Learn the meaning behind some common English expressions that people often use in the workplace
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: Avoiding English Misunderstandings in the Workplace |
| Braden: In this lesson, you’ll learn about Avoiding misunderstanding and about Inventory control systems. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place At work in front of Big John office. |
| Braden: And it’s between Big John and June. |
| Barbara: Big John is the manager and June is an employee, therefore June will speak professionally and Big John will speak semi-professionally. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| June: Big John, could I get some face time with you, sir? |
| Big John: Sure, June. Let's dialogue. |
| June: I have a proposal to restructure the showroom inventory. |
| Big John: Why would I let you do that? |
| June: Well, there currently isn't a system and this causes delays, especially when we are looking for merchandise. |
| Big John: Maybe you all just need to work faster. You see, I |
| watch you from my office and I know how little work gets done. |
| June: You bring up a good point and bringing order to the inventory system will make us work faster and more. Sales should improve as well. |
| Big John: How so? |
| June: In my last job, I built an end-to-end inventory system, and it was very beneficial to the store on multiple levels. I think it will be a win-win; bigger and faster sales with less work for you. |
| Big John: Less work for me? |
| June: Yes, sir. |
| Big John: Will it get corporate off my back? |
| June: It will most certainly help. |
| Big John: Excellent. Then it sounds like a great idea. Project |
| accepted. |
| June: Thank you very much, sir. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Inventory control systems |
| Barbara: An inventory system, commonly just called inventory, is a system for managing and locating objects or materials. Inventory systems are also used to manage consumables, fixed assets, merchandise, and library books. |
| Braden: In a commercial setting, the inventory is usually a database of all of the products that are used or sold within the store. An inventory system can be used to automate certain parts or even the entire sales process. |
| Barbara: For example, an inventory list could specify which products need to be brought from the store's stock room to the showroom floor. |
| Braden: Modern inventory control systems can use wireless or mobile terminals to record inventory transactions at the very moment they occur. For example, UPS uses a custom built mobile terminal to accept signatures and wirelessly update the central database for all of their shipments worldwide. |
| Barbara: In a store like Big Buys, the inventory of the store's merchandise is probably managed through software and a barcode scanner. The company's employees scanned each individual piece of merchandise using the barcode scanner. The barcode scanner then updates the central database. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we'll look at is... |
| Barbara: merchandise [natural native speed] |
| Braden: goods to be bought and sold |
| Barbara: merchandise [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: merchandise [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| restructure [natural native speed] |
| Braden: organize differently |
| restructure [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| restructure [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: showroom [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a room for the display of items |
| Barbara: showroom [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: showroom [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| catalogue [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a complete list of items |
| catalogue [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| catalogue [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: accept [natural native speed] |
| Braden: consent to receive |
| Barbara: accept [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: accept [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: project [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a proposed or planned undertaking |
| Barbara: project [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: project [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: inventory [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a complete list of items |
| Barbara: inventory [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: inventory [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “face-time.” |
| Braden: “Face-time” refers to the idea of spending some time seeing someone’s face. In the business world, especially from employee to boss, there is often very little time with your superior. |
| Barbara: It’s common to go for weeks or in some cases even years without ever seeing your immediate superior. Hence the creation of a special term to request time with the boss. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: face-time (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: face-time (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrase is “let’s dialogue.” |
| Braden: “Let’s dialog” has the same meaning as “let’s talk.” As a linguist, I have no idea why this phrase exists, but it is quite common in the business world. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: let’s dialogue (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: let’s dialogue (fast) |
| Braden: Great!What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrase is “win-win.” |
| Braden: “Win-win” refers to a situation where both (or all) parties involved are benefitted. Often, in negotiations, one group ends up winning and the other loses. |
| Barbara: When a project or negotiation is benefits all involved, then it can be called a “win-win.” |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: win-win (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: win-win (fast) |
| Braden: Excellent! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
| Braden: So, Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is avoiding misunderstanding at work. |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase… |
| Barbara: How so? |
| Braden: Especially as a second language learner, there is always a risk of misunderstanding. |
| Barbara: So, to start things off, you always need to get the person's attention. There are many ways to do this but, since you’re at work, you need to be polite. |
| Braden: One of the most polite ways to get someone’s attention is by using the phrase, “Excuse me for interrupting.” |
| Barbara: The logic here is that your coworkers and boss will always be busy doing something. Therefore, no matter when you go into talk you're going to the interrupting something. |
| Braden: This phrase shows that you are aware that you are taking their time and that you will use it well. |
| Barbara: Some other similarly polite phrases are, “May I have a word?” And “Could I speak with you?” |
| Braden: Misunderstandings can also be avoided by Asking for Clarification. Sometimes, misunderstanding occurs because of a lack of clarity regarding a particular subject. This is common when projects are poorly explained. |
| Barbara: To avoid these kinds of misunderstandings use phrases like, “I don't quite follow you. What do you mean, exactly?” or “Could you explain to me how that is going to work?” |
| Braden: Some other similar phrases you could use are, “I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you are getting at.” and “I don't see what you mean. Could we have some more details, please?” |
| Barbara: Remember to say “please.” This can often be left out in casual conversation but, especially in business and especially when requesting something of co-workers or superiors, you should say “please.” |
| Braden: Equally important to asking for clarification is being clear and clarifying when you’re explaining something to someone else. Here are a number of phrases used to introduce explanations or clarification. |
| Barbara: First we have, “Let me put it another way...” This phrase is usually used when you’ve already explained something but the person didn’t understand. |
| Braden: Second, we have phrase you probably shouldn’t use because it’s rude, but you’re sure to hear it at least once. It’s the phrase, “Let me spell out...” or “Let me spell this out for you.” |
| Barbara: This phrase strongly conveys the feeling that the person you’re talking to is very stupid, which is why it is so rude. |
| Braden: Last of all there are several phrases you can use to confirm that your listeners have understood what you said. |
| Barbara: One of the most common is “Do you see what I'm getting at?” This is a casual phrase that’s useful in many ways. |
| Braden: Lastly, you might here someone say, “Have I made that clear?” This phrase is usually only used when you are ordering someone around. You hear it a lot in military films. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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