English in business
English in business
Unit 1
ENGLISH IN BUSINESS
THE MORE, THE BETTER?
"English is more and more
necessary for international business, but less and less sufficient"(Leonard
Orban, EU Commissioner for Multilingualism)
1 Pre-reading task. Discuss the following questions
in groups:
-People have always needed a common language to
communicate. What language have they used for this purpose in Europe?
-What language have European community had as an
international one in different periods of history?
-What language do you learn as a second language?
How can you apply the knowledge of English in your future life? What are your
ambitions?
2 Read the following statement. Do you agree or
disagree? Prepare arguments to support your view. “English is more and more
necessary for international business, but less and less sufficient”
PART I
3 Read, learn and keep in memory the following
expressions, try to use them in your own sentences:
-public funding
-tangible return on investment
-to benefit from learning a foreign language
-competition for public funding
-market failure
-insufficient language skills
-the revealing results
-inadequate intercultural skills
-small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
-the total value of smth
-a quantifiable benefit
-to undertake a number of studies
-export markets
4 Read the first part of the text
YOUR BENEFITS FROM LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
a) Why
should you learn a foreign language? That might seem like a stupid question,
particularly coming from a company that publishes
language-learning magazines. Surely, the more foreign languages you can speak,
the better. Yes, probably. But sometimes simple questions are not as stupid as
they seem.
Of course, it's easy to think of
reasons for learning languages. You can travel more easily, communicate with
more people, and learn about other countries and cultures. Languages can also
help you in your current job, or be an advantage if you want a new job.
b)
But look again at that last paragraph. It's all about "you, you,
you". You benefit privately from learning a foreign language. You benefit
in your career, language skills benefit society more generally —
for example, by improving international
understanding. And companies benefit from the language skills of their
employees.
c)
Anne Davidson Lund, a director of CILT, the National Centre for Languages in
the UK. says: “figures speak more loudly than words in a climate where language
learning is not an unquestioned right, where competition for public funding
for education and training is intense, and where the prize goes to those who
can show a tangible return on investment in terms of their nation's
bank balance. Can we win that prize for languages?"
d) Lund
argued that, if the business sector wants to secure more public funding for
foreign-language education and training, it must show that language skills
bring a quantifiable benefit to companies. Also, the business sector
must show that there is "market failure": that is, firms are not
currently getting all the language skills they need.
CILT has undertaken a number of
studies to look into these questions. The most important one was the 2007
"ELAN" study {Effects on the European
Union Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise—
see box, page 19)
for the European Commission. This looked at firms in
29 European countries and
tried to quantify the value of contracts lost because of insufficient language
skills.
e)
The results were revealing. The report found that there was a clear link
between language skills and export success. And among a sample of 2,000
small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 11
per cent said that they had lost contracts as a
result of a lack of language skills. (In most countries, ten per cent said they
had also lost contracts because of inadequate intercultural skills.)
Some of these contracts were worth over €1
million, with the average being €345,000.
The report estimated that the total value of lost
business to the EU economy because of poor language skills in SMEs was around €100
billion a year.
f)
The ELAN report identified four key elements of language management in
companies that were successful in export markets:"...
having a language strategy, appointing native
speakers, recruiting staff with language skills and using translators and interpreters".
An SME investing in all of these four elements was found to have an
export-sales proportion 44.5 per
cent higher than one that does not do so.
5 Read through the first part of the article quickly
once more. Match each sentence 1-7 to the sentence a-g that should logically
follow it.
1 Foreign languages can
2 You benefit privately
3 You can travel more easily, communicate with more
people and
4 Language skills benefit society more generally by
5 The prize goes to those who can show a
6 If you want to secure more public funding for
foreign-language training and educations…
7 Four key elements of language management for
success in export markets are:
a) it
must show that language skills bring a quantifiable benefit to companies
b) improving
international understanding
c) a
language strategy, appointing native speakers, recruiting staff with language
skills and using translators and interpreters
d) also
help you in your current job
e
) learn about other countries and cultures
f)
tangible return on investment in terms of their nation’s bank balance
g)
from learning a foreign language
6 Think about the questions to paragraphs A-F which
require the answers, presenting the main idea of each paragraph.
PART II
1. Read, learn and remember the following
expressions, try to use them in your own sentences:
-to make recommendations for improving language
skills
-regional and minority languages
-linguistic diversity
-to gain a competitive advantage
-less sufficient
-mother tongue
-to deal with different languages
-the importance of implementing strategies for
developing the language skills
-disseminating best practices on language strategies
-targeting the official language
-to master the language of the consumers
-to have access to the behaviour and attitudes of
others
-to target English as a priority
-to meet companies’ language needs
-challenges facing multinational companies
-to integrate employees into their workforces
2 Read the text
COMPANIES SHOULD INVEST MORE IN
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE SKILLS
Following the ELAN report, Leonard
Orban, the EU Commissioner for Multilingualism, set up the "Business Forum
for Multilingualism" to make recommendations for improving language skills
in EU companies Orban speaks about the role of foreign languages in business.
1) Why is multilingualism so
important for the EU?
The EU already has 23
official languages, more than 60
regional and minority languages and hundreds of
other languages spoken by people originally from outside the EU. We now want to
make full use of this linguistic diversity. We want to show that, rather
than being a burden, it is an asset for the EU —
for cultural, educational and professional reasons.
Also, EU companies can gain a competitive advantage through foreign
language skills. But one of the main ideas from the Business Forum for
Multilingualism is that English is not enough. English is more and more
necessary for international business, but less and less sufficient.
2) So, how good are the language
skills of EU citizens?
We
are still a long way from our goal of every citizen learning at least two
foreign languages. Only 28 per
cent of European citizens are able to speak at least two foreign languages. And
nearly half of European citizens can speak only their mother tongue.
3) What role should companies play
here?
Companies should invest more in
developing the abilities of their workers to deal with different languages. I
think especially at the level of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
there is not enough awareness of the importance of languages other than
English and of the importance of implementing strategies for developing
their employees' language skills. So we have made a number of recommendations
in the report on ways to help firms. Of course, increased financial support
should be considered — at
the EU level, but also at national, regional and local levels. But we also
propose a new European internet platform for collecting and disseminating
best practices on language strategies.
4) But are language skills only the
companies' responsibility?
No, it's a shared responsibility.
The European institutions also have a contribution to make, but so do
the member states through improvements in their education systems. And so do
individuals themselves.
5) Latin is still one of the most
common foreign languages taught in educational institutions. Shouldn't this
time and effort be spent more usefully on modern foreign languages?
Our task in the European Commission
is to defend and promote the linguistic diversity in Europe. That
means targeting mainly the official languages of the EU. So, we look
less at languages like Latin or ancient Greek. But these languages, even though
they are no longer tools of communication, can be useful in terms of personal
development. So we are not against these languages. But we would encourage
people to learn a large variety of European languages. There are so many
languages — for
example, those of neighbouring countries in the EU, or of non-EU countries —
and people should choose whatever languages they
want.
6) When you say people should learn
two foreign languages, do you mean two EU languages?
No, Europeans should also learn the
languages of non-EU countries. For example, there are more and more Chinese
people who are learning European languages. But Europeans should also learn
Mandarin, Russian, Urdu, Japanese and so on. This will help not only
individuals but also our companies, and so help the Union to become more competitive.
7) But, surely, learning better
English is still the priority for many EU employees.
Of course, we acknowledge that
English is more or less a lingua franca for communication between
companies. And we are talking about the need for good English, because very
often people speak bad English. But when you are addressing consumers,
it is a completely different story. English is not enough. You need to master
the language of your consumers. For example, it has been shown that many people
in Germany don't understand advertising slogans that are in English. And we are
not only talking about language skills; we're talking about intercultural
skills. Teaching a language doesn't mean just teaching grammar, pronunciation
etc. It means teaching a culture, literature and so on. It means having access
to the behaviour and attitudes of others. We need to understand that
others may think in a different way. These are the sorts of skills that are
needed to do business in other places. So, while English will continue to be
important, companies should add other languages, and other abilities, in order
to become more competitive.
8) Which, then, are the most
important foreign languages for EU workers to learn apart from English?
That's not for us to say. It's up
to every company to decide which language skills they need, according to
their activities and plans. For example, some companies may target Mandarin as
a priority. Others may target Hindi. We don't want to tell the companies what
to do. We just want to tell them that languages are an important part of their
performance, and that they should consider this seriously.
9) Don't firms solve their language
needs pragmatically by, for example, hiring people from other countries who
speak two other languages as well as their native tongue?
Yes, in many cases, companies do meet
their language needs by finding the right people to employ. On the other
hand, as politicians, we have to think about all European citizens and give
them the chance to become more competitive and to find better jobs. It is also
to the advantage of EU companies if they can find people in their own countries
with the necessary language skills. And, as we say in our report, one of the
main challenges facing multinational companies in the EU —
and society more generally —
is to integrate employees from different
nationalities and ethnic backgrounds into their workforces. And this
means that the training of existing employees could be the best option.
3 Match each sentence 1-10 to the sentence a-j that
should logically follow it.
1 EU companies can gain…
2 Only 28% of European citizens are able
3 Companies should invest more in
4 We propose a new European internet platform for
5 Our task in the European Community is
6 We acknowledge that English is more or less a
7 Teaching a language doesn’t mean
8 While English will continue to be important,
9 It’s up to every company to decide which language
10 One of the main challenges facing multinational
companies in EU is
a) collecting and disseminating best practices on
language strategies
b) lingua franca for communication between companies
c) a competitive advantage through foreign language
skills
d) integrate employees from different nationalities
and ethnic backgrounds
e) companies should add other languages and other
abilities in order to become more competitive
f) to speak at least two foreign languages
g) to promote the linguistic diversity
h) skills they need, according to their activities
and plans
i) just teaching grammar and pronunciation, but also
a culture, literature and so on
j) developing the abilities of their workers to deal
with different languages
4 Read through the article, part two once more. Try
to summarize in a sentence what each paragraph 1-9 is about
5 Read the questions which are the headings of the
paragraphs 1-9. Answer the questions. Don’t look into the text.
! Home assignment: get
ready to speak about the problems of multilingualism in European community. For
more information use the following sites:
For more
information: Companies work better
with languages — the
Business Forum for Multilingualism, European Commission: #"#">#"#">#"#">www.britishcouncil.org
■CILT, the National
Centre for Languages: www.cilt.org.uk European
Commission (Multilingualism): #"1.files/image001.gif">Penny
Ferguson
Сагу
Cooper
on their time management
Timothy Ferris
My time management
routine: I
start the day by prioritizing. Then I force myself with the things that are
important and don't allow myself to be distracted. I choose a quiet time
in the day to delete unimportant e-mails.
What's on my desk that shouldn't be
there: Sweets. Bits of paper that I have picked
up more than once and then put down again, rather than dealing with them.
Private photos that have been there for a month and that I haven't yet sorted
out.
Biggest distractions: E-mails.
People don't distract me because I am good at politely getting rid of those who
disturb me.
My biggest time-waste: Thinking
about private things I can't do anything about at work, especially things that
happened in the past and that might happen in the future.
Top time-management tip: Decide
what is important by asking. If this was never dealt with, would it matter? We
tend to think of ourselves as two people -
a work person and a private person. But we should
integrate the time-management skills we learn at home at work, and vice
versa.
The first thing I do in the
morning: Prioritize! I open my e-mails, print out
the ones I need, walk to my secretary's office, where the printer is, collect
them and then order them on my desk Then I use them to write my "things to
do " list. My
time-management sin: Waiting until the last minute to do smaller writing
jobs. This is bad time management. But I haven't yet let anyone down. The
biggest nuisance on my desk: The pile of papers I don't really want to
throw out but don't quite know what to do with. At some stage, I'll go through
them and throw most of them out. My biggest time-management achievement: I've
stopped trying to change colleagues who are negative. This caused me more
stress than anything else. Top time-management tip: Set an exit time every
day. If you know that you have to leave at a certain time, you'll make sure you
get the important things done. You won't get everything done, but you have to
stop somewhere if you want to have a life outside work.
Focus on doing only those things
that bring income: Ask yourself, "If
I had a heart attack and had to work two hours a week, what time-consuming
activities -e-mail, phone calls, conversations, paper work, meetings, dealing
with customers, etc. - would
I cut out?" Used even once a month this question can keep you san and on
track. Fold a standard piece of paper three times to make a small to-do list: Never
have more than two critical items on it.
Decide which items are the most
critical: Ask yourself, "If this is the only
thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?" Put a
post-it on your computer screen with the question, "Are you inventing
things to do to avoid the important things?" Accomplish more in less time
:Leave work at 4 p.m.
and take Monday and/or Friday off. This will force you to prioritize and work
more quickly. Use short deadlines to force immediate action and ignore
unimportant things.
Answer e-mails twice a day: Have
the automated message telling people the two times in the day you read your
message and refer them to voice mail they need you urgently.
Unit 3
DECISION MAKING
1 We
cannot not make decisions. Even when we decide not to decide, this is a decision
. Read the questions below, think and answer them:
Have you ever been taught decision
making? When, where and for what reason?
What exactly is decision making?
What are the key steps in decision
making?
What makes people take bad
decisions?
What kind of decision maker are
you?
2Read
the article by Bob Dignen from Business Spotlight (6/2008).Pay special
attention to
and memorize the vocabulary in bold type.
TAKING THE PLUNGE
International business is a world
of complexity, ambiguity and paradoxes. Decisions are often made on the
basis of limited information, which makes risk management an essential discipline.
And instead of the clear top-down decision-making structures of
the past, organizations now expect individuals and teams to work autonomously
at all levels. Greater cultural diversity has also widened the range of
decision-making styles and processes, and increased the potential for conflict.
1What
is decision making?
Most people would argue that
we take business decisions to reach personal, team and organizational
goals and that the art of decision making is simply to choose the right
option from a range of possibilities. But, in
practice, decision making is more complex.
First, the motivations behind our
decisions may be less rational and strategic than we think: political loyalties,
beliefs, environmental constraints, ethical factors and even
irrational motives may play a significant role.
Second, decisions are not isolated
events but part of a context of decision making.
2Key
steps in decision making
To understand decision making
better, it helps if we break down the process into various steps:
a)Decide to decide. The
first step is to recognize that a decision needs to be taken to achieve a
particular goal. This may be easier for some people than for others. Those who lack
self-confidence ox fear risk may be indecisive, preferring
to wait and see what happens rather than
acting. Others may decide to act too quickly without
thinking through the consequences, and
so may be seen as impetuous.
Cultural issues may also be significant.
In some national or organizational cultures, only those in senior
positions can "decide to decide". In collective cultures,
this decision may be a group process, which could require time to get a
critical mass to support. This can be frustrating to those from
a more individualistic culture, but rushing this process could
lead to decisions that do not have wide acceptance.
b)Collect and evaluate information.
Effective decision making requires reliable
information. But you should not collect so much information that you end
up confused and paralyzed.
Indeed, it will often be impossible to collect all the relevant information
in the necessary
timeframe. A certain information risk is often
present. It can help to involve others in
the information collection process to get as wide a range of opinions as
possible. This provides
not only better insight, but also potentially greater involvement
in the implementation
of any decisions.
It is
important to set clear and relevant criteria to evaluate possible
options. If a human-resources manager is to select training providers, price is
an easy criterion to look at, but it may not be as relevant as quality criteria
such as experience with similar companies, the ability to innovate or being
able to deliver training in different languages.
Finally, you should know when not
to take a decision. Resist the pressure to decide if you feel
that waiting will allow questions to be clarified or new alternatives to
emerge.
c)Decide on an option. A
number of problem-solving tools can help you to compare the
advantages and disadvantages of different options.
On the basis of such tools and a certain
amount of gut feeling, you should select
the option that you think has the greatest probability
of success.
Things may still stand in
your way. A new turn of events may require you to rethink things.
Unexpected resistance from others may necessitate a u-turn. You
yourself may lack the courage to take an unpopular or difficult decision.
Fear of failure often
prevents people from taking decisions. To make the right decision, you will
have to manage your own fear of failure and risk. Remember the
following:
1 Not
taking risks limits opportunities for growth and improvement.
2 Risk
is meant to be scary, so don't worry about being afraid.
3 We
fear losing the familiar, so work hard to embrace the new.
4 Never
be reckless: take calculated risks in a rational state of mind.
5 Accept
a learning curve and don't try to
succeed 100 per
cent immediately.
6 When
you jump, jump with 100 per
cent conviction or you will hurt yourself when you land.
d)Implement the decision. Once
you have made a decision, the real work starts. It is vital to
motivate yourself and others to
accept the consequences of that decision and to support it with the necessary
actions. If you simply announce decisions but fail to "sell and
support" them, you risk resistance and failure. Effective decision makers proceed
as follows:
- They
explain the reasons and positive intentions behind their actions.
- They
describe the benefits for those affected.
- They
have the mental energy, patience and communication skills to
manage conflict.
e)Evaluate the decision. You
will never improve your decision-making abilities without
reflecting on
the decisions you take. Analyze the extent to which key decisions
achieve their goals
and are supported by those around you. If they were unsuccessful, what was the
reason? Remember
also that it is possible to take good decisions that have a bad outcome. A
decision is
good if it is based on a clear goal, logical assessment of the available
information and taken with
the full commitment of the decision maker and others involved. If things
don't turn out as expected,
you can use that experience to improve your future decision-making performance.
3 Decision-making
styles
Because people think and feel
differently, it is not surprising that they make decisions in different ways.
One interesting way of classifying decision-making styles is that of Rove and
Boulgarides. In their work, they emphasize the importance of values, needs
and preferences. Their model reveals four main decision-making styles,
based on whether people are task-oriented or relationship-oriented and on how
much cognitive complexity they prefer. The model also looks at the
motivations behind decision making. The four types of decision makers are:
a) Directive decision makers. These
people are task-oriented and have a strong need for power, wanting
to feel they are in control of others. They also have a low tolerance for
ambiguity and prefer to keep things pragmatic and simple. They tend to
take decisions on the basis of less information, using fewer alternatives. They
need to feel that the decision is theirs to make and no one else's.
b) Analytic
decision makers. These people are also
task-oriented. They need to achieve things and are highly motivated when
dealing with a challenge. They are more tolerant of ambiguity than directive
decision makers, and can tolerate higher information loads. They take time to
analyze in more detail the various possible courses of action.
c) Conceptual
decision makers. Such individuals also
have a strong need for achievement. But they are people-oriented and less
analytical. They are comfortable with high information loads but their data
collection methods may be through talking to people, especially
experts. They tend to be more creative than the more analytical decision makers
and think about what can produce the best results in the long term.
d) Behavioural
decision makers. These individuals have
a strong people orientation. They tend to communicate easily, using simple
and understandable messages(with low cognitive complexity). They
consult with others, are open to suggestions and happy to compromise. They
prefer a looser sense of leadership control. "I prefer
everyone to "own" the decisions that are mine".
4 Finding
your way
As we have seen, decision making is
a process involving data collection and rigorous analysis. But it is
also a psychological process involving human emotions and personal bias. The
challenge is to develop your own approach to decision making so that you can
make the most of your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
When working internationally in
teams with different mindsets and priorities, it is essential
that you can incorporate these diverse perspectives into the decision
making process. In this way, you will be able to increase both creativity and
the team's commitment to decisions.
3Answer
the questions:
What makes decision making so
important today?
What definition of decision making
can you suggest?
What affects decision making?
What are key steps in decision
making?
What is the most essential for each
step?
4Test
your decision making
Look
at the questions below and note down your options. Then see page ....
for comments. Decision 1:
A normal coin is tossed
ten times and lands on heads each time. You have $1,000
to place on the next choice. Do you choose
heads or tails?
Decision 2:
Which is more likely: to be killed by a
shark, or by parts falling from an aircraft in flight?
Decision 3:
What length would a perfectly regular
cube-shaped tank have to be to hold all the blood of five billion
people?
Decision 4:
Think about the consequences of the nuclear
accident at Chernobyl in 1986. On
a scale of 1 (not
at all) to 100 (totally),
how strong would you support the building of a nuclear reactor close to your
home?
5 Test your decision making:
comments
There are various reasons why
people make bad decisions. Here are a number of them, which we discuss in
relation to the four decisions that you were asked to make on page .
. . We use poor criteria. When
faced with complex decisions, people often rely on their own experiences. But
these may not be good criteria. In the first decision, most people intuitively
choose tails, even though the probability of heads is still 50
per cent. In the second question,
the correct answer is "falling aircraft
parts", but most people answer "shark attack" because of
their experience of watching films
or television programmes.
We use wrong information. The
third question is often answered poorly as a result of people
giving false importance to what
they see as significant data. Many people estimate that the tank
must be several kilometers long
because of the large number of people. In fact, the answer is
"only" just over 260
meters.
We are not objective. The
fourth question is usually answered on the basis of personal values
and bias, rather than on objective
criteria ("I need more information about the risks")
6Ask
yourself.
1What kind of decision maker are
your?
3 Do
you like to be the first to act or are you more cautious?
4 Are
you prepared to take risks or do you delay decisions until you are sure of the
outcome? 5 How would you describe the decision-making culture where you
work/study?
6
To what extent do you fit into the culture?
7 Think about your last major
decision at work/university.
- To what extent did you collect
the necessary amount of information? How well did you set the criteria for
creating and comparing options?
-What tools (if any) do you use to
help you make your decisions? Does fear of failure sometimes stop you from
making decisions? If so, think about the positive aspects of risk taking.
- Think about an important decision
that you made recently at work/university. How well did you sell the decision
to those affected by it?
- Think about the last bad decision
you made. What did you learn from the experience that helped you to take better
decisions?
EXERCISE: Which type of decision
maker would say what?
Four types of decision makers are:
directive, analytic, conceptual and behavioural.
Look at the comment below. Match
each of them to one of these decision-making styles. (The
answers are on page .
. . .)
1
"I think our feeling here is that
the third solution is the most creative and will also produce the best result in
the long term. Is everyone happy with that
solution?"
2 "On
the basis of all the data that we have collected, I think it's clear that the
third solution is by far the most logical."
3 "OK.
I think that we have talked things through and have now a clear commitment from
everyone. Can we agree to implement the third solution and discuss results at
the end of the month?"
4
"Implement this approach and report
back at the end of the month on results." Answers: 1
Conceptual; 2 Analytic;
3
Behavioural; 4 Directive.
SURVIVAL GUIDE: decision making to
bring about change
Coaching has established itself as
a useful tool to support both individuals and groups when they have to take key
decisions. Co-active coaching works with questions that stimulate insight into assumptions
and principles behind decision making. The following questions, based upon
a template created by Sharon Drew Morgan(see www.businessballs.com), can help you to begin the process of
innovative decision making.
1 Take
a look around your working situation. What issues do you see that require a
decision for change?
2 What
has stopped you from deciding until now?
3 What
would you need to see/hear/feel in order to take a decision?
4 What
criteria are you using to decide what aspects of the situation need to be
changed?
5 What
needs to be changed first?
6 How
are you going to handle of opinion in the decision-making process?
7 Who
needs to support you so that you can take this decision?
8 How
will you motivate them to support you?
9 How
will you know whether you have taken the right decision?
10 How
will you be able to make this success sustainable?
THE LANGUAGE OF DECISIONS
Section A
This section provides some
suggestions on phrases and vocabulary that you can use when making decisions.
Remember, however, that you should only use the language that you and your
colleagues feel comfortable with in your specific working context.
1Deciding
to decide
What do we need to decide first?
How soon do we need to take a
decision
on this?
Are we in a position to take a
decision?
2Defining
the decision-making process
How should we decide this? Who
needs to be consulted? Who should take the final decision?
I think we need to decide on a new
logo.
Could you let me have a decision by
next
Friday?
Well, we can decide when we get the
extra
information.
I think we need to discuss .
. .
We need to involve ..
.
The person ultimately responsible
is . . .
3Collecting
information
What do we need to know to take a
decision? Why can't we take a decision? What information are we waiting for?
4Setting
criteria
What criteria are we going to use?
On what basis will we take our
decision?
What is important here?
We need information about.
. .
We don't have enough information
on...
We are waiting for confirmation of.
. .
Our decision should be based on .
. . I think the decision should be driven by
The deciding factor will be ...
5 Deciding
on an option
What do you think we should do?
Which option is best for you? What is your decision?
I think we should .
. .
In my opinion we should decide to.
My decision is to .
. .
6 Implementing
the decision
What do we need to do to implement
this decision?
What do we do now?
Can we agree on an action plan?
We have to .
..
The next step is to. Yes, I suggest
that
7 Reviewing
the decision
Was it a good decision? Yes and no.
On the one hand, we could.. .
Did we take the right decision? Yes,
we did. So far. . .
Would you take this decision again?
I think so.
Section В
Decision-making idioms
There are many idioms and idiomatic
terms in English about decisions and decision making. Here are some of the most
common ones.
A done deal
This expression describes an
agreement or decision that has been reached on a specific issue. "We are
still looking at different options, so it's not a done deal yet."
Jumping on the bandwagon
If someone "jumps on the
bandwagon", they decide to join a trend that is already very successful or
fashionable.
"So many companies are jumping
on the work-life balance bandwagon at the moment and starting initiatives. But
I don't think they really believe in it."
Putting your money where your mouth
is
People who "put their money
where their mouth is" support a decision or opinion, often in some
financial way, either with an investment or some kind of bet.
"Come on. If you believe
England will beat Germany in November in Berlin, put your money where your
mouth is and bet me $10.
Playing for time
People who "play for
time" try to delay a decision in some way:
"He tried to play for time by
asking for more information. I think he was hoping we would just
give in and reduce our prices."
Blamestorming
This business buzzword is used to
describe the process of groups trying to find out who was responsible for a
decision that produced bad results. The term comes from
"brainstorming". "The meeting about the failure of our marketing
campaign turned into a blamestorming session, with nobody taking
responsibility. Everyone just blamed everyone else."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bob Dignen is
one of the directors of York Associates (www.york-associates.co.uk) who
specializes in language,
communication and intellectual training.
Contact: bob.dianen@york-associates.co.uk
BOOKS
Group Communication, Peter
Hartley, Routledge, ISBN 970-415-11159-1.
Harvard Business Review on Decision
Making, Peter Drucker, John Hammond, Ralph
Keeny, Howard Raiffa, Aid
M.Hayashi, Harvard Business School Press, ISBN 978-57851-557-
Unit 4
PERSONAL BRANDING. A BRAND NEW YOU
1 Before you read the article, take a few minutes to
think and say what the word ‘brand’
means. Give examples of your own.
2 Read the first part of the article.
PART I
I Companies
invest an enormous amount of time to develop, promote and sustain their corporate
brands. Think of Coca-Cola, Apple, BMW or McDonalds. Branding is a powerful
way to shape customer perceptions of products or services and to
influence their buying behaviour. So, if branding works for companies, why
can't it work for you as an individual? Personal branding uses key
corporate principles and practices to enable individuals to manage their image
in the workplace. Before you read on, take a few minutes to think about the
following questions. Then compare your answers to the comments in the article.
■ Why
do you need a personal brand?
■ What
steps should you follow to create such a brand?
■ What
channels can you use to communicate your personal brand?
■ What
role does culture play in personal branding?
■ Why
do you need a personal brand?
II On the history of branding
The origin of the term
"personal branding" is often traced back to a 1997
article, "The Brand Called You", by Tom
Peters, one of the world's leading business experts box, He said that everyone
has a personal brand, whether they like it or not. Peters defined brand
primarily as what other people think about us —
the ideas and associations we stimulate in their
minds by the way we look, sound and behave.
Some aspects of our brand will be
positive, others negative. Yet most of the time, we don't think about managing
how people experience us. Peters believed it was time for individuals to take
control of their personal brand in the workplace and to market themselves more
consciously.
Peters argued that flatter
corporate structures were making career development more problematic. Automatic
promotions up the organizational ladder were be coming a thing of the past.
Instead, individuals needed to promote themselves by defining and communicating
their unique selling proposition (USP).
Some benefits of personal branding
·
Greater visibility and opportunities for
promotion
·
Better working partnerships inside your
company
·
Higher salary
·
The ability to attract and retain
more customers
·
Greater self-confidence
·
Clearer focus on what really matters for
you at work
III Creating
a personal brand
It will be easier to create an
effective personal brand if you follow these three key steps:
a) Define your personal brand
vision. When was the last time you thought about
what you want to achieve at work over the next three, five or ten years?
Ask yourself questions both about specific career objectives (What do I
want to become? How much do I want to earn?) and about general professional
objectives (What kind of leader do I want be? What kind of team do I want to
work in?). This process enables you to devote the appropriate
amount of energy to the right areas and also plan to reach meaningful career
goals.
b) Define your personal brand. The
second step is to define a unique and impressive professional brand.
Start by creating a short statement of who you are: the values you represent,
your key qualities, and what makes you unique. Tom Peters suggests that your uniqueness
include not only general personality descriptions, but also four key aspects of
working life: your vision and style as a leader; what makes you special as a
team member; your technical expertise: and your ability to help deliver
results. Think about your own uniqueness by answering the following questions.
You will find some useful examples of language to answer these questions, see
the survival guide section.
Leadership vision
·
What inspires and motivates you?
·
How do you inspire and motivate others?
·
Where are you taking people?
Team focus
·
What do you see as your greatest
strength in team?
·
What do your colleagues admire most
about you?
·
What's special about working with you in
a team?
Technical ability
·
Where are you excellent?
·
What are you known for doing better than
others?
·
What is your particular genius?
Pragmatic results
·
What have you achieved that you are most
proud of?
·
What will you deliver to your
management?
·
What unique benefits do you offer the
customer?
c) Promote your personal brand. No
matter how good a brand is, it will be of little value if it isn't promoted
well. That is why companies spend millions on advertising to increase the visibility
of their brands. The same is true of personal branding. It is essential to move
on from creating the brand to making sure it is experienced by key stakeholders
— that is, the people
with whom you work and who have direct or indirect influence over your career
development.
3 Read the first part of the text quickly once more
and find the words and phrases that match the definitions below:
a) excellent knowledge or skill in your professional
subject
b) the feature of being very special, unusual
c) the relationships between people in business,
organization
d) something important in your job that you hope to
achieve
e) the process of creating your special image
f) the state of being more popular
g) the main personal characteristics
(personal branding, greater visibility, working
partnerships, meaning career goals,
key qualities, uniqueness, technical expertise)
4 Read the second paragraph, discuss the importance
of the enlisted benefits. Which one is the most important in your opinion?
Write the list of the benefits of personal branding in the order of importance
from your point of view.
5 Read the third paragraph and
a) name the three key steps in creating a personal
brand (don’t look into the text)
b) answer the questions from part 1 in close pairs, then in open pairs
c) speak about your uniqueness using four key
aspects of working life from part “d”. You will find some useful examples of
language to answer the questions in the survival guide section.
d) speak about the importance to promote your
personal brand, use no more than 3 sentences.
6 Write down 10 words and expressions from the first
part of the text, which you think are the most suitable to speak about personal
branding.
! Home assignment:
1-write down your personal brand vision, using no
more than three sentences,(see the survival guide section)
2-wrte down your own personal brand statement, using
no more than three sentences, use a list of useful personality adjectives from
the survival guide section.
7 Read the second part of the
article
PART II
IY Communicating
your brand
There are various channels you can
use to promote your unique personal brand in the workplace.
a) The work channel. Effective
personal brand promotion is more than telling everyone how wonderful you are.
The best way to showcase your talent to others is to find opportunities
to work with them. Look for new projects where you could play a role. Volunteer
informal support and advice to those who might benefit from your experience.
Don't expect opportunities to fall into your lap; you need to look actively.
And don't get impatient if benefits don't appear immediately. Allow your
reputation to grow slowly but surely. As a way of getting started, commit
yourself to one extra task for the coming four weeks that will enhance
your reputation with a significant decision maker.
b) The people channel. One
of the best forms of marketing is personal recommendation or "word of
mouth". It is essential to cultivate a strong network of carefully selected
people who like and respect you. Such people can act as multipliers for your
brand in conversations with other decision makers. Some people like to join professional
networking sites: others increase the number of strategic lunches they
take part in. Whatever method you use, it is important always to think about
whether you are spending the right amount of time with the right people talking
about the right things. Your aim is to ensure that your
"stakeholder network" understands your values and talks about you in
the right way.
c) The emotional channel. Corporate
brands use emotions to connect strongly to customer desires, such as the wish
to be successful or attractive. Your personal brand also needs to manage
emotions. In their book Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate,
Fisher and Shapiro identify four areas of emotion that need to be managed in
business contexts. Think about these four areas for your personal brand:
Appreciation.
People feel good when they see that they are liked.
When people meet you, do they feel liked and appreciated by you?
Affiliation.
We usually have more positive feelings towards
people with whom we have something in common. When people meet you, how clearly
do you communicate that you are similar?
Autonomy.
We need to feel a sense of control over our own destiny.
Do people feel empowered and autonomous when they are with you, or do
you threaten their independence and expertise?
Status.
People need to feel respected. How does your
personal brand communicate respect for others? How does talking to you confer
status on others?
To gain their customers' trust and
loyalty, companies try to make the experience of their brand an enjoyable one.
Effective personal brands work in the same way. Do people find it enjoyable and
rewarding to be around you?
d) The visual channel. When
people see you, they should experience credibility, authority and
openness. For example, when you are making a presentation, an open posture
with strong and controlled gestures normally helps to build your brand
better than shifting from foot to foot or waving your arms around wildly.
Choice of clothing, hairstyle and portables, such as a briefcase
and laptop, also communicate your values. And think also about your written
communication, including e-mails, presentation slides and even your handwriting
on a flip chart. What do the information load, format and design
say about you?
e) The auditory channel. What do
people think when they hear you? Are they inspired, or do they have mixed
feelings towards you and your approach to business? Does your voice
persuade with warm and friendly tones, or does it create discomfort with dull
intonation or shrill tones? Do people "hear" you smiling on the
telephone? If you don't know what people really think of you when they hear
you, start asking!
Y The
culture question
Creating and communicating a
personal brand is not easy. For example, what should you do if you feel that
the key people in your professional network don't like your personal brand?
What if they respect alternative values and behaviours? Should you change
yourself and risk becoming inauthentic?
There is no easy answer here, but
it can help to think about this problem in two parts. If you believe that key
stakeholders have the wrong perception of your talents, then you need to work
on improving the promotion of your brand. If on the other hand, your brand
values genuinely offer little to your stakeholders, think about whether
you can adapt your brand, or whether you need to find another place to
work.
Culture can play a key role in
brand communication. Whatever values or information we try to transmit,
the receivers of our message will see or hear us and interpret the message
according to their own mental model and filters. For example, you may wish to
promote a brand that says you are direct and honest, but others may experience
you as aggressive and pushy. Or, you may want to promote the patience
and empathy of your empowering leadership, only to find that others see
you as indecisive and lacking direction.
You are likely to have a number of
diverse audiences for your brand campaign at work. These may include
different national cultures, departmental cultures, age and gender
cultures, different business relationships (for example, that between a
customer and a supplier) and, of course, the individual personalities of your
colleagues, managers and business partners. All these audiences will have distinct
needs and perspectives and may experience you in different ways. Effective
personal branding requires a clear vision and message but, above all,
intelligent promotion to diverse audiences.
YI Always
be selling
Developing and communicating your
personal brand is not enough. You also have to "walk the talk".
Are you a leader who breeds confidence and trust with analytical
excellence and good people-management skills? Are you open for feedback and do
you act to improve yourself even when the messages you get are difficult to
accept? If not, your brand may be compromised. Remember that every encounter
represents an opportunity to sell "Brand You", from first impressions
in casual social encounters and the many e-mails you write each day to
taking part in international meetings or presentations. Effective brands are consistent
brands. So make sure that how you look, sound and act at all times sends a
consistent message about who you are and what your unique value is.
8 Read the fourth paragraph of the text quickly and
find the words and phrases that match the definitions below:
a) to present somebody’s abilities or good qualities
b) when people tell each other about it (not read or
write, only speak)
c) people or companies that are involved in a
particular project, especially if they invest money in it
d) to give somebody the power or authority to do
something
e) to make people feel that they are respected by
you
f) to have the feeling of trust and belief
1-experience credibility
2-stakeholder network
3-to communicate respect for others
4-to showcase
5-to feel empowered
6-word of mouth
9 Check your memorizing skills. Name five channels
which you can use to promote your unique personal brand, don’t look into the
text.
10 Read part “c”(paragraph IY) once more and
a) try to explain what the words “appreciation,
affiliation, autonomy, status” mean
b) complete the sentences with proper words
mentioned above
The job of a university teacher brings with it high
________ and good income.
His_______ to the most powerful political party
gives him high position in the society.
Frenchmen usually show great_______ to women.
Young people would like their parents to give them
greater ________ autonomy in their personal life.
c) answer the questions you can find in the parts c,
d, e.
11 Read paragraphs Y and YI quickly. Try to
summarize in a sentence what each part (a-f) is about
12 Find key words and expressions(at least 10)
suitable to speak about developing and communicating your personal brand from
paragraphs Y and YI.
13 Match each sentence 1-6 to the sentence( a-f)
that should logically follow it, don’t look into the text
1-What should you do
2-It can help you to think
3-Whatever values or information we try to transmit
4-Effective personal branding requires
5-Are you a leader who breeds
6-Every encounter represents an opportunity
a) confidence and trust with analytical excellence
and good people-management skills?
b) if you feel that the key people in your
professional network don’t like your brand?
c) to sell your personal “Brand You”
d) about this problem in two parts
e) a clear vision and above all, intelligent
promotion to diverse audiences
f) the receivers of our message will see or hear us
14 Read the survival guide section, get ready to
participate in the round-table discussion “Creating a personal brand helps to
face the challenges of the modern life”.
SURVIVAL GUIDE. PERSONAL BRANDING
Creating your personal brand.This
section provides some suggestions for phrases and vocabulary that can be used
to communicate your personal brand at work. Remember, however, that you should
only use the language and approach that you feel
comfortable with in your specific context.
1. Communicating
your brand vision and values
Building a personal brand is not achieved
by telling everyone how wonderful you are. You need to communicate your
vision and values regularly in business encounters such as
presentations, meetings and social conversation. Here are some key aspects you
should consider:
a) Leadership vision
Communicate your vision of good
leadership, so that your staff can deliver the performance you want.
For me, good leadership means...
This organization's strategy is
to...
What inspires me is...
My greatest motivation is...
The future for me is...
b) Teamwork
Communicate your vision of good
teamwork practice.
My approach to teamwork is...
The critical success factor
is..
What I always want to see in teams
is...
Teams need to have...
For me, a team is not a team unless
it has
c) Skills
Communicate your own skills as well
as those you admire in others.
Your skills:
·
One thing I do know is how to..
·
My core competence is...
·
Some people say that my particular attribute
is to...
Others'
skills:
·
One quality I admire in people is...
·
The key attribute for firms is...
·
A core skill for us all today is...
d) Results
Communicate an attitude to
goals that is personally focused, but also highlights the importance of
wider goals.
I guarantee that I will deliver...
·
My goal is to...
·
My view of (customer service) is…
·
The secret to getting great results
is...
·
The team has to reach...
·
The organization's objective is
to...
2. Differentiating
your brand
Positioning is a critical element
of brand identity. Differentiating clearly between what you see as right and
what you see as wrong is a simple way of distinguishing your personal
brand from the competition. The following extracts from
presentations are examples of the type of approaches and sentences you could
use.
Empowerment, not dictatorship: a
message about leadership
"I am not going to stand here
and tell you what to do every time something goes wrong. My leadership
philosophy is one of empowerment, and not dictatorship. I work with trust, and
I work with you, not instead of you."
Responsibility, not blame: a
message about teamwork
"I don't like the current
atmosphere in the team. There is too much focus on finding the person to blame,
rather than taking responsibility for putting things right. Responsibility for
me is a value that I expect everyone to live by."
Analysis before action: a message
about results
"I don't think we should take
a decision without having the data. In my view, you can't get effective
performance without sufficient analysis."
Clarity, not confusion: a message
about communication
"The messages we are sending
to our staff confuse not just them, they also confuse me. I am a great believer
in clear and direct communication. So we need to look again at our communication
to create greater transparency and thus increase motivation."
Solutions, not problems: a message
about customer focus
"My approach to this issue
is to focus on solutions, not problems. We don't have the time or resources to
discover every problem. And anyway, our customers need solutions...
yesterday!"
3. Finding
your strengths and talents
The Gallup Organization's
Strengths-Finder is a talent assessment instrument developed for the
internet. A talent is defined as a "naturally recurring pattern of thought,
feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied.
Knowledge and skills, on the other
hand, can be taught and learned.
The Strengths Finder instrument
lists 34 different
"themes" that describe talents. These can provide an excellent
starting point for the creation of your personal brand statement. Among the
themes are those below. Remember that people can be strong in a number of
themes.
Achiever:
People who work hard and enjoy being busy.
■Communication:
People who find it easy to put their thoughts into words.
Developer:
People who recognize and cultivate the potential and abilities of others.
■Futuristic:
People who inspire others with their visions of the future. Harmony: People who
don't enjoy conflict and try to achieve consensus instead.
■Maximizer:
People who focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group
excellence.
■Responsibility:
People who are committed to honesty and loyalty.
■Woo:
People who love the challenge of meeting new people and making a connection.
■For a full list of the 34
themes and their descriptions, see the article
"The Gallup Organization's Strengths Finder Instrument" by Tonya
Fredstrom, Jim Harter and Kenneth Tucker. The article can be found on the
Career Trainer website (www.
careertrainer. com).
Personality adjectives
When creating your personal
brand statement (see below), it can be helpful to use adjectives that
describe your personality.
assertive
|
настирний
|
competitive
|
конкурентноспроможний
|
conscientious
|
сумлінний
|
cooperative
|
спроможний до
співробітництва
|
driven
|
цілеспрямований
|
easygoing
|
с легкою
вдачею
|
flexible
|
здатний
пристосовуватися
|
forceful
|
переконливий
|
imaginative
|
здатний творчо
мислити
|
individualistic
|
індивідуалістичний
|
organized
|
організований
|
outgoing
|
товариський
|
patient
|
терплячий
|
resourceful
|
винахідливий
|
self-assured
|
впевнений в собі
|
self-disciplined
|
самодисциплінований
|
self-sufficient
|
самодостатній
|
solution-oriented
|
Оріентований
на рішення
|
time-driven:
|
темпорально
оріентований
|
|