Lesson 10

TEAM BUILDING

 Read aloud these conversations:


Nigel: I think we all agree that we need to work a lot better as a
team. I’ve got some suggestions for improving our
teamwork. Let’s start with meetings. I’d like us all meet
once every two weeks. So Martin, what do you think?
Martin: Totally against the idea, to be honest. Once a month is
fine, surely. I can’t work if I have to attend meetings all the
time.
Nigel: Thank you, Martin. John, what do you think?
John: It’s a good idea. Why not? We need to spend more time
together to sort out problems, share ideas, that sort of
thing.
Nigel: Eliana, how do you feel about this?

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 Eliana: I’ll go along with whatever you say. It really won’t affect me
much.


Karen: OK, Larissa, I think I understand now. What you are saying
is, you’re unhappy with Sophie, you don’t think she’s
pulling her weight in the department, and it’s putting
pressure on you and the rest of the team. Right?
Larissa: Yeah, we’re meant to work as a team, aren’t we? And
she’s the most experienced member. But she’s not doing
her job. She’s never around to give us advice, or help us to
deal with difficult clients. Preparing the annual report is a
big job, but we’re getting no input from her at all. Another
thing…
Karen: OK. I’ve got the picture. I understand your feelings, Larissa…
Larissa: I hope you do. I’m really fed up with her, it’s not just me,
it’s the whole team.

 New words:
pull someone’s weight : làm đúng công việc
annual (adj) : hằng năm
input (n) : dữ liệu được đưa vào
fed up (adj) : chán ngán

 Grammar point: Adverbs of Degree: the relative strength of

adverbs is shown on this scale:

 Strong: absolutely, altogether, awfully, completely, greatly,

highly, quite, totally, terribly, very

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  Moderate: fairly, mildly, moderately, partly, quite,
reasonably, somewhat
 Weak: a bit, a little, marginally, poorly, slightly

Example:
The presentation was very good.
The goods are reasonably cheap.
I was slightly surprised by what she said.

 Practice:
Make sentences with Adverbs of Degree indicated above.

 Read aloud the passage:

There are many things that contribute to effective team

building:
Firstly, it’s important to have your organization a corporate
culture that encourages teamwork. That means, the management
recognize the value of teamwork and reward it as much as they do
individual contributions to the company.

Secondly, a team can only be effective if the member

understand what is expected of them. Each person must have a
clear idea of what their objectives are, and how these relate to the
overall objectives of the company.

Finally, members of a team must feel that their contribution

to the organization is recognized and valued by the management.

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 Therefore team members receive feedback regularly on their
performance.

 New words:
corporate (adj) : tính tập thể
reward (v) : thưởng
contribution (n) : sự đóng góp
objective (n) : mục tiêu
overall (adj) : toàn diện

 Note: Business idioms:

 She’s pulling her weight in the department. (= doing exactly
what she has to do)
 He’s smart and really on the ball. (= quick to understand)
 Follow his advice and it’ll be plain sailing. (= easy to do or
achieve)
 They keep moving the goalposts. (= changing their aims or
decisions)
 Our director is on the warpath again. (= very angry)

 Group work:
Divide into 2 groups. Each group discusses about the strong points
and the weak points of teamwork.

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