This is the the second of a two-part Business English Pod series on working in multicultural teams.
最近, working with people from different cultures is quite common. You might be meeting with colleagues in another country or on another continent. Business practices vary all over the world. Some cultures are more formal than others. Some have distinct customs regarding greetings, gender roles, and food. So it’s helpful to know as much as possible about other business cultures before you meet your team.
But even if you’ve done your research carefully, problems can still arise, especially in face-to-face meetings. There can be miscommunications, points that need clarification, and different ideas of what’s acceptable in a business environment.
今日, we’ll look at issues like slang and idioms, concepts of time, forms of address, and misunderstandings due to culture. We’ll also discuss opening interactions and explaining different business customs.
最後のエピソードで, we met Cao Ming a U.S.-based manager at a multinational company. Originally from China, Ming has worked in New York for many years and is now headed to Brazil where he’ll lead a research team. He did some background reading and discussed Brazilian culture with a colleague before he left. 今, he’s heading his first meeting with his new Brazilian team.
リスニングの質問
1. What are two idioms Ming needs to explain? 2. What suggestion does Carla make at the beginning of the meeting? 3. Why does Felipe mispronounce Ming’s name?
This is the first in a two-part Business English Pod series on working in multicultural teams.
今日の世界では, it’s common to work with people from different cultures. And since effective business depends on clear communication, it’s important to consider different aspects of culture. Your colleagues may do business differently than you do. そう, knowing more about intercultural communication can help your work go more smoothly and avoid any misunderstandings.
このエピソードでは, we’ll go over some points to consider for working in a multicultural team. We’ll look at general business culture, specific business customs, levels of formality, and local cultural awareness. And since food is often served in business settings, we’ll talk about that, too.
We’ll be listening to, a manager at a biotechnology company based in the United States. Although Ming is originally from China, he has worked for many years at the head office in New York and is now heading to Brazil to manage a team of international researchers. このエピソードでは, Ming is preparing for his trip by talking to a colleague, Tanya, who lived and worked in Brazil for 3 年.
リスニングの質問:
1. What has Ming heard about Curitiba? 2. What does Tanya say about relationships in Brazil? 3. What honorary title does Ming ask about?
This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast lesson 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 (あれは, too much) of the work in his department. Gerry, Ben’s manager, talks with him to solve the problem.
In the first episode, we studied how Gerry opened the discussion in an informal, non-threatening way, and we looked at how he listened actively to Ben to win his trust.
このエピソードでは, we’ll pay attention to how Gerry and Ben work together to come up with a solution. 特に, we’ll focus on how they state common goals, raise concerns, and agree action.
Where we left off last time, Gerry had just asked a question to resolve the conflict: Gerry wants to know what Ben would suggest doing to fix the situation.
リスニングの質問
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?
