Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Negotiations



Watch the video until 1:32 and answer the following questions.

a- What's Lin's attitude towards the results of the negotiation? What about Victor and Sue?
b- What does John say about their terms? Does he sound confident?
c- What's Lin's proposal?

Watch the rest of the video and answer the questions below.

a- What's a negotiation?
b- What's the purpose of small talk? What questions can you ask?
c- What phrases can you use:
  • to show it's time to start the negotiation?
  • to make an opening statement?
  • to state your point of view?
d- What does ´run it past the board' mean?

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Meetings - Any other business?

 
 Watch the video.
 
a- Do you think that Denise is a good chairperson? Why/ Why not?
b- What personal qualities should a chairperson have? Choose some of the adjectives on page 42 and support your answer.
 
Watch the first part of the video again.
 
a- What does the chairperson do at the beginning of the meeting? What expressions does she use?
b- What's the purpose of the meeting?
c- Why have they decided to hold a formal meeting?
d- What's Tan's view?
e- What decision is made at the end of the meeting? How is it reached?
 
Now watch the whole video.
 
Choose six expressions you would use in a meeting.
 
 



Thursday, October 31, 2013

Participating in a decision-making meeting

 
 
Watch the first part of the video (until 1:37) and answer the questions below.
 
 
a- What do you think the aim of the meeting is?
b- What's wrong with Barbara´s contribution?
c- Do you think that the woman acting as chairperson is good at this role? Why?/Why not?
 
Watch the whole video and list expressions which are used for the following purposes:
  • Disagreeing
  • Expressing opinions
  • Leading a discussion or chairing the meeting
  • Agreeing


Monday, October 28, 2013

Idioms related to communication

1. ‘ In a nutshell‘ – to summarise briefly           

                                                                 

Ex: It’s a complicated system, but in a nutshell it works like a kettle.
 
 
2. ‘To get straight to the point‘ – to talk about the most important thing   

                      

Ex:  Ok, I’ll get straight to the point. I’m afraid we’re going to have to make some budget cuts.

3. ‘To get the wrong end of the stick‘ – to misunderstand.

                                                    

Ex: If you think that our biggest problem is our distribution channels, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

4. ‘To be on the same wavelength‘ – to share similar opinions and idea.  

                             

Ex: ‘We agree on most things. We’re very lucky that we are on the same wavelength‘.
 
 

5. ‘To hear it on the grapevine‘ – to hear about something passed from one person to another      





                                                                                                                      
Ex: I hear on the grapevine that the CEO is planning to resign. Is that true?
 
 
6. ‘Can’t make head or tail of it‘ – to fail to understand anything 

                                      

Ex: This report makes no sense. I can’t make head or tail of it.

7. ‘To talk at cross purposes‘ – to misunderstand

                                                              

Ex: I think we’re talking at cross purposes. I meant the figures for June not July.

8. ‘To beat about the bush‘ – to delay talking about something  

                                    

Ex: Politicians never give you a straight answer. They always beat about the bush.


9. “To get our wires crossed‘ – to misunderstand  

                       Blog-wires_crossed_idiom                                   

Ex: Everyone arrived at different times for the meeting. We must have got our wires crossed.

Idioms: to blow the whistle on someone

To blow the whistle on someone – to expose an illegal activity and the person(s) responsible within an organisation (A Whistle-Blower – Noun- a person)

Blog_whistleblower

Ex: “She was fed up with the way things were going and decided to blow the whistle on the company’s illegal activities”

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Describing a Process



Useful expressions

The basic procedure is.....
Essentially, there are ..... main stages.
First of all,.....
Having done / finished / brought, etc....., you.......
Once......, you're ready to.....
Finally,.....

Monday, September 2, 2013

A customer survey



Adjectives to describe customer service

Uncaring (not sympathetic)
Courteous / Discourteous (polite/impolite)
Attentive (helpful)
Sub-standard
Efficient
Responsive (Reacting quickly and positively)
High-quality

Adjectives to describe customers

Satisfied /Dissatisfied
Loyal
Repeat
Existing

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Dealing with customers



Requesting information                    Establishing the facts

What seems to be the problem?          Can/Could you tell me when....?
How can I help you?                     Can/Could you explain exactly what the problem is?
What can I do for you today?              Can / Could you give me....?                             
                                                             Talk me through (it / what happened).

Clarifying / Checking facts                        Promising action

Let me get this straight....                              I'll look into it straightaway.
What you're saying is....                                What I'll do is.......and......
You mean......?                                               I'm going to have to look into it.
If I understand you correctly,....                    I'll get back to you shortly.
Could I just clarify what you're saying?    Once I've/ As son as I've ......, I'll call you back.

Referring to time / deadlines

By (Friday) at the latest
By tomorrow / lunchtime / the end of the week
In time for the deadline
As soon as
Shortly

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Breakdowns and faults

               

Breakdowns and faults. Words in context.

In the case of product failure, please contact the number below.
If the packaging is damaged, please return ti to the address above within 48 hours of receipt.
Products may be returned for manufacturer defect.
Please return the defective unit to us in its original packaging.

The campaign has gone wrong because the product has a major flaw and it won't be ready in time for the launch.
We can't do any work on our computers at the moment because the server is down. There must be a bug that needs to be fixed.
We didn't get the product in time for Christmas because our supplier let us down. They're very unreliable.
It has definitely broken down because it won't do anything and this red light is on.
I need to change my new keyboard because it's faulty - the space bar doesn't work.
I can't open this file because the format of it is incompatible with the software I use.
There must have been a misunderstanding because I asked for 40 but I got 14.
We'll have to use the stairs because the lift is out of order.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Procedures

Explaining procedures                                              Asking for clarification

You must......                                                               What exactly do you mean by....?
It's a good idea to.....                                                    So you're saying......?
You need to.....                                                            Can you run through that again?
What's useful is to.....
What happens is....
It's essential to.....

Checking listener understands                                Showing you've understood

Are you with me?                                                       Yeah. That's clear.
Is that clear?                                                                Ok.....Yes, I've got that.
                                                                                     Ok. I'm with you

Contract Review Procedure
One of the most important process in most companies is Contract Review. This is an extremely important process which takes place in each business you describe.

A right Contract Review Procedure should include all the negotiation stages. Contract Review starts when a customer asks for some products/services. In this first stage the customer should have a consistent way to define what he/she is searching for.

After this first client-vendor contact, the salesman or customer service representatives should offer some options. He could send brochures, catalogs or technical proposals in order to help the customer to select the right product/service it needs. Depending on the type of product/service the company is offereing, this first stage could take a long time and involve several communicative exchanges between parts through meetings, call phone, emails, etc.

Once this first review stage is passed through,the salesman have to send a formal quotation/offer to the customer. If the customer agrees with the offer, the should search for the way to formalize this agreement through a Purchase Order or a Contract. If the customer doesn't agree with the offer, he should decide if he continue negociations with the company or if he search for other options.

Finally, it's important to highlight that in the Contract Review process is essential a fluent communication between customer/vendor.
 
Quality control procedures
It´s essencial to control the whole manufacturing plant process, from the income of materials to the finished product.

Each process must be carefully monitored to ensure the quality of the final product.

What happens is that sometimes we fail in some stage of the control process. So what is useful is to keep records of everything we do in case we receive client´s claims.

It is essential to follow all the procedures to make a control in a product or process.

What´s useful is to ask when you have a doubt.

You must wear the EPP recommended for the task. If the task has a HARC, you have to read it before to do the task.
 
Health and safety procedures
Schlumberger company is focused on its security systems. We aim to minimize risks in order to avoid any kind of accident

Every employee is involved in this process.

It´s essential that we all collaborate.

So there are some points we must focus on:

We have to use the PPE in the manufacturing area.

We have to register each time we get in or out of the plant.

Only trained personnel is allowed to drive the forklift

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Word families

Verb
Personal Noun
Noun
Adjective
communicate
communicator
communication
communicative
analyse
analyst
analysis
analytical
volunteer
volunteer
-
voluntary
innovate
innovator
innovation
innovative
consult
consultant
consultation
consultative
economize
economist
economy
economical
develop
developer
development
developmental
connect
-
connection
connected
transfer
-
transfer
transferable
participate
participant
participation
participative

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Phone calls



Dealing with situations on the phone



Problems in communication
You’re breaking up…I haven’t got a very good signal
Sorry, it’s a really bad line
I’m afraid I didn’t catch that / that last bit
You’re very faint. Can you speak up a bit?
Hold on while I go somewhere quieter
I’ll hang up and (call you on the landline/try again later/ go outside to call)

Not a good time to call
I’m sorry, but I have someone on the other line. Can I call you back?
Sorry, but this’ll have to be quick. I’m about to…. board a plane / go into a meeting / enter a tunnel.
So now’s not a good time to call?
I’m afraid I really don’t have a lot of time today. Can you call again tomorrow?
I’m just on my way out. Can you call again later?