UNIT ONE
TOP TIPS FOR GETTING ON IN
THE WORKPLACE (P.6, 7)
THE PETER PRINCIPLE (P. 9)
Summary writing
1 Personal development, BA p 6
HW: search the web for texts about “success at
work” and compile a list of advice provided
Pick & present 1 piece of advice from your list
Discuss the advice presented
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
Business Advanced (BA), pp 6, 7
Before reading:
Match expressions to meaning
top tip
an attitude towards a particular matter
stance
best piece of advice
out to get you
to make progress
to get on
wanting to see you fail
to steer clear of sth.
to avoid
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
Business Advanced (BA), pp 6, 7
Before reading:
Match expressions to meaning
top tip
best piece of advice
stance
an attitude towards a particular matter
out to get you
wanting to see you fail
to get on
to make progress
to steer clear of sth.
to avoid
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
Business Advanced (BA), p 6, 7
2 Intro to reading:
Life at work is a potential minefield: if your boss
isn’t out to get you at any opportunity, it will be
your colleagues. But don’t worry, as there are
many things you can do to make your life at work a
little easier (and even to get yourself ahead). Aside
from such illegal strategies as blackmail and
kidnap, a number of less drastic and more legal
ones exist. So, next time you are having a hard
time at work, try using a few of the tips opposite.
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
BA, p 6, 7
2 : (life at work = battle)
humorous stance, comic exaggeration
Life at work is a potential minefield: if your boss
isn’t out to get you at any opportunity, it will be
your colleagues. But don’t worry, as there are
many things you can do to make your life at work a
little easier (and even to get yourself ahead). Aside
from such illegal strategies as blackmail and
kidnap, a number of less drastic and more legal
ones exist. So, next time you are having a hard
time at work, try using a few of the tips opposite.
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
BA, p 6, 7
2 : (life at work = battle)
humorous stance, comic exaggeration
Life at work is a potential minefield: if your boss
isn’t out to get you at any opportunity, it will be
your colleagues. But don’t worry, as there are
many things you can do to make your life at work a
little easier (and even to get yourself ahead). Aside
from such illegal strategies as blackmail and
kidnap, a number of less drastic and more legal
ones exist. So, next time you are having a hard
time at work, try using a few of the tips opposite.
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
BA, pp 6 & 7
3 Scan reading
(read quickly and match headings with pgs.)
a4
b1
c8
d9
e3
f 7
g2
h6
i5
Top tips for
getting on in the workplace
BA, pp 6 & 7
4 Reading and discussion
PAIRWORK
- Read the paragraph assigned to you
- Summarize the point made by the author
- Present the point to the class, encourage
colleagues to comment
HW: Read the whole text carefully and look up
words/phrases you do not know
→
HW: REPHRASE THE PHRASES IN BOLD.
If necessary, rewrite the sentences:
1. Here are some tips for getting on in the
workplace.
2. Employees want to get credit for doing things.
3. Get as far away from the project before the work
kicks in.
4. Some people spend half their working lives
slaving away in their offices.
5. If you don't do anything, you can't make any
spectacular foul-ups.
6. Dress-down Fridays have impaired the smooth
running of capitalism.
→
7. I’m having an appraisal tomorrow.
8. When you have had a bad year, the best
approach is a balance between cringing apology
and groveling sycophancy.
9. Who is to blame for these cock-ups?
10.The author’s stance in this text is semi-ironic.
11.CEOs get jammy share options even though
they don’t do much.
12.People who sit all day like a lemon can’t make
any major cock-ups.
13.A tightly–run meeting is a frightening thing in the
office. Luckily, these meeting are rare as a sense
of gay abandon in the finance department.
The Peter Principle
In a h___________ every employee tends to
r_____ to his or her level of i_____________ .
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his
or her level of incompetence .
The Peter Principle (1968) by Dr. J. Peter & R. Hull
Comment, please.
BA, p 9
5 Fill in the spaces in the text.
The Peter Principle
1 worked
2 was published
3 are
4 be considered
5 are clearly being made 6 are based
7 is
9 is based
8 is not actually doing
10 not only gain
11 remains
12 may be summarized
13 are required to carry them out
14 may then be placed
15 are best suited
The Peter Principle
• Find the words that mean the same as:
reality
- _________ (pg 1, ln 6)
imperfect
- _______ (pg 2, ln 5)
natural ability - _______ (pg 3, ln 6)
pg = paragraph
ln = line
The Peter Principle
• Find the words that mean the same as:
reality
- actuality (pg 1, ln 6)
imperfect
- flawed (pg 2, ln 5)
natural ability - aptitude (pg 3, ln 6)
The Dilbert Principle
Voc: to prevail in decisions
to be impervious to logic
to persuade others
to be resistent to l. / not affected by l.
The Dilbert Principle
Companies tend to systematically ___________ their least-_________
employees to management (generally middle management), in order to
________ the amount of damage they are capable of doing.
The Dilbert Principle
Companies tend to systematically promote their
least-competent / most incompetent employees
to management (generally middle management),
in order to limit the amount of damage they are
capable of doing.
The Dilbert Principle (1990) by Scott Adams (cartoonist)
A New York Times bestseller
Fun thing to do: Read about it on the internet!
Time to take a break!
NEXT:
Presentation about work life / work ethic by:
Ružica, Mihajlo, Grgo and Filip
Or not?
SUMMARY WRITING
• To pass on information quickly to someone who
does not know the text.
• To show that you understand what you read.
• To show you are able to express in your own
words what you read.
Read, extract the main points, report.
Qualities of a Good Summary
• complete and self-contained
• writer's own way of expression
(not a patch-work made up of
phrases quoted form the original)
• precise and brief (no unimportant details,
digression or irrelevant material)
• a continuous piece of prose
• clear and simple English
SUMMARY USEFUL PHRASES
Thesis statement (one-sentence summary)
• The text deals with/discusses....
Text in brief (title, author, source)
• The article “ xx” was published /written by…
Attributive language
• The author claims / argues / contends that ....
• According to the writer ,...............
• He points to several reasons for......
• He illustrates this with.....
• He cites findings from ......
• He refers to (events, statistics, other people etc) ............
• To support this, the author…
• He concludes that ..............
AMERICA RE-ELECTS PRESIDENT
BARACK OBAMA (handout)
Write the thesis statement
EXTRACT THE MAIN POINTS
• close contest
• long and expensive campaign
• not quite clear why he won
STRUCTURE AND ADD ATTRIBUTIVE
LANGUAGE
SUMMARY
The article “America re-elects President Barack Obama”
published on www.BreakingNewsEnglish.com discusses the
recent victory of Barack Obama in the last US presidential
election.
The author claims that this was one of the closest contests in
the U.S.history. To support this, he mentions pre-election polls
and TV reports which said that either candidate stood an equal
chance of winning.
According to the author, Americans felt relief after the election
as this was one of the most exhausting and expensive
campaigns ever.
Finally, the author cites Thomas L. Friedman to show that it is
not quite clear what tipped the voting balance Obama’s way.
HW: Write a summary of The Peter Principle