This is the second in a two-part series on resolving conflict, in which we’ve been focusing on solving everyday disagreements in the office. Ben, a new training specialist at a manufacturing company, feels that he is doing an unfair share (that is, too much) of the work in his department. Gerry, Ben’s manager, talks with him to solve the problem.
In this episode, we’ll pay attention to how Gerry and Ben work together to come up with a solution. In particular, we’ll focus on how they state common goals, raise concerns, and agree action.
1) What solution does Ben propose?
2) In which area does Ben feel he could make a real contribution?
3) What action do Ben and Gerry agree on?
In this two-part series on resolving conflict, we’ll be studying useful language for discussing and resolving disagreements.
We will be focusing not on major conflicts between companies or inside organizations, but rather on the everyday sort of disagreements that all of us have to deal with to be successful in our work.
Listening Questions
3) What solution does Gerry propose?
This is our response to the writing task. How does this compare to yours? Did you cover all the points in the task? Do you think it was clear and easy to understand?
Example Answer
RE: Safety test review meeting
Dear Team,
The entire team will be holding a meeting on the morning of March 21 (Wednesday) to review the results of our most recent safety test.
The meeting will run from 11.00 to 12.00 and will be held on the second floor in the main meeting room. Each of you should prepare by bringing the documentation from the latest test.
I look forward to seeing all of you on Wednesday morning.
Best regards,
Simon
If you’d like to get your own personal version of email Tune-up, we have several packages to choose from:
A. 1 x Personal video and edited email - EUR 15.00
B. 3 x Personal videos and edited emails - EUR 40.00
C. 6 x Personal videos and edited emails - EUR 70.00
For each email you send us, we will make a live screencast video of our edit, explaining what the problems are and how we can fix them. You’ll also receive an annotated copy of your original email along with our edited version.
You can download a large format (640 x 480 pixels) version of ET 01 from the links at the bottom of this page.
A free sample transcript for this first episode is available by clicking the right PDF icon below (right-click to download and save to your computer).
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Writing Task 1
1. Background
• You are: a team leader.
• You are writing to: all the members of your international team.
• Objective: write an email to your team members informing them of a project meeting to review the results of a safety test.
2. Details to include:
• Purpose: To share the results of the latest safety test.
• Meeting time: 11.00 am, Wednesday 21 March
• Location: Main meeting room on the second floor
• Length: 1-hour
• What to bring: results from the latest safety test.
We’ll post an example answer to this writing task in a couple of days on this page (click to view).
In this Business English Pod episode, we’ll be focusing on the language of taking an order and discussing standard terms, such as delivery time, payment method, and so on.
The listening takes us back to the Foxtrot showroom in Las Vegas. As you’ll recall, Foxtrot is the American distributor for Viva, an Italian clothing, or Apparel, manufacturer. Bill is a buyer for a chain of department stores, who has now decided to purchase from Viva. Foxtrot representative Adrianne and her Viva partner, Mario, discuss Bill’s order with him.
Listening Questions
1) When he says, “We operate on a narrow window for deliveries,” what does Bill mean?
3) When would Bill like the first delivery to be made, and why?
In this Business English Podcast lesson, we’re going to look at the “classic sales” approach to selling products and services using the FAB technique. FAB stands for features, attributes and benefits and is a commonly used approach for presenting and selling products such as clothes (apparel) and household items.
The FAB presentation technique is especially useful for people working in the apparel, manufacturing and retail trades - anyone who has to present products to potential customers. In the lesson, we’ll look at how this approach can be applied in the merchandizing business. Merchandizing is the trade name for businesses involved in the design and manufacture of clothing and household items.
Listening Questions
1) What is the key feature of Viva’s fall colors this year? Can you name some of the colors?
2) Why is the Viva Professional line more expensive?
3) As described in the dialog, what are the main benefits of Viva’s clothing line?
In this Business English Podcast, we’ll focus on how to handle the question: “Do you have any questions for me?” We’ll talk about what interviewers expect from you and we’ll emphasize the importance of preparation. We’ll also study how you can use this opportunity to “interview the interviewer” - that is, to find out whether the company is a good fit for you. Meanwhile, we’ll talk about how, for the interviewer, this is a chance to put your company in the best possible light.
In the listening, we will return to Yala Santos’ interview. Remember, she is an HR specialist at a manufacturing company who is interviewing for an HR manager position in a business unit of a fast moving consumer goods company, Fun Beverages International.
1) What is Yala’s first question for the interviewer?
2) How does the interviewer respond?
3) Yala’s second question is a little tougher - what does she ask?
Continuing our Business English Podcast series on job interviews, we look at another very common question you’ll likely be asked when interviewing for jobs in English: What is your greatest weakness?
Talking about your weaknesses tests a unique skill: It investigates your ability to present a drawback as an advantage. Thus, the theme of this episode is be positive, and that’s the main point that we’ll be focusing on.
Listening Questions - Good Example:
1) What does Sherry identify as her greatest weakness?
2) Did this weakness affect her GPA (exam scores)? How?
3) Does Sherry explain the positive aspects of the weakness she describes?
In the second part of our new ESL podcast series on business vocabulary, we continue with the topic of human resources (HR) by looking at useful language and collocations to describe the role and responsibilities of a training manager.
In this fast-changing global world, everything is moving. To make a successful business, it’s not enough just to follow yesterday’s trend. Companies and people need to constantly acquire new skills to succeed in tomorrow’s marketplace. This means driving new training initiatives to enhance performance. However, not all training is equally successful. To ensure training effectiveness, it’s important to track results and to have standard criteria for measuring outcomes.
In this podcast, we’ll listen to Andrea, a training manager, describing her job and responsibilities.
1) What kind of training programs does Andrea run?
2) Does Andrea work with vendors? What for?
3) What do the five letters in SMART stand for?
In this new series of podcasts, we’re going to look at useful vocabulary for describing different jobs and industries. In the first business vocabulary podcast we are going to listen to Greg, an HR manager, describe his role as a human resources manager.
In particular, we’ll practice a number of common collocations associated with HR and human resources. Collocations, or word partnerships, are words that are commonly used together. By learning and using collocations when you communicate in English, you can make your speech more fluent and understandable.
1) What type of employment programs does Greg develop and manage?
2) Are there several HR managers or only one in Greg’s company?
