Business English training lessons related English for training and development professionals. We cover everything from organizing in-company training and dealing with vendors to individual coaching and performance management.
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. 那是, 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. 最終, 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.
在今天的對話中, 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.
聽力問題
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?
Welcome back toBusiness English Podfor today’s lesson on attending a conference.
Conferences in Englishand other corporate events can be fantastic learning opportunities. They can also be good chances to connect with other people in your field. But just how good they are depends on more than just the speakers, the workshops, and the other participants. How much you get out of an event depends in large part on what you as a participant do.
You need to put your best foot forward, get engaged in the activities, and meet the people around you. 通過這種方式, you’ll learn a lot and make some good connections. But if you sit back, don’t ask questions, and just wait for others to talk to you, you’ll miss out on a great opportunity.
Today we’ll learn some techniques that can be very useful at any kind of event such as a conference, a networking social, or a fundraiser. We will learn how to ask good questions and show you’re engaged. We will also learn how to ask people about their background, give a compliment, and connect a topic to your own experience.
In the dialog, we’ll rejoin a regional HR conference of a large American company. We’ll hear Hanna, a conference attendee, during a workshop. Then we’ll hear Hanna approaching the presenter – Brent – later during lunch.
Listening Questions
1. What concept does Hanna express interest in? 2. What is the first topic of discussion between Hanna and Brent during lunch? 3. What does Hanna think Brent did well?