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BEP 307 – English for Project Management 2: Kickoff Meeting (2)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson, which continues our look at a project kickoff meeting.

Anyone who’s been involved with projects should know just how important it is to have good communication with a client. And good communication starts right at the beginning, at a project kickoff meeting. That’s when you’ll have the chance to make sure a client understands how you work and how the project should run.

In our last lesson, we looked at some of the basics that you need to cover in your first project meeting. Today, we’ll look at some more ways of increasing your chances of avoiding problems and ensuring that a project runs smoothly. In many cases, it can be a good idea to actually bring up potential obstacles in your meeting. If you see something that might impact the timeline or the budget, you can let the client know about it. And that might mean that you have to educate the client about your work process.

When you educate a client about your development process, you might find yourself using too much technical language. But if you want the client to really understand, you might have to rephrase that information in simpler terms. Of course, you don’t want to focus too much on potential problems. And for that reason you should know how to redirect a discussion away from problems and toward other issues. For example, you might need to ask the client for important information to get the project started.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Martin and Jill. Their company, OptiTech, is starting a new project to develop software for a logistics company. Martin and Jill are kicking off the project by holding a teleconference with Zara, the manager of the client company, and Liam, their IT manager. In this part of the dialog, Martin and Jill are making sure Zara and Liam understand potential obstacles and the development process.

Listening Questions

1. What does Martin say is the cause of some potential obstacles?
2. What is Jill’s simple explanation of a technical idea that Zara didn’t understand?
3. When Martin redirects the discussion away from obstacles, what does he say he wants to discuss?

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BEP 306 – English for Project Management 1: Kickoff Meeting (1)

Business English, English for Meetings, Popular Lessons, Project Management / May 27, 2017

Welcome back to Business English Pod for our new series on English for project management. For our first lesson we’re going to look at a kickoff meeting at the start of a project.

Whether or not you’re a project manager, you surely know that every project is a unique and complex process. Seeing a project through to completion, on time and within budget, takes a huge range of people skills and business know-how. And sometimes during a big project it might feel like everything is working against successful completion.

But there are ways to minimize some of these challenges. This is particularly true at the beginning of a project when it’s important to make sure you get off to a good start. For one thing, you’ll need to meet with the client to make sure the ground rules of the project are clear. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with confusion mid-project. Kicking off a project effectively also means outlining protocols, or important procedures, and explaining lines of communication. After all, when a problem or challenge does arise, everyone should know exactly who to talk to and how to make the necessary changes.

The kickoff meeting is also a time for everyone to make their priorities clear. If you are the client and sticking to the timeline is more important than keeping to the budget, you should make that known right from the start. Of course, there may be competing priorities. And as a project manager, you may have to manage client expectations carefully, which might involve setting some conditions when you agree to something.

In today’s dialog, we’ll join Martin and Jill, who work for a software company called OptiTech. Their company is holding a teleconference to kick off a project to develop custom software for a logistics company that will help them manage and track shipments. Martin is the project manager, while Jill is the lead developer. On the call, we’ll also hear from Zara, a manager at the logistics company, and Liam, their IT manager. Together, they are all trying to get the project off to a good start.

Listening Questions

1. How does Martin say that Jill should deal with technical issues?
2. What does Zara emphasize as her company’s priority in the project?
3. Near the end of the conversation, what condition does Martin attach to the successful management of the timeline?

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BEP 303 – Business Trip 6: Discussing Strategic Change

Business English, English for Meetings, Management English / April 8, 2017

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on discussing strategic change.

The world of business and the economy are constantly changing. And businesses need to respond with their own changes, or risk getting left behind. But change can be difficult both for people and for organizations. As a leader of people in a changing organization, you might face resistance. So you need to be able to manage change well. And that often involves effective discussions with others in the company about strategic change.

Of course, change is easier when the general feeling in a company is positive. And that’s why you might need to gauge morale when you’re talking with others. That will help you figure out how to manage the change. But managing change doesn’t mean promising that it will be easy. Instead, you should carefully warn others about possible difficulties.

Another thing you should do is to be clear about messaging. Change is a lot easier if everyone has the same idea about what’s happening and why. It’s also a lot easier if you can show the benefits of the changes. And that’s why you should talk about change as an opportunity that can help the company, and its people. If you can successfully show people that change is an opportunity, then you should get a positive response when you ask people whether they’re committed to the changes at hand.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Cam and David, who work for an American clothing company called Boston Vintage. David is the manager of the company’s Shanghai office. Cam is a production manager who is visiting China to meet with the company’s staff and look at new production facilities. In an earlier conversation, Cam told David that the company has made the strategic decision to focus on Southeast Asia rather than China.

Listening Questions

1. How does Cam gauge morale, or ask about the overall feeling among staff?
2. What is the basic explanation for the change that Cam wants David to communicate?
3. According to Cam, why is this change an opportunity for David?

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BEP 301 – External Meetings in English (Part 2)

Advanced, Business English, English for Meetings / March 11, 2017

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on communicating effectively in an external meeting in English.

Everyone talks about the importance of good communication skills in business. And one situation that clearly demonstrates this importance is external meetings. An external meeting is one where you meet with people or groups outside your own company. That might mean another firm or organization that you’re collaborating with. Or it might mean the government or other regulatory agencies.

In external meetings, there’s a lot of push and pull. Everyone at the table might have a different agenda, or different goals. And these goals might be in competition. If I get more of what I want, it might mean you get less of what you want.

Being successful in external meetings might involve steering the topic of conversation. To do that, you need good ways of introducing new topics or issues. And when others steer the conversation, you might not like where it goes. For that reason, you might have to stall if you need more time to respond or if you don’t want to commit to something. You might also want to avoid answering a question altogether.

So if everyone’s trying to steer the conversation, how does anything get done in an external meeting? Well, in some cases you just have to be insistent. I mean, you have to say “listen, this is the way it has to be.” Coming to agreement might also require you to give in to pressure, since you can’t always get everything you want. So you might need some good ways to back off a position or opinion that you were arguing for.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin a conversation about the development of a new shopping mall. We’ll hear Nicky, the project manager, and Jennifer and Carlos, the architect and engineer who are working for the developer. They are meeting with Frank, who represents the local government. In this situation, there’s a lot of push and pull between the developer’s side and the city government side.

Listening Questions

1. What issue does Jennifer interject with before the group discusses timelines?
2. What does Frank say to avoid answering Jennifer’s question about parking spaces?
3. When Frank backs off his previous stance, what does he say to show hesitation or reluctance?

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BEP 300 – External Meetings in English (Part 1)

Advanced, Business English, English for Meetings, Popular Lessons / March 4, 2017

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on taking part in an external meeting in English.

When you think of business English meetings, you might immediately think of staff meetings, project meetings, or other internal meetings with people in your company. But in business we often have to work with outside companies or organizations so we have to deal with external meetings as well.

External meetings in English can be quite tricky situations. Because everyone might have different goals and opinions, you need to be very diplomatic. You want to be careful not to promise too much while trying to get others to commit. In this way, external meetings are a lot like negotiations, where you try to make an agreement that is in your favor.

In this back and forth of negotiation, you have to convince other people of your position. And when they attempt to convince you of something, you have to respond skillfully. That could mean remaining non-committal, when you don’t want to give a clear yes or no answer. It might also mean saying that you don’t have the power or responsibility to make a decision.

But if everyone remains non-committal and says they can’t make decisions, how can people come to an agreement? Well, sometimes you need to introduce creative solutions or ideas. But even when someone presents a good idea, you shouldn’t always just agree right away. Like I said, this is sort of like a negotiation. So you might want to express doubts about an idea, rather than just accepting it immediately.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear a meeting between several people discussing the construction of a strip, or small shopping, mall. Jennifer is the architect on the new development, and Carlos is a consulting engineer. They need to come to agreement with Frank, who represents the local government. The meeting is chaired by Nicky, the project manager.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Jennifer think the city should give the developer a break on the number of turn lanes?
2. Who does Frank say insists on having two turn lanes?
3. What solution does Carlos suggest?

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