    1. Lesson 10Your system copies your org chartContrast linkers for comparing options
    2. Lesson 11It's always DNSModals of deduction for troubleshooting
    3. Lesson 12Write down the whyMixed conditionals for looking back on decisions

  5. Unit 5 Demos and tech talks

    a clear structure on stage: signposting, cleft sentences, describing trends

    1. Lesson 13The mother of all demosSignposting language for demos
    2. Lesson 1420 slides, 15 secondsCleft sentences for emphasis
    3. Lesson 15Numbers that tell a storyDescribing graphs and trends

  6. Unit 6 Stakeholders and scope

    saying no and finding yes: diplomatic language, as long as and unless, negotiating

    1. Lesson 16Pay down the debtDiplomatic language for hard messages
    2. Lesson 17 · you're hereWhy meetings argue about the bike shedAs long as, provided, unless and otherwise
    3. Lesson 18Yes, if…Negotiating language for scope and deadlines

  7. Unit 7 AI, security and ethics

    AI tools, passwords and team rules: be used to and get used to, past modals of deduction, purpose linkers

    1. Lesson 19Your new pair programmerUsed to, be used to and get used to
    2. Lesson 20Change your password? Maybe notPast modals of deduction
    3. Lesson 21Rules for AI at workPurpose linkers for rules with a reason

  8. Unit 8 Growing your career

    feedback, retros and goals: phrasal verbs, reporting verbs, wish and if only

    1. Lesson 22Your next levelCareer phrasal verbs and goal frames
    2. Lesson 23Feedback that helpsReporting verbs and their patterns
    3. Lesson 24Start, stop, continueWish and if only for wishes and regrets

Questions about this lesson

How do you use otherwise in a sentence?
Otherwise follows a plan and means “if not”: it gives the result if the plan doesn't happen. Let's freeze the design today; otherwise we'll miss the date. Please reply by noon. Otherwise I'll book Thursday as planned. In writing, a semicolon or a period comes before it. Unlike if, it can't open a condition: Otherwise we freeze the design… is wrong. It can also mean “apart from that”: The design is otherwise ready.
How do you use as long as in a sentence?
Use as long as for a condition, meaning “only if”, with the present after it, even for the future: We can ship on Friday as long as nobody adds new fields. The condition can also come first, with a comma after it: As long as you send it by five, I can review it tonight. The B2 lesson Why meetings argue about the bike shed on edio.ai uses it for offers at work.
What does provided that mean?
Provided that means “only if”, and it sounds a little more formal than as long as. That is optional, and a subject and a verb in the present follow: I'll bring three real cases from support, provided Kenji can join. Kenji will join provided the meeting ends by eleven. Never put to after it: I'll join provided we finish by noon, not provided to finish by noon.
Does "as long as" always mean "only if"?
No, as long as can also be about time or length. As a condition, it means “only if”: Any color is fine as long as it passes the contrast check. About time, it means “for the whole time that”: You can stay as long as you like. In a comparison, it means “the same length as”: This meeting was as long as the last one.
Is it "provided that" or "providing that"?
Both are correct, and they mean the same: “only if”. Provided (that) is more common, especially in formal writing: You can skip the meeting, providing you send your questions by Wednesday. In both, that can go, and the present follows for the future. A homework drill in Why meetings argue about the bike shed, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, asks students to pick providing over provide and provides.
What's the difference between unless and otherwise?
Unless opens a condition; otherwise follows a plan. Unless means “if … not”: Unless we timebox it, the badge will take the whole meeting. Otherwise means “if not” and points back to a plan: Let's timebox the badge; otherwise it will take the whole meeting. Both say the same thing. After unless, keep the verb positive: unless we timebox it, not unless we don't.
Is it "as long as we finish" or "as long as we will finish"?
It's as long as we finish, with the present, even for a future time. After as long as, provided, unless and suppose, English uses the present for the future, as after if. Will goes in the other half: I'll join provided we finish by noon. The chat in Why meetings argue about the bike shed, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, marks Sure, as long as we will keep it short as a wrong reply.
What does bikeshedding mean?
Bikeshedding means arguing at length about a small, easy detail while bigger, harder topics get little time. Software teams use the word for long debates about a button color, a variable name or tabs versus spaces: Classic bikeshedding. It derailed the whole meeting. It comes from Parkinson's 1957 story of a committee that argues longer about a bike shed than a reactor; a 1999 email to FreeBSD developers made the idea famous in software.
What is Parkinson's law of triviality?
The law of triviality is the idea that the least important items tend to take the most time. C. Northcote Parkinson's humorous example is a committee that passes an atomic reactor in about two and a half minutes, then argues about a bicycle shed for about forty-five, because everybody understands a shed. Today people call it bikeshedding and name it to stop it: I think we found our bike shed.
How do you keep a meeting on track in English?
Name the agenda, park side topics and bring people back. Let's stick to the agenda. That's a bit off topic for today. Let's park that puts a subject on a list for later, and Let's take that offline moves it out of the meeting. Can we come back to refund limits? We have five minutes left, so let's decide. For small debates, ask Who's the decision owner here?
What's good homework for practicing as long as and otherwise?
A good task is a real follow-up message after a meeting that drifted, saying who decides what, when you meet again and how you keep to time: Please reply by 3 p.m.; otherwise I'll send the invite as it is. In the B2 lesson Why meetings argue about the bike shed on edio.ai, a choice drill and a memory game check themselves, and the teacher reviews the message and a recorded story.
Are there interactive exercises for as long as and provided that?
Yes: gap-fills and chats that check themselves give instant feedback on the linker and the verb. Without an account, this page plays four parts of Why meetings argue about the bike shed, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai: Fatima's meeting notes, her talk with Daniel after the meeting, a gap-fill that rewrites sentences with the word in brackets, and a chat in which students keep a meeting on track. The rest of the lesson is locked.
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