Management: master the English of your profession!

Being a manager is a job role that transcends all different industries and company types. Whether you work in a multinational marketing firm or a local craft shop, you’re likely to have a manager. So what responsibilities and skills are common to all types of managers?

Here are some the responsibilities associated with being a manager:

• Tracking departmental objectives
• Planning and evaluating professional activities
• Overseeing recruiting and training efforts
• Developing professional development and growth opportunities for staff members
• Fostering an inclusive working environment for all staff
• Establishing strategic goals
• Defining objectives and courses of action
• Enforcing policies and standards

As you can see, it’s the manager’s job to define the roles and priorities of other staff members, and lead the team to a successful outcome. To succeed in this type of role, you’ll need to have certain skills and qualities, such as being:

• Enterprising
• A team player
• Goal-orientated
• Handling pressure
• Delivering feedback and criticism
• Coaching team members

The specific areas of expertise or experience to be a manager differ greatly depending on the sector the role is in and the level of seniority. However, the following things will be essential to almost any managerial role:

• Experience working as a team member in the same sphere
• Proficiency with technology
• Proven people skills and communication abilities.

You might be the managerial type, but do you have the vocabulary to match? As a manager, you’ll be expected to set the standard for good communication, including in a foreign language. A good basis of vocabulary will include everyday terms and more specific lexical choices for your workplace. Do you have enough managerial vocabulary to survive a day at the office?

Let’s look at some common English vocabulary for management. Many of the terms can be used freely outside of a managerial context, but they give a sense of the register required to speak effectively in this sphere. Here we go:

• Facilitate
• Coordinate
• Prioritize
• Schedule
• Process
• Motivate
• Collaborate
• Supervise
• Document
• Budget
• Negotiate
• Implement
• Communicate
• Recruit
• Authorize
• Warn

How many of those verbs were you already familiar with? This is just a short selection of verbs associated with management, but the list could go on and on. To learn terms like these in the context of workplace situations and dialogues, check out our vocabulary modules on the GlobalExam Business platform.

Let’s take a look at managerial expressions next.

If you’re considering a role in management, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with some typical English business expressions that crop up in everyday office conversations all the time. Here’s a short list of some common expressions that could prove useful in your management career:

• Don’t reinvent the wheel: to create a product that already exists
• To get down in the weeds of an issue = to get into the detail
• Let’s touch base = to catch up on a project
• Are we singing from the same hymn sheet? = Are we thinking the same thing?
• Let’s at least lay the foundations = to complete the beginning stages of a project
• Let’s get this show on the road = to start/kick off a project

When you start learning on GlobalExam, we recommend starting things off by going to “Boost my career” then “Management” in order to access our specialized learning materials for the management career track. Here you’ll find our online course in English for management, available for three levels: beginner; intermediate; and advanced. There is a free online level test to ensure that users take the course most suitable for them.

The intermediate course includes the following themes:

• Your role as a manager
• Building an empowered team
• Working effectively: organizing; prioritizing; delegating; and objective setting
• Performance management
• The art of communication
• Business growth and efficiency - thinking about the future

Each unit in course is made up of situations that take you through a continuous story to introduce you to different management-related scenarios. The first unit “Your role as a manager” includes the following situations:

• What is a manager?
• Some people are good at supporting others
• Flexible leadership
• Acting like a manager
• So, are you a manager or a leader?
• A talent you’re born with?
• What is leadership?

Each situation lasts approximately 20 minutes, beginning with a video comprehension, before introducing you to key vocabulary and grammar concepts, then presenting you with exercises. The exercises vary reordering the words of a sentence, to answering multiple choice questions and gap fills. The tasks are designed to make learning fun without any dull grammar lessons. Let’s look at an example management exercise:

This exercise tests your confidence with English grammar when we make a wish. How confident do you feel managing your tenses in business conversations? If the answer isn’t “very”, it’s time to start some exercises.

Not everyone is a natural manager. If a management role is on the cards in your future career, there are some simple things you can incorporate into your work performance to make sure you are the best possible manager you can be:

• Become a decision maker
• Hone your communication skills
• Delegate minor tasks
• Touch base with your colleagues on a regular basis
• Build a positive work relationship with your staff members.

You know what else will make you a better manager in English? Practice. Honing your English management skills in a safe setting before you apply them to your workplace is an excellent idea for building your confidence. Collaborating with other English learners or benefitting from one-to-one interaction through online tuition could be an excellent solution.

Find out more and learn top 10 tips to stay motivated when learning English online.

Have you tried virtual learning before? If your answer is “no”, let us tell you all about it.

At GlobalExm we’ve added virtual lessons to our e-learning platform to extend the learning experience and include real human-to-human interaction. The lessons are a continuation of our online learning method, meaning you can use the lessons to consolidate your progress made so far or take a theme to a more advanced level.

There are two available lesson formats: either a half-an-hour individual lesson; or a one-hour group lesson. If you opt for group lessons, here’s the schedule of classes to choose from:

• Making a phone call - every wednesday 6pm
• Planning a meeting - every Thursday 7pm
• Giving a presentation - every Friday 6pm
• Participating in video & conference calls - every Friday 7pm

Lessons are scheduled for Paris time.

If improving your English for a management role is your objective,you could consider dipping your toe into a virtual lesson with the “Planning a meeting” group lesson on Thursdays. As a manager, you’ll certainly need to put this skill to the test on a regular basis.

All our virtual lessons are led by a TESOL English teacher with the necessary experience in teaching Business to accompany you on your learning journey.

Do not wait any longer and start taking a professional English course online with GlobalExam!

For people who don’t have the time to study Business in a school, an online course gives added flexibility so that you can continue to work and study at the same time. If you are a manager then you’ll need language more specific to management. Ideally, the most effective type of Business learning is to focus on the language that is directly connected with your job. Someone in the retail sales sector will need to learn phrases that suits their role:

‘Sorry, I can’t go lower than $140 for that item as it has already been reduced.’

If you are learning and working at the same time, you’ll be especially motivated to learn and you’ll be able to directly practise speaking with others in English and feel more confident whilst doing it. Even if you can’t do this there are videos on the GlobalExam course that will help prepare you for the situations that may arise in your job as a manager.

GlobalExam’s Business course is online training to help participants learn the English language required for a workplace setting. Different areas of competence are covered on the course and this includes negotiating, writing a professional email, managing a project,managing interculturality, recruitment, answering the phone, travelling in business, conducting a meeting or greeting a client . You’ll also find language specific to particular career paths.

English for Management is one of 7 Business online courses dedicated to job skills, here is the list of the others you can find:

• English marketing course with GlobalExam
• English course for communication
• English course for Human resources
• Business course for sales
• English for purchasing
• English for customer service

The GlobalExam business course deals with hundreds of different situations that reflect real life workplace situations, and these include videos using native speakers. There are activities related to business vocabulary and correct word order of sentences. You’ll find lots of practical advice too including the opportunity to create a professional CV in English.

The GlobalExam Business course offers courses at 3 different levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced and there are level tests in order to choose the most effective course for each person. All participants receive a certificate of completion at the end of the business course. Don’t delay, start the Business course today to boost your career!