All owners and managers dread hearing “I’m just here for my paycheck”. It’s crucial for all establishments to have a culture that employees can relate to, and this means building a working environment where employees share your mission and vision. Large organizations may have a strong overall culture; but the specific cultures within each department […]
Free Download It’s 11:00 on Monday morning and your team, spread across the world, is about to dial in to a virtual meeting. Why? To update each other on what’s been going on over the past week, and what might happen over the next few weeks. In theory this could be really interesting, useful and […]
Download the eBook Here’s an extract from a recent initial needs analysis I carried out with a client who had booked English training for a global change management project. This is just one example of how we’ve seen that training requests for communication and soft skills are becoming more and more specific. If you work in […]
Free Download If you are a line manager, you probably need to think about training for the people who work for you. But, how do you decide what training is necessary? How do you set the training goals? And how do you know what will actually provide real, tangible results? Start with the end in […]
Is it ever possible to give bad news in a good way? Some would argue not. Having started my working life around three months before the Global Economic Crisis hit, and watching colleague after colleague being made redundant throughout the media industry, I certainly would never have wanted to swap places with the people who […]
Dealing with different expectations in meetings Have you ever needed to discuss terms and conditions with international partners? You come in ready to get down to business as quickly as possible, only to discover that the others first want to have some small talk or a coffee before discussing business? You might think to yourself, […]
Yes is one of the most simple words to understand in the English language. Or is it? Free Download Yes is generally perceived as a positive response, and when you’re asking for something in business it’s normally the answer you’re hoping for. My father thought this when he started an importing company in China. On […]
Free Download I remember the first time I had to deal with a contract in German. I felt like I didn’t know what I was agreeing to and it made me really nervous. It seemed like the message was hidden behind complicated words which I didn’t truly understand. So when several of my participants who […]
I work for a leading global engineering company (one of the largest) extending its profitable global business over the past 150 years with offices across America, Asia, and Europe. It is recognized for its innovative, digital working environment, passion for its brand and customers and as a place where talented people are inspired and challenged […]
Even if you’re well organized, with a clear agenda and purpose, basic communication problems can arise that can derail your meeting very quickly. If it’s your job to moderate a meeting, you need to be able to get clear decisions without wasting too much time. Below, we present a few common communication problems and basic […]
Free Download Good writing is more than perfect grammar or a large vocabulary Writing is a skill that requires practice regardless of what language you write in. This holds true not only for fiction, but also for writing reports and other business correspondence. How many times have you received a poorly written email or read […]
Communicating across cultures begins with the understanding that one size does not fit all Free Download Differences in cultures, as we see so often, can lead to a host of great and small misunderstandings. Take something as simple as a name. It is entirely common in some German companies to use Mr. or Mrs, followed […]
I work in an organization where there’s really little rotation in our training suppliers. I’ve inherited most of them, and this means I have some specific issues. Actually I had something yesterday with a supplier.My first recommendation for questions to existing training providers would be a very open one. Just say: hbspt.cta.load(455190, ‘0377217d-6395-4d26-a5fc-d32a69e484a5’, {}); […]
Free Download How can I improve my English when I’m not in the training room? I think that probably every one of my colleagues (including myself) has been asked that question more than once. The simple answer is: exposure. The more you expose yourself to the language you are learning (through films, conversations, books, apps, […]
Free Download I recently asked my German IT participants in a multinational company to do a bit of brainstorming about their ideas for what it takes to be successful when doing business with Germans. Here are some of the ideas they found important. Of course the list is by no means exhaustive. While researching this […]
Free Download Intercall is one of the world’s largest international conference call company. And Intercall’s own research showed that more than 60 percent of respondents admitted to doing something else while on a conference call. This “doing something else” is one of the key contributors to ineffective teleconferences. I think it is safe to […]
Wouldn’t it be easier just to walk, than to walk and carry a car made of boulders? 1. Confusing training with presenting As a trainer I’ve often worked with participants who had to train people in something specific. In preparation they wanted to check their powerpoint slides with me. We reviewed the English on the […]
Not convinced? Here are some figures* which support the movement: In the US, nearly 170 million people played computer and videogames in 2008, spending a record $11.7 billion. Because of good game design, more than 11 million subscribers spend an average of 23 hours per week immersed in World of Warcraft. In the four […]
Time is money Time wasted equates to money lost. Think about what plain English could mean for your business. In a typical office, the average employee receives about 100 messages a day. How much time is spent writing the original document? How many people end up reading the document? How much time is spent reading, […]
The problem is that many of my participants don’t use social media in their personal lives, there is only limited training available and there isn’t always time to learn about the tools and their use. Did I mention that everything also needs to be in English? Together we came up a possible checklist to help […]
