Business english writing - Masterclass International School 2020

Employees team building

Pre-reading activity

Before reading the article below try to answer the following question:

Do you know the difference between an away day and a day off? __________________________________________________________________________________

The expression away day is used in business English to describe a meeting, frequently of an entire department or sales team, which is not held on the premises, so away from the employees' regular office environment, usually for a whole day or a weekend. The purpose of an away day is to concentrate on a particular task without the participants being distracted by the duties that would normally involve them, if the meeting were held in the workplace. Instead, if you take a day off it means you have a day of holiday from work.

Now you should have a more precise idea of what an away day and a day off are, but before moving on to the reading activity have a look at the glossary below and become familiar with new words:

GLOSSARY

Reading activity

The careerist: A successful away day

Done right, an away day can be an opportunity to plan strategy, deal with a variety of issues and build esprit de corps; done wrong it can be a waste of an expensive hotel.

How do you make an away day pay?

Should you plan?

“You need to have clear objectives,” says Paul Kearns, a consultant on strategic corporate events. “Communicate what it is you’re trying to achieve beforehand. If you don’t have objectives you often won’t produce anything.” You should also ensure the right people attend. “If it is a serious meeting, you need the key players there,” says Mr Kearns. “Important people can sometimes show contempt for these things.”

How do I run the day?

“You need to recognise the ebb and flow of people’s biorhythms,” says Phil Anderson, client director at Ashridge Business School. “Don’t have a PowerPoint presentation when people are feeling sleepy just after lunch. Spice it up and, if you are leading, get others to lead certain parts as people get bored of the same speaker.

“You need to think about breaks too; you often get insights over coffee when talking less formally.”

The ideal day should combine serious business with fun and relaxation. “Games can work but they need to be appropriate to the organisation,” says Mr Anderson. “Even with a strict business focus, it’s good to get people to do something different.” As away days tend to generate a lot of ideas, you should also evaluate as you go, so you don’t end up with hundreds of flip charts at the end of the session.

What if there are disagreements?

Simmering resentments often boil over at such events. “Anticipate that there may be tensions,” says Jane Clarke of business psychologists Nicholson McBride. “You might get an HR person to do a bit of research — what are the personality issues?”

If there are tensions, it’s good to air them at the start, rather than letting them come out in the bar. “The rules of engagement need to be spelt out — and the difference between constructive and destructive criticism explained — or it can become a general bitching session,” warns Mr Kearns. If things are difficult, it can make sense to have a professional facilitator.

How long should it be?

“Overnights are good,” says Ms Clarke. “A lot of talking takes place in the bar or over dinner and you get a chance to work on both business strategy and individual relationships.”

Mr Anderson points out that you should also remember that people have other commitments. “Don’t make it too long. Arriving the night before and then finishing in the afternoon is good.”

What about follow up?

“A lot of people leave feeling very motivated and then nothing happens,” says Ms Clarke. This is often because the organiser attempts to do everything themselves afterwards. “A good way to ensure follow up happens is to give everyone something to do,” says Mr Anderson. “That should happen before you leave. You also need agree a follow-up date to check which next steps have been taken and by whom.”

Notes to the text

✵English has always undergone the charm of French and especially in the past a lot of French words entered the English language. Despite the fact that today the process is quite the opposite a lot of French words are still used in English. Often they seem to be more elevated from a social point of view. In the article esprit de corps is used instead of team spirit or comradeship. Other words like these are au pair, bourgeois, bouquet, cliché, coup de foudre, crèche, entrepreneur, faux pas, joie de vivre, laissez-faire, malaise, nouveau riche, par excellence, raison d’etre, sang-froid, vis-à-vis and many others.

Being fairly new here I don't want to commit any faux pas

✵The word corporate refers to corporation. The word corporation has a lot of synonyms in English that may allude to the various sizes or legal entities of a company: partnership, business, firm, company, enterprise, concern. The word business means company, and it is countable as in many businesses have announced closings or layoffs but it is uncountable when it refers to trade, the process of buying and selling, the activity of making money: business is business.

A going concern is the only kind of business banks lend money to, and suppliers extend credit to.

✵The word run has various meanings. First it stands for go quickly, but it can also refer to run (a machine) = operate (a machine), or manage (a company, a shop, a department, etc.) that is be in charge of something. For ex. I have been running this shop since 2005.

✵The word get is a sort of unique word in English which cannot be easily translated into other languages. The basic meaning of the verb is to obtain, to gain, to get hold of but it is also used with figurative meanings such as to buy, to persuade, to arrive, to understand, etc. For ex. In the sentence You might get an HR person to do a bit of research it means to persuade, convince.

✵The verb get is also used to express a change of state or condition = to become. Common examples are get bored, get tired, get rich, get dirty, get drunk, get worried, get old. In some cases go, grow and turn can be used as well. Grow indicates a slow change whereas turn and go show a faster modification: I want to grow old with dignity — She turned/went pale and fell down

Post-reading activity 1 (Vocabulary)

Write the words below in the context they occur in the text:

Post-reading activity 2 (Comprehension)

Say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F):

1.Paul Kerns thinks that objectives have to be clear before arranging an away day

2.Important people in a company are always very interested in away days and similar events

3.A PowerPoint presentation is one of the best activities you can do just after lunch.

4.The ideal mix would be combining some fun and relaxation with serious business

5.An away day will probably not produce any useful ideas

6.Tensions and disagreements should come out at the end of the session

7.A professional facilitator might make things easier if they are difficult to manage

8.Corporate away days should not last more than a weekend

9.Most participants are very motivated after away days

10.A good way to ensure follow up happens is to give every participant a different task

Post-reading activity 3 (Speaking)

Do you think corporate away days are a good idea to increase staff productivity and encourage team spirit? Choose from the categories below the best team building activities and justify your ideas:

FOREST CHALLENGE

A spirited team race in the forest. Teams must stay on the right path while overcoming team challenges on the way.

TREASURE HUNT

A treasure hunt is a great method for teams to work together while having fun. GPS Treasure Hunts can be organised in a town, or in any other location of your choice.

SUMMIT OR BUST

Every team is given a survival rucksack and a map of Everest with a detailed route to the top, but there is no need for mountaineering experience on this trip because it is a tabletop game.

BUSHCRAFT CHALLENGE

A tough outdoor team building event survivors. Teams must build a shelter and make fire. They prepare a hot meal from what they find and signal to rescuers.

WINE TASTING

Perfect for raising spirits before an evening meal or to acknowledge your teams successes. Every team will need to work together to find out the origins and characteristics of wines from around the world.

WHO KILLED DR. X?

A new version of Cluedo played in detective teams with a huge game-board and dice. Teams move their counters around the board from room to room where clues or pieces of evidence are hidden.

Post-reading activity 4 (Writing)

Choose the proverb that would best fit the article about away days:

“Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’’em to play together is the hard part.” — Casey Stengel, American baseball player

“If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.” — Thomas Edison, Inventor

Post-reading activity 5 (Speaking)

You have been appointed by your company to arrange a meeting with employees to discuss the company goals and their roles in achieving them. Choose the best conference venue on the basis of the following:

200 participants expected

A two-day meeting is scheduled

Two thirds of the attendees come from London. The others come from Cambridge and Exeter

Clear and accurate budget is required

Remember that if you are to choose a venue for a meeting or conference there is more to consider than just the budget. When taking into account who is attending, you should ask the following about any potential location:

Does the location fit the company's image?

Will it appeal to the attendees?

Is the place easily reachable to those attending the meeting?

What is the seating capacity of the meeting?

Do they offer a projector, electronic whiteboard, stationery, and other useful equipment?

London Continental Hotel

Here are some significant information about London Continental:

✵Centrally-located hotel

✵Meeting room for up to 250 people

✵Audio/visual equipment and free wireless internet

✵Gym and swimming pool

✵On-site dining at the chic Don Quijote restaurant

✵Expensive room rates

Professional Meeting Centre (PMC)

Here are some significant information about the Professional Meeting Centre:

✵Located in the city centre

✵Maximum conference room up to 350 people

✵Up-to -date equipment and free stationery

✵Staffed reception

✵Full service catering available

✵Accommodation not available on-site

Four Roses Hotel

The following list provides some relevant information about Four Roses:

✵Outside central London (70 km)

✵Conference room capacity — 200 people

✵Wireless internet connection available

✵Garden and pool

✵Fine food served, Italian cuisine

✵Reasonable room prices

✵Not easily accessible

Grammar revision

MODAL VERBS

A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality (likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation). This group of verbs share the following features:

They do not inflect except for few of them (present—past). They do not add -(e)s in the third-person singular.

They are defective: they are not used as infinitives or participles, as imperatives, nor as subjunctives.

They modify the meaning of the verbs they are associated with. This verb is generally a bare infinitive, but in some cases a modal verb can also be followed by the to-infinitive (as ought).

They have the same syntactic qualities as auxiliary verbs in English, so they can have subject—auxiliary inversion (in questions) and can be negated by adding not after the verb.

Be able to is not a modal verb. It is simply the verb be followed by the adjective able plus the infinitive. It is used to express ability in all tenses but it is mostly used when can and could cannot be used. In addition to it, if could is used for general ability in the past, be able to is used to refer to ability on one occasion:

I have never been able to swimI will be able to speak good English one day

In Susan’s case the manager was able to make use of her relationship with them in order to avoid problems

Grammar exercises

1. Choose the right modal verb:

1. You seem to be late for work. _________ I help you?

Would

Had better

Shall

2. I don't have my mobile today. __________ I borrow yours?

Must

Could

Shall

3. That man is very unkind. He ________ be so impolite to customers.

shouldn’t

might not

had better

4. Tomorrow I’m leaving for Milan very early in the morning. I ________ to go to bed.

Should

Ought

could

5. The only thing I am afraid of is, that the directors _______decide to sell the company too.

Might

Can

Would

6. Paul is over two hours late. He__________ missed the bus again.

Could

need have

could have

7. You __________ disclose any information about the customer to people.

don’t have to

mustn't

needn’t

8. You ____________ sell your shares before the price goes down quickly.

Ought

had better

shall

2. Replace the verb in bold with another verb without changing the meaning of the sentence:

1.I got a necklace for Christmas from my family

2.I think I’ll get him a tablet for his birthday

3.How do you get to school? By bus or on foot?

4.It’s getting dark! We’d better go home now.

5.If my English gets better I might try to write a story

6.I got my boss to give me a pay rise

7.I guess he didn’t get what I said