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BusinessEnglish Part2

2010-02-03T00:13:41+09:00

Working in Multicultural Teams(Part1)

In today’s world, 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. So, knowing more about intercultural communication can help your work go more smoothly and avoid any misunderstandings

Ming:... so, let's see who's on this team. I know some of these people,but there are a few new ones. I grabbed some notes off the Internet to read up on Brazilian culture (a bit).

Tanya:That's exactly what I did before I left, there's some really helpful stuff out there.

Ming:Yeah. I've heard that Curitiba is a really business-friendly and there's a big mix of cultural backgrounds. Besides Brazilians of Portuguese descent,there was significant immigration from Europe and Japan.

Tanya:Yeah, Brazil is very multicultural.A real melting pot,just like the U.S.

Ming:So, how's doing business in Brazil different from the States?

Tanya:Well, relationships come first in Brazil, so you need to devote time to developing friendly relations and bonding with your team. Don't be surprised if people tell you all about their education, career, and family.

Ming:Okay. So, how does that apply to meetings?

Tanya:Well, Brazilians don't“get down to business”immediately like Americans do. There's quite a bit ofsmall talkbefore meetings actually begin.

Ming:Yeah, that's similar to China. I was surprised at the way Americansjump right intomeetings and negotiations without engaging in a fewpleasantriesfirst.How about addressing team members?

Tanya:Brazilians tend to be more formal than Americans when addressing each other. It's more common to use titles andhonorary titles,with or without the surname

Ming:I saw that in the notes.“Docteur” is one, isn't it?

Tanya:I think it's more like“Doutor”- But my Portuguese is a bitrusty.

Ming:Now, have they dealt with the issue of Chinese names before?

Tanya:They might have. But most Chinese who immigrated to Brazil went to Sao Paolo. Curitiba doesn't have a lot of Chinese-Brazilians.

Ming:Hmm...

Tanya:And one more thing. I know you prefer tea, but you might want to develop a taste for coffee. Coffee culture is very important in Brazil and there's a bar near the office that everyone goes to, they even deliver coffee to the office if you call.

Ming:That's gonna be a tough one. I drink tea pretty much all day long...

Vocaburary Note

read up on ・・・　Do background reading on
melting pot・・・ A society that includes a mix of different cultures
get down to business・・・ To start working immediately
jump right into ・・・ Start immediately
pleasantries・・・ Friendly remarks or comments
rusty・・・In need of review

右メニュー

2010-02-03T00:09:50+09:00

**目次 [[Introducing yourself and having a small talk>BusinessEnglish Part1]] [[Working in Multicultural Teams(Part1)>BusinessEnglish Part2]] [[Working in Multicultural Teams(Part2)>BusinessEnglish Part3]] [[Discussing a Problem (Part1)>BusinessEnglish Part4]] [[Discussing a Problem (Part2)>BusinessEnglish Part5]] [[Pitching an Idea (Part 1)>BusinessEnglish Part6]] [[Pitching an Idea (Part 2)>BusinessEnglish Part7]] [[Pitching an Idea (Part 3)>BusinessEnglish Part8]] [[Airport Security>BusinessEnglish Part9]] [[Making a progress report>BusinessEnglish Part10]]

BusinessEnglish Part10

2010-02-03T00:09:27+09:00

Making a progress report

All managers need written progress reports from their staff, but it is often necessary to make a verbal progress report during a meeting. A verbal report can be thought of as a combination of a presentation and a question and answer session.

Nicky: Okay Angela. You're reporting on the progress at our new office, right?

Angela: That's right. I dropped by the new headquarters the day before yesterday to have a look at how the renovation is coming along.

Terry: Good news… or bad news?

Angela: Well,The long and short of it is(that) we'll have to push back our planned moving date.

Terry:What are we talking about here?A week, a month…two months?

Angela:Bear with me a moment. The two main issues were delays in shipping the marble for the reception area and poor oversight of the subcontractors.

Terry: Well, we've got no control over the marble shipment, but what about the coordination problem?

Angela: I brought this up with the contractor and the construction manager will be replaced with someone more experienced.

Bill:Does anyone mind if I make an observation here? I don't see why we're getting bent out of shape over this. This sort of project always gets delayed and goes over budget.

Angela: Well, that's not always the case but, yes, it is rather common.

Terry: And of course, a contingency was allocated within the original budget, right?

Angela:Absolutely.There was a 10% contingency. And yesterday we hammered out a deal to get back on track.All subcontractors are willing to work overtime,but the project will go slightly over budget and we're not going to be able to make up all the delay.

Nicky: Could you be a bit more precise?

Angela: Well,the bottom line is that we'll be able to move in one month later than expected if we go 5% over the original budget.

Nicky: Good work, Angela. I think we can handle that. Now, how about if we...

Vocaburary Note

To have a look ・・・ look at something closely
To be coming alone・・・making a progress
To push back・・・delay or postpone
To set off something・・・To cause a reaction
oversight・・・monitoring and controlling a work situation
To bring up ・・・ To mention an issue
To get bent out of shape ・・・ To panic or get upset
contingency ・・・a percentage allowance for going over budget
to hanmmer out a deal ・・・ to negotiate an agreement

BusinessEnglish Part9

2010-02-02T23:51:26+09:00

Airport Security

In recent years getting through the security check at the airport has become a chore. In some cities, the whole process can take fifteen to twenty minutes or more. This includes standing in line, sending your bags through the X-ray machine, and walking through a metal detector, which “detects” or finds any metal you might have hidden on your body. Most security checks thus require passengers to take metal items out of their pockets and put them on a tray – or flat container – to send through the X-ray machine. Some countries – notably the United States – may even insist that passengers remove their coats and shoes.

Honesto: We're cutting it kind of close.

Alan:No worries,the line's quite short.

Security 1: Okay everyone, laptops out of your bags, put them on the tray.Take your shoes off, coats off.
Any items in your pocket please remove them—coins, keys, billfolds—and put them on the tray.

Alan:Security sure is tight,huh?

Honesto: Good thing I changed my socks... Damn, I always set off the metal detector.

Security 1: Please step through again, sir. Keys, coins? Any items in your pocket?

Honesto: I don't think so. Oh wait, I've got some gum here.

Security 1: The gum wrapper is aluminum.That's probably it.

Honesto: Whew, I made it.

Alan: Yeah, they should call it a dummy detector instead of a metal detector.

Security 1: Laptops out of your bags. Shoes, coats off. Please remove any items in your pockets.

----------------------------------

Security 2: Excuse me, whose bag is this?

Alan: Uh, that's mine,officer.

Security 2: Could you please open it for me?

Alan: Sure.

Security 2: These toilet articles should be enclosed in a quart-sized ziplock bag.

Alan: Oh, sorry, I didn't know.

Security 2: Please be more careful next time. And I'm sorry, but this bottle of moisturizing lotion is too large.

Alan: Oh really?

Security 2: You're not allowed to take anything over 3 ounces,sir.

Alan: What should I do?

Security 2: You can return to the departure hall or you can leave it here.

Alan: I guess I'll just leave it here.

Honesto:Moisturizing lotion?Now who's the dummy…

Alan: Well my skin gets so dry on the airplane. Anyways, what's it to you …

Vocaburary Note

To cut it close ・・・to be short on time
To set off something ・・・To cause a reaction
dummy ・・・Slang for a dumb person
fluid ounce・・・about 30 millilitters

BusinessEnglish Part8

2010-02-02T23:38:27+09:00

Pitching an Idea (Part 3)

This is the final episode in our three-part Pitching an Idea series on pitching an idea to your colleagues.

Jill: (fade in) … and he showed me several websites that are being updated by general staff and not the IT department. It’s a whole new ball game with this technology.

All: Really? // Are you sure?

Jill: Now, check out the website for this company selling industrial lighting. They hired someone to set up the basic site and provide staff training in site development and maintenance. Look at it now. All for a total cost of six grand.

All: Hard to believe // Impressive

Jill: As Jacob knows, this ties in with our mandate to save money AND give better service. We’ll increase our online profile and give our website a solid reason to exist. And that means...

Roland: THAT means that sales staff can focus on value-added sales, instead of messing about with the bog-standard orders.

Flora: Yes, it’s about time we automated these sales

Jill: Exactly. This may be a tough time for us, but I believe it’s the right time to do this. We can increase revenue and free up time to work on special orders if we sell off-the-shelf products over the Internet.

Flora: Well, you’ve talked me into it... and I can see that you’ve got Roland on board.

Jill: Does anyone object to us going ahead with this?

Flora: Sounds good to me.

Jacob: Makes sense to me too. But it’s getting late and we’re going to have to wrap it up, folks. Let’s talk turkeyhere, Jill. How much money are we looking at? And where do we start?

Jill: Well, I’m asking for a budget of $5,000. The first step is to compile a list of our “nuts-and-bolts” products that don’t need sales support.

Jacob: Who’s the best person for the job?

Jill: I thought I’d ask Harry to do that, since he’s been with us for ages and knows the product line inside out.

Roland: He’d be my choice too.

Jill: After that, we’ll have to decide who’s going to be responsible …

Jill: … Well, that’s the plan. I think I can make a start on this right away. Thanks, everybody, for your contributions. And thank you, Jacob, for your confidence in my idea.

Jacob: Thanks, Jill, for presenting your ideas so clearly. I have to run now, so let’s call it a day. We’ll be expecting regular progress report every week and you’ll need to …

Vocaburary Note

whole new ball game・・・ a completely new situation
Check something out・・・to look out somthing carefully
grand・・・one thousand
To tie with something・・・Have a clear relationship with something
Mandate・・・Objective and policy
To mess about・・・To spend time with silly thing
bog-standard・・・Completely ordinary
To talk somebody into something ・・・To convience sombody
To wrap something up ・・・to bring to an end
To talk tarkey ・・・To discuss most important thing
To call it a day ・・・To stop working on something

メニュー

2010-02-02T23:19:26+09:00

**メニュー -[[トップページ]] -[[プラグイン紹介>プラグイン]] -[[まとめサイト作成支援ツール]] -[[メニュー]] ---- **リンク -[[@wiki>>http://atwiki.jp]] -[[@wikiご利用ガイド>>http://atwiki.jp/guide/]] ---- // リンクを張るには "[" 2つで文字列を括ります。 // ">" の左側に文字、右側にURLを記述するとリンクになります //**更新履歴 //#recent(20) &link_editmenu(text=ここを編集)

BusinessEnglish Part7

2010-02-02T23:16:01+09:00

Pitching an Idea (Part 2)

In the Pitching an Idea, we saw how a manager pitched an idea during a meeting. She explained how the company website could be revamped so that customers could order off-the-shelf products directly, instead of having to contacting a sales representative.

Jill:… so it really is possible to revamp a website for under $5,000.

All:(Reactions: amazing // who knew? ) (Pause)

Jill:Now, I’m sure you’re all thinking that we don’t have any IT staff available to work on this. And nobody’s touched our website since it was built 6 years ago, right?

Flora:You can say that again!

Jill:Well, I can show you how we can do it ourselves.

Roland:Come on, I don’t buy that. We should just scrap the website and start from scratch… and get experts to do it.

All:(Reactions: yeah, our website is a disaster // totally, I can’t even logon anymore…)

Jill:In a perfect world, we might do that, but our backs are to the wall here. While I understand what you're saying, I believe it IS possibleto make dowith what we've got.

Flora:Well,I for one will believe THAT when I see it.

Jill:I'm telling you, with only $5,000 and a bit of input from a few key people, we can turn our website into a sales engine…Moving on, I'd like to talk about implementation. Is everybody with me?

All:(Murmurs of agreement)

Jill:Let's have as how of hands. How many people here share photos or chat on the Internet? How many of you read, or even write, a blog?

Jill:There you go. You're already dealing with technical issues that were unimaginable 5 to 10 years ago.

Roland:I'm starting to see what you mean. And you really believe that our staff are capable this off?

Jill:Definitely. Let me explain. My assistant has tracked downseveral programs andcontent management systemsthat we can use to update the site ourselves. They'reuser-friendlyand virtually free.

All:(Reactions: yeah, I've heard about this open source thing // maybe there's something to this after all…)

Jill:I cannot stress this enough. Nowadays, it's entirely possible to...

Vocaburary Note

buy it /that/somthing ・・・ to beleive something
scrap・・・to abandon
To have back to the walls・・・to be in a difficult position
Track something down・・・To search and find something
Cannot stress this out・・・Fixed expression to used highlight something that is really important

BusinessEnglish Part5

2010-02-02T23:05:54+09:00

Discussing Problems(Part2)

In the first part of this meeting , the team spent time answering the question: “Whatisthe problem?” In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on how to brainstorm solutions to a problem through discussion, how to evaluate and eliminate suggestions and then agree a plan of action.

Kathryn:…good, thank you everybody. I thinkwe've outdone ourselvesbrainstorming solutions to the staff morale problem. Natalie, can you read the main ideas back to us?

Natalie:Sure thing. Uh, number 1: team-building exercises, Number 2: consolidating offices, Number 3: social activities, and Number 4: internal social-networking website and/or blog.

Kathryn:Great, thanks. Let’s look at each of these,keeping in mindour definition of the root cause of low morale - the separation of staff into 3 locations.

Neil:Wellthere’s no waythat social activities willdo any good. Nobody willshow up, even if the company pays. It’s hard enough for usto make itto the Christmas party.

Paula:I agree that social activities are a poor choice. Also,given thatwe havevirtually no moneyto spend on this,I can't see ushiring a consultant to do team-building exercises..

Kathryn:Okay. So, can we eliminate these two possibilities?

All:(Murmurs of agreement)

Bill:Then there's social-networking. Interesting idea, but there's no way old guys like me aregonnago for that. Maybe thetwenty-somethings…

Neil:Plus, if we contract it out, we’ll spend money. We can’t build a site in-house, because the IT department isstripped to the bare bonesnow as it is.

Kathryn:Then it seems to me that moving everyone back to this location isthe way to go. What’s our first step if we want to implement this?

Paula:Well,the ideawas that this solution wouldactuallysave us money, so we’d better check that out first with acost-benefit analysis.

Natalie:We have the same landlord for all locations, so let’s look at those empty offices below us here, and see if we can get out of the existingleasesfor the other locations.

Kathryn:Okay, it sounds like we’re already putting together an action plan. Maybe we can assign some tasks…

Vocaburary Note

To outdo onself・・・ To perform better than in the past
virtually no・・・Almost nothing, a very small amount
To be stripped to the bare bones・・・ To down be to the basics
The way to go・・・ The best choice

BusinessEnglish Part6

2010-02-02T22:56:48+09:00

Pitching an Idea (Part 1)

Business people often come up with ideas about how to do things better, or how something can be changed to provide greater cost benefits to the company. Being able to present an idea to your peers and persuade them to support your proposal is a crucial skill for all business managers.

All: (Small talk)

Jacob: Alright everyone, can I have your attention? (Pause)

All: (Murmurs of agreement)

Jacob: I know we’re all concerned about recent events at Pylon and that’s why I’ve asked Jill to share with you a great idea she pitched me last week.

Jill: Thanks Jacob, and thank you to everyone for your time. I’ll try to keep it short and get straight to what’s been on my mind lately. To start with, I’m sure you’ve all seen the latest sales reports, and can see that these figures are a serious red flag for Pylon. To make matters worse, we’ve also been hit with this 20% reduction in sales staff.

All: Indeed // Yes, that was painful // I know, dreadful //

Jill:Take it from me, this is a serious blow.The sales team has been stretched for some time and now with 20% fewer people, I think they’re ready to tear their hair out.

Flora: Well, we’re all in the same boat, aren’t we?

Jill: Point taken.But what I want to say is that, despite this setback, I see an opportunity here. What would you say to increased sales, more satisfied customers and more time available for the sales team to focus on high value-add sales from custom orders?

Roland: Wow. Can you throw in an end to world poverty and war?

Jacob: Easy does it, Roland.

Jill: Let me explain. I see us increasing sales and creating happy customers through a new site that can handle our "nuts and bolts" customers, leaving time for our sales team to dedicate themselves to working on special orders.

Roland: Still sounds too good to be true.

Jill: Yeah, I know. But what I think we can do is allow customers to order our basic off-the-shelf items on the web. Then sales staff can focus on customers with particular needs.

Roland: Whoa there, we can’t afford to spend money on another website.

Jill: Hear me out. In fact, I can show you that it will cost about $5,000 to do a basic revamp of the existing site. And our staff will do most of the work.

Flora: $5,000? You’ve gotta be kidding!

Jill: I kid you not. I’ve done my research and I’ve found a range of ... (fade out)

Vocaburary Note

To pitch somthing・・・ To try to promote somthing(a idea , a proposal)
On someone's mind・・・ Thinking somthing a lot
red flag ・・・a signal that something is wrong
Serious blow・・・a negative event
To be hit with ・・・To be affect by a negative event
To be streached・・・To have no time or energy left
To tear your hair out ・・・ To be flustrated
Setback・・・ a defeat or negative event
Easy does it ・・・Calm down
off-the-shelf・・・Standard
Revamp・・・To update current standards

BusinessEnglish Part4

2010-02-02T02:09:23+09:00

Discussing Problems(Part1)

One of the most common reasons for holding a meeting is to solve a problem. But, while we might have the right people at the meeting, the process is often flawed because one question hasn’t clearly been asked and answered: “What is the problem?” So, in this lesson we’re going to focus on how to define the problem through discussion and then restate the problem as a challenge.

Kathryn:Okay everybody, let's get started. (pause) I think we've all noticed thatstaff moraleis extremely low.

All:Murmurs of agreement.

Kathryn:We' ve got toget to grips withthis before itcomes back to bite us.To start with, what exactly is the problem? Is it budget cuts, the economy, or are we missing something? Let’s have some input.

Neil:Well, look at the economy. Who wouldn’t be depressed?

Natalie:I'm not sure I follow. Could you explain?

Paul:I think he means that people are nervous. We’ve had budget cuts and lay-offs and everyone’s…

Natalie:… the economy affects everybody, but morale is worse here than other places and I, for one, would like to know theroot cause.

Bill:Actually, it seems obvious to me – lack of personal contact. Neil’s on Bleaker Street, Torben iswho-knows-where– I have to take a cab just to file expenses!I bumped intoSarah the other day and she said "Howdy, stranger!"

Neil:You know, I don’t see what you’re getting at...

Kathryn:Hang on, let'shear Bill out.

Bill:Well, two years ago, when we were expanding, we rented offices in other locations and we all got spread out.

Paul:Yeah, I remember that. I used to see Neil’s team every day, but we email now.

Neil:Absolutely. M y department moved and I only see you folks at meetings.

Kathryn:I think we’reonto somethinghere. We’vepinpointedthe underlying cause of low morale. Let’s define it as due to a lack of face-to-face contact.

All:(Murmurs of agreement)

Natalie:So, let’s state it as a challenge. How can we improve morale, without spendinga fortune?

Bill:Exactly. (Murmurs of agreement)

Kathryn:Good, we’ve got something we can reallysink our teeth into. Time for some brainstorming. To start off with, I’d like everyone to justthrow out some ideas. Okay?

Neil:Here’s one, how about if we...

Vocaburary Note

staff morale・・・ General mood of company's employee
get to grips with・・・To deal with a problem
comes back to bite us・・・ To cause ploblems at a later time
To bumped into some・・・ To meet someone you know by chance
To be onto somthing ・・・ Close to making a imortant discovery