English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 2
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Name: Cohort: Date:

Training program: Instructor:

INTERACTING AT THE WORKPLACE

(PRODUCTS AND SERVICES/STAFF/RESOURCES)

This workshop attempts to help you improve your basic interaction with others at your workplace,
sharing personal information, identifying formal and informal communication, and asking and giving
information on phone calls, describing the office, your coworkers and you will learn about customer
service and how to interact with others at your workplace.

Objective: From the development of these activities, you will be able to interact with others at your
workplace.

1. Work in pairs and discuss the following questions:

- Think of a company you know and describe it (location, facilities, departments)
- What kind of company is it? What products, services do they offer there?
- What services/facilities/products can you highlight from this company?
- Share the information with the rest of the class.

2. Skills Practice: Do the following activities to practice the learnt vocabulary and English structures

2.1. Listening: talking about your company in English

Before listening, identify the following vocabulary (look up the meaning of the words and write
some examples).

Company Merchandise Advertising

Manufacture Design Campaigns
Develop Sell Major/Players
Industry Represent Rated
Field Distribute Serve
Produce Reputation Small/Medium-Sized
OEM Awards Retailer
Market Distinctions Equipment
Branded Known for

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 English Learning Guide
Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 2
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Listen and read the audio script1 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eotKoAJxu-A

Then answer the following questions:

- Mention three things you can mention about a company:

_________________, _____________________________, _________________________

- Give 5 examples of what OEM industry can produce

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

- Write down one example of reputation of your model company. Use the expression “Known
for….”
__________________________________________________________________________

2.2. Speaking: provide basic information related to your workplace

- Work in pairs and perform a role play/ dialogue using your model company as an example. Ask
and answer questions giving specific information about it. Include location, facilities, products
and departments. Use model questions to practice.
- Prepare an oral presentation of your team- Describe at least three different people from your
workplace.

2.3. Reading about behaviors at work

Before reading the text, discuss the following questions?

- What do you think it is the most difficult fact to deal with at work?
- Can you tell a nice or bad experience you had with a person from work?
Read the text and then complete the proposed activities.

HOW TO BEHAVE AT WORK2

Co-authored by Abayomi Estwick
Your attitude is just as important as your skills and abilities. From offices to restaurants, learning
to navigate any new job requires a unique mixture of people skills and dedication. You can learn to
make a good impression on your first day, and turn that good impression into a good reputation
into the future.

1
Taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eotKoAJxu-A. Used by SENA for pedagogical purposes,
exclusively.
2
Adapted From: https://www.wikihow.com/Behave-at-Work Used by SENA for pedagogical purposes,
exclusively.

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English Learning Guide
Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 2
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Starting a new job

1. Get there early. On your first day, it's important to make a good impression and to show
up on time. Make sure you're there early enough to get fully prepared and changed, if
necessary, to start your shift. Be there ready to go 10-15 minutes before your shift starts.
Give yourself an extra 30-40 minutes as a buffer for things like traffic, getting lost, and
finding parking.
2. Listen and apply what you hear. You are not expected to excel right away at most jobs,
and most employers know that there will be a learning curve with new hires. So, don't
worry so much about making mistakes and messing up your first day, but focus on learning
as much as possible and listening carefully to make sure you don't miss things.
3. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lots of new employees will be too sheepish to ask
questions, and will blunder into doing things incorrectly. Identify when you really need
help. There's no shame in asking for help, especially on your first day.
4. Try to anticipate what needs to happen next. The process of every workplace is very
different. Even if you're skilled and talented, it takes some time to figure out what needs
to happen, and in what order.
5. Clean up without being asked. One thing that's consistent at every workplace is
cleanliness and safety. Straightening up doesn't usually need to be coached. Look out for
things you can organize, or ways that you can clean up to make the workplace much
easier.
6. Just be yourself. It's not what you know, how talented you are, or even what you do on
the first day that will make it a success. It's your attitude and behavior. Your employer
hired you because there was something about your combination of skills and personality
that will benefit your workplace.

You don't have to act like your coworkers act, for good or for worse. It takes time for people to
adjust to a new person in the workplace, so give your co-workers time to adjust to your
personality rather than changing your behavior to match theirs.

Answer the following questions:

- What is the text about?

- Give some ideas to overview the information given in the text.

Look up the underlined words from the text:

Find the definition and a synonym for each one of them. Write them down and use them to refer
to your workplace.

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 English Learning Guide
Competency 1
Unit 1: Customer Service
Workshop 2
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F) according to the text.

- Your skills and abilities are more important than your attitude at your workplace ( ).
- Arriving early to the office gives a good impression, especially the first days of work ( ).
- You are not allowed to ask questions at work the first day ( ).
- It is very useful to identify what should happen at work ( ).

2.4. Writing: Draw a floor plan of your model company, indicating places, facilities, services and make
an oral presentation, include also some behavior codes for the employees. Add more ideas to your
drawing.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

3. Extension activities: the extension activities will help you improve your performance in the topics.
You need to reach at least five hours of practice on your own3.

- To watch more videos and learn more vocabulary about the workplace communication, visit
the channel 925English at YouTube.
- Explore the following website to know more about behave at the workplace to expand your
knowledge and share it with your instructor and your classmates.
https://www.wikihow.com/Behave-at-Work
- Based on your instructor’s orientation, explore the following website and practice the English
structures. Do at least 2 activities from each topic studied in class and deliver them to your
instructor: http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar-guides/grammar-beginner.php

3
All the materials, websites and links used by SENA, are used for academic purposes only.

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