Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.1 Managing time
VIDEO A
7.1.1 Watch the video again and decide if these sentences are true (T) or false
(F). Correct the incorrect sentences.
1 Henry Ford began the industrial assembly line less than a century ago.
2 Managing time at distribution warehouses is influenced by Henry Ford’s ideas.
3 Companies usually do not lose money if teams are late in meeting their goals.
4 Some managers let their teams inform others on the progress they have made.
5 One way to organise work is with a digital calendar which uses different colours for
different types of tasks.
6 Working with teams around the world does not usually require any special scheduling.
7 Managers running global projects may feel that the day is too short.
8 Freelancers don’t have to worry about managing their time.
Vocabulary B
Complete the sentences with the expressions in the box.
ahead of time
on time
at a time
out of time
at the same time
overtime
spend time
by the time
in time
make time for
waste time
1 I am afraid I can’t finish this job today, I have run
.
2 We have cut back on meetings so that we don’t
same things over and over again.
discussing the
3 He is very good at multi-tasking and can do a number of things
.
4 Our project is not due till next month but we have finished it
.
5 It is good time management when meetings start and end
.
6 We have so much work to do and there aren’t enough of us to get it done so we all have to
work
at the moment.
7 I will have finished the report
Hong Kong so we can discuss it then.
you get back from your trip to
8 I like working at home because I am more flexible and can
private things I need to do.
9 We think it is necessary to
before we start to work.
some
setting priorities and schedules
10 Many of us find it easier to do one thing
.
11 I was late but got to the office
because they hadn’t started yet.
C
to take part in the meeting
Complete the sentences. The first letter and number of missing letters is indicated.
1 In order to improve efficiency in factories, managers m
workers take to complete the steps needed to produce products.
2 There are days when I get nothing done and feel that all I do is w
3 I work so much that b
take two days off.
the
that
.
the weekend comes, I am more than ready to
4 Managers often use d
to give them an overview
of what their team is doing as well as help them to organise their own work.
5 I don’t know how you manage to do so many things a
6 Managers who run g
the country they are calling.
!
need to be aware of the time in
Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.2 Smart work
Reading A
Complete the table with the correct word forms.
Verb
Noun (person)
Noun
Adjective
administrate
1
2
3
4
announcer
5
efficiency
manage
7
8
9
producer
10
6
managerial
,
12
11
B
13
reduction
14
15
16
resistant
Complete the sentences with the correct form of words from Exercise A.
1 Due to the amount of work employees have, Recruit Staffing looked into ways to help
staff be both productive and
during the working day.
2 Employees at Recruit Staffing use coloured signs to
for the day.
when they plan to leave
3 Because they are out of the office most of the day, the sales team need time in the
evening to deal with paperwork and
.
4 When plans for setting a time to finish work were first introduced, many people
the idea because they didn’t think it would work.
5 The executives of the company would like to see a(n)
that many staff members have to do.
6 When people learn how to work efficiently, they can often
shorter time as they did working many more hours.
in the amount of work
as much in a
7 The department
at Recruit Staffing held sessions for employees to inform
them how to better use their time and these efforts helped to shorten the workday.
Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.2 Smart work
Grammar C
Match the sentence halves.
1 We seldom need to
a have to take long business trips.
2 You can usually reach him in the office
b but most of the people I work with are in Europe.
3 I am glad that I hardly ever
c on a daily basis.
4 Most of us work overtime
5 We have recently begun
d spend time out of the office as most of our work
is on the computer.
6 Occasionally I have to visit clients in
Japan,
e but they now see how productivity has increased
so are very happy with them.
7 I need to finish this report by
f to look at how we can work more efficiently.
8 Senior management were not in favour
of the changes at first,
g but now and then he goes to visit customers.
D
h 6 p.m. at the latest.
Complete the article using the words in the box.
always
at first every day
now and then
recently
usually
Creative time management
The topic of time management is not 1
considered to be creative. Although
the original time management ideas came from assembly lines and involved fixed time
started to look for other ways
frames to get work done, companies have 2
and
to manage time. Of course, we all have routine tasks to work on 3
these less interesting jobs can get in the way of our creative work. The important factor
here is setting our priorities so that we can decide what we need to do in the available
time. This might mean working at unusual times but there is no rule that says it is
4
necessary to take care of things by a certain time every day. 5
it might be necessary to put off a routine task and do something else for a time in order
to have a fresh start. The idea of creative time management may seem strange to some
, but once they have tried it out, it becomes part of their normal
people 6
work-life balance.
Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.3 Communication skills: Dealing with urgency
Functional A
language 1
Match the sentence halves.
I’ve seen your message and
a returning your call sooner.
2 I’m sorry for not
b to write up the report.
3 Can I get back to you
c by COB on Friday.
4 He needs a response
d will respond by tomorrow morning.
5 Please prioritise this. It can’t
e by tomorrow afternoon?
6 When do you think you’ll be able to
f give me a definite answer?
7 I can’t deal with it now. I’m
g be delayed any further.
8 Let me know when you’ll get a chance
h overloaded at the moment.
Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.4 Business skills: Difficult negotiations
Functional A
language
Complete the sentences using the words in the box.
agree
explain
1 I can
have
know
mean
opinion
take
by difficult?
3 Why don’t we try to
at this from another perspective?
4 We both
that’s not true.
it would be useful if we started again?
6 We need to
some steps to fix this quickly.
7 So, in your
, we need to change something, right?
8 Could you
what this means for you?
9 We don’t
a choice. We need to do it this way.
10 I think we can both
B
think
how you feel.
2 What do you
5 Do you
look
that this situation needs a solution.
Match the sentences in Exercise A with the categories a–e.
a Check your understanding
b Refer to common understanding
c Acknowledge the other person’s perspective
d Make suggestions
e State necessary action
understand
Business Partner B2
UNIT 7
Extra activities
Time management
Lesson 7.5 Writing: An email giving reasons
Functional A
language
Choose the correct option in italics.
Hi Miguel
I’m really sorry to tell you that, due to unforeseen 1happenings / situations /
circumstances, we’ve 2hit / struck / made a really big problem with the new
automated logistics system for the warehouse. Consequently I don’t think
we’ll be able to 3reach / hit / meet the deadline set for the opening date.
The main 4reason / issue / fault for this is that the supplier delivered the
equipment a week late. In addition, when the system was installed there were
5
major / main / key bugs in the software, which meant that it wouldn’t run
correctly. Their IT engineers were unable to fix them 6due / because / owing
of a lack of information from the developers of the system.
The supplier has promised to resolve the situation by the end of the week.
However, I 7forward / propose / submit that we reconsider our choice of
supplier and system and look for an alternative, just in case our supplier
cannot 8settle / adopt / solve the problems. This delay is going to have a huge
knock-on effect on the rest of the project, so we will need to 9re-assess /
appraise / judge our schedule. I apologise for the 10disturbance / inconvenience /
distraction caused and promise to sort it out as soon as possible. I’ll keep you
updated at all times.