Management English for Professionals and Executives

BEP 361 – Video Conferences 3: Conference Call with Clients

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for video conference meetings with clients.

In the past, meeting with clients often meant you had to travel. That might mean across town, or it might mean across the country or overseas. But with modern video conferencing tools, you can now meet with your clients without ever leaving your office.

But running a virtual meeting in English doesn’t look exactly the same as an in-person meeting. While you use a lot of the same skills, those skills will sound a bit different in action. And there are some new skills you’ll need to develop, as you have to manage not only a group of people, but also the technology.

At the start of a meeting, you’ll probably get things going with a semi-formal welcome, before giving a rough outline for the meeting. At some point, you’ll have to ask for people’s patience while you take care of a technical issue, like sharing your screen or admitting new people to the meeting room.

One big difference between in-person and virtual meetings is how you deal with questions. Yes, you’ll have to call on people that you can see have a question, but you may also need to deal with questions or comments that come through the chat function.

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to a meeting being run by Adam and Cathy, two business consultants. They’re talking with a group of managers, including Sophie and Fareed, at Healthwise, a chain of health food stores that is trying to improve their online sales. You will hear Adam and Cathy demonstrate the skills you need to run a client meeting by video conference.

Listening Questions

1. What is the rough outline for the meeting that Adam provides?
2. Adam asks for his clients’ patience while he deals with what technical matter?
3. How does Adam know that Sophie has a question?

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BEP 352 – Business English Coaching 1: Needs Analysis

Business English, Human Resources, Management English, Training / January 19, 2020

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for coaching.

Everyone understands the importance of a good coach in sports, but what about a good coach at work? In fact, coaching is an important part of every manager’s job. Managing people isn’t just about telling them what to do and how to do it. A good manager helps employees develop and reach their full potential, just like in sports. And that requires an open and constructive coaching relationship.

Coaching involves an ongoing dialog between you and the employee. Together you’ll assess the situation, set goals, monitor those goals, and adjust your activities and objectives as you go along. Yes, I said “together.” The 21st century manager isn’t the same as the 1980s manager. The relationship is different. You have to be the boss without being bossy. You need to maintain your authority and the employee’s autonomy at the same time. That’s a fine line to walk.

Coaching often begins with a needs analysis. That is, you’re meeting with an employee to figure out what is working well, what’s not working at all, and what can be improved. That conversation will involve a lot of open-ended questions. It will also involve showing empathy, which is an important part of leadership.

When you talk about the employee’s performance, it’s important to give very specific examples of behavior. It’s also important to ask for their perspective on those behaviors. Ultimately, you want to get the employee to agree about what his or her challenges are. Only then can you move on to talk about solutions.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Marion, an experienced lawyer, coaching a younger lawyer named Rachel. Marion and Rachel are having an open discussion about Rachel’s performance, and trying to establish what her needs might be.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Marion mention her own experience at her first job?
2. What example of Rachel’s performance does Marion bring up for discussion?
3. After assessing the problem, what does Marion ask Rachel at the end of the conversation?

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BEP 345 – Management English: Conflict Resolution (2)

Advanced, Business English, Human Resources, Management English / July 9, 2019

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on resolving conflict in the workplace.

Conflict happens. There’s no way around it. But not everyone has the same attitude toward conflict. Some people run from it, or refuse to even admit it exists. Other people acknowledge it but simply hope it goes away on its own. And some people are able to approach it with confidence, dealing with it openly and honestly.

The first step in conflict resolution is for the people involved to sit down and try to work it out themselves. But that doesn’t always work, and in many cases it takes a third party to attempt to find solutions. That third party might be a peer, or colleague. But mostly it’s a manager or leader. In fact, helping mediate conflict between people is an important function of a manager.

Effective mediation is a tricky business. You need to help people have the open and honest conversations that they might not be able to have on their own. Part of that involves ensuring each person has their turn to speak. One of your aims, of course, is common understanding, so you may need to encourage empathy and confirm understanding at different steps along the way.

As a conflict mediator, your ultimate aim it to find a solution. To do that, you’ll want to have people agree on a common goal. You may also ask them to focus on positive actions, rather than negative ones. Positive actions are more solution-focused.

In today’s dialog, we’ll continue hearing about a conflict between Trevor and Andrew, two retail managers in the same company. Trevor has tried talking with Andrew about their personal conflict, but they haven’t been able to reach a clear solution. So their boss Ann has stepped in as a third-party to help resolve the conflict.

Listening Questions

1. What does Ann do when Trevor interrupts Andrew at the start of the dialog?
2. After Andrew explains his side of the story, what does Ann ask Trevor?
3. What is the common goal for the solution Ann proposes?

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BEP 344 – Management English: Conflict Resolution (1)

Advanced, Business English, Human Resources, Management English / June 29, 2019

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to resolve conflict.

Just say the word “conflict” and people usually get uncomfortable. Most people want to avoid conflict at all costs. But conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. In fact, it’s a natural result of people working in groups. And in a healthy organization, conflict can actually be constructive. It can lead to personal and professional growth, as well as new ideas and ways of working.

But those positive results of conflict can only be realized if people are willing to face conflict directly and honestly. If people ignore conflict, or refuse to face it, then bad things can happen. Unresolved conflict leads to toxicity and poisoned relationships or teams. Given enough time, it can destroy a company.

So if you experience conflict with someone at work, what can you do? Well, the first step involves trying to work things out one-on-one. You need to talk, privately and openly. And when you do, it’s important to focus on the impact of the other person’s behavior and to try to identify the root cause of the problem. At the same time, you should consider the other sides views and ask them about their perceptions, rather than just focusing on yours. Stick to the facts as you try to resist arguing, and always look for possible solutions.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear a retail manager named Trevor try to resolve a conflict he’s having with Andrew, a manager at another store in the same company. Trevor is trying to calmly deal with the situation and find a way to improve their working relationship.

Listening Questions

1. What does Trevor say he felt as a result of Andrew’s behavior?
2. How does Trevor respond when Andrew gives him examples of employees that have changed workplaces?
3. What solution does Trevor propose?

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BEP 336 – English for Discussing Change Management (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Management English / February 9, 2019

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English collocations used to discuss change management.

In the 21st century the pace of change is very fast. And businesses have to fight to keep up, to adapt to changes in both the world and the economy. In meeting rooms around the world, people are debating issues of change. How do we attract and retain millennials? How do we make good use of emerging media? How do we become more efficient? How can we outsource? The list of questions goes on and on.

In today’s lesson, we’ll listen to a meeting in a company that has experienced a lot of growth. But with success comes growing pains. They’re talking about restructuring their company, and trying to figure out exactly how to go about it.

During their discussion, you’ll hear many English expressions that we call “collocations.” A collocation is a natural combination of words. For example, you’ll hear people talking about making a “smooth transition.” We don’t say “soft” transition or “clean” transition. Native English speakers always say “smooth transition” because that’s what they grew up hearing, so now it’s a natural collocation.

Even if you didn’t grow up with English, you can learn these natural expressions. By studying business English collocations, you’ll improve your vocabulary and sound more fluent. As you listen to the dialog, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Lauren, Finn, and Jake. They’re trying to determine how to take the company they founded to the next level. In particular, they’re talking about how to involve company employees in their discussions about change.

Listening Questions

1. According to Finn, what do they need to show employees rather than just telling them?
2. Besides talking to employees, what does Lauren think they will need to assess?
3. What does Jake say they will do during the “discussion phase” of the process?

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