This is the Business English Podcast, episode 123.
How to delegate tasks with respect in English.
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How's it going, Michelle? How are you? Lindsay, I'm good.
How are you? Good. I'm excited to be here today.
What are we getting into on Business English?
Okay, well, on episode 115 was just recently, it was teamwork, English skills for business success.
So here we were talking about splitting up work, right?
When you have a project, who does what and how you can make suggestions about that.
And then we use this expression, how does that sound? um and we we realized that we should do a follow-up episode because this is an important skill right so when you are at work and you have this kind of situation um and you want to see if your suggestion is okay with someone right 100 right we always need ways in english in the business world to kind of check in and see how things we're saying are landing right we don't operate in isolation in a vacuum Right.
Exactly. Yeah. To see how things are landing.
I like how you put that, Lindsay. So that's what we're talking about today.
Yeah. And by the way, you know, the way we know how our show is landing, Michelle, by the way, is through the reviews we get.
And we love them. They're like little Christmas gifts. yes they are whenever you send them i'm like oh it's it's very touching and it's very cool to see so thank you for those who are reviewing us yeah it's amazing i just sent a batch of four brand new reviews to our whole team yesterday and i was so happy to be able to send those to you guys so i want to call out a couple of our reviewers on the Business English podcast.
So thank you to Ximena PLZ from Mexico, Cristobal 25 from the Dominican Republic, Daniel Afkari from Spain, and Pedram Farouk Payam from Iran.
These are amazing reviews, Michelle, a lot of five stars.
We just want to say thank you for listening.
And guys, if you haven't reviewed Business English, make sure you go and do that wherever you listen to the show.
Please do. Yes. Thank you so much. So let's get into it.
So this could be this kind of situation where you want to check if your suggestion, how it's landing.
This could be with a boss or a colleague or whoever it is.
So this would be good for things like splitting up projects or maybe just making some big decisions.
Oh, yeah. But it's basically this idea of how can you know if something is OK?
So maybe it's a division of workload or what it is.
But today we're going to be talking about more colleague to colleague for the purpose of this episode.
Well, that's important to know, Michelle, right?
Because it could be maybe a little different if you're talking about manager to employee.
Right. What are the levels? you know a lot of organizations in the us are pretty uh flat or more flat but around the world that's not necessarily true and not in all organizations in the us either so we always want to know but today we're talking about kind of horizontal communication That's right.
Yes. Yes, exactly. So and if you hear a baby crying in the background, I'm so sorry.
It's your coworker over there. Yes, that's my coworker.
I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sorry.
Okay, anyway, um, so hopefully it's not too bad.
But okay, so in that episode, we use so how does that sound?
So that's, yeah, that's a good one. Um, do you use that Lindsay?
Yeah, I do. I like that. I think that is really good as a way of checking in.
But there are also other other things to do, other things we can say.
Right. So but how does that sound? You could say, oh, so we'll meet at four.
How does that sound? Yeah. Right. So that's just a good way of checking in.
Yeah. And I use this. Yeah. Yeah. And just as a life English note, I use this in my life when I when I text people, I say, hey, let's meet at this brewery at four on Saturday.
Sound good. That's what I say on a casual note outside of the workplace.
So that's like the casual version. Yeah.
Yeah. Yes, exactly. Exactly. What's another thing you could say?
OK, so does this X work for you? So does this schedule or does this assignment or does this task work for you?
Or does this does that seem fair to you?
Or does that sound good to you? Right. So does this blank for you?
Right. So does this sound good to you? Does this work for you?
All of those would be good. So, for example, so I'll work on the paper and you do the photos.
Does that seem fair to you? Yeah, I like that we're using the word fair because the fact is a lot of people have fairness as a core value and they're thinking about fairness.
So they're thinking, is this fair? So if you go and name that, especially if you're the one saying, I'm going to do this, you should do this.
You go and name the word fair. I think it just helps them feel heard.
Yes, right. I think so. I think that's important.
Yeah, thinking about if it's actually fair, like you don't want to, oh, I'll do the thing that will take an hour and you do the thing that takes two weeks, right?
So yeah, this brings up grad school memories.
Again, I think I meant I asked you this before on the show, Michelle, in grad school, did you do a lot of group work?
Um, I did. I think I mostly had positive experience.
I know you've talked about your experience before.
They were good. Like there were very much bonding experiences because you spent a lot of time with your group, but in grad school, everyone is so busy.
Everyone, pretty much everyone has like a full-time job when you're in grad school.
Right. So they're doing that on top of that.
Maybe they have kids, they're married. So it's not like undergrad where everyone's just hanging out in the quad and playing Frisbee.
So it's tough. It's tough. Yeah. Yeah. True.
So another thing you could say is, is there anything you think should or could be changed?
So, for example, I think this division works well.
Is there anything you think should be changed?
Yeah. And this might come after maybe someone's offered some indication that they're pushing back.
Like maybe they dropped eye contact with you when you asked, is it fair?
It feels like a kind of almost a second step, right?
Once you've gotten a tip off that something's not quite right, in my mind.
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Right. Exactly. So what's the next one? Are you OK with X?
Right. So, for example, are you OK with doing the charts?
Right. What's the sample sentence, Michelle, for our listeners?
You could say, are you OK with reviewing the notes while I start the final draft?
So this is more at the beginning. Right.
A lot of these ones we've been using are more at the end.
Does that you present the idea and then you ask if it's OK?
This one is just from the start. Are you OK with and then you say what the task is?
Yes, 100%. So there are different places in which we can put these phrases, but they need to be somewhere in the conversation, right?
Right, right, exactly. So Lindsay, which works best for you or what's your favorite?
Well, I'm kind of a casual person. And so I really like, you know, how does that sound?
Because it feels human. It doesn't feel like condescending.
It feels like a check in, but not too much of a formal check in the phrase.
Is there anything you think could should be changed?
Feels a little formal. And I would use that again.
Like I said, once I have a tip off that something's wrong. when I need to get more formal.
But in the beginning, I kind of like an informal check-in as much as I can.
Yeah. What about you, Michelle? I agree.
I think that's good. I think also I like, are you okay with? um yeah that sounds pretty natural for me but i think this all brings about connection because it shows we care about what the other person thinks uh we have to be flexible in the workplace especially you know this is we're talking about colleague to colleague you know if you are certainly on the same level with someone at work um don't act like the boss uh right yeah right 100 yeah totally right you can't go around just assigning tasks assuming again you're on that same level with someone or you're working with a horizontal team this has to be part of your work it's relationship building as you're doing the work right right right right exactly so lindsay when you do teamwork are there any tasks that you would like to avoid or steer clear off Yeah, I mean, it's always good for us to work in our zones of genius, right?
I can make suggestions and I can say, you know, I'm not the best at spreadsheets.
I can't write pivot tables, right? These are not my zones of genius.
I'd prefer to do something for sure. What about you, Michelle?
Are there anything? Yeah. Is there anything you like to avoid?
Well, I wrote spreadsheets as well. Oh, I know what I like to avoid.
Oh, my gosh, this goes more for for being in school.
Oh, do I hate a citation? I hate doing the citation bibliography.
That's the one that is and like, it's so like, now they have things online where you just plug it in.
But for me, I don't know what it is. But that's always like the thing where I'm just like, Oh, maybe, you know that.
I mean, I haven't had to do that in a very long time.
But yes, that is my least That's my least favorite thing.
I hate a citation. I understand why we need it, but I hate it.
I hate doing it. So I always get nervous about it.
Like, you know, oh, yeah, the format and doing it right.
And right at that. Yeah. Yeah, I feel you on that, Michelle.
I feel there was always the APA, American Psychological Association, the MLA, which is used for more English stuff.
Oh my gosh. And all the formatting, getting it right.
It was different between the two systems.
Oh, I'm glad those days are over. Yes. Yes, exactly.
All right. Well, yes, that is not my strength.
But yeah, guys, this is all about delegation.
And between teammates, it can be tough. So, you know, listen to that other episode.
That was episode 115. We were talking about.
So listen into that. But Lindsay, should we do a role play?
I would love to do a role play. Let's do it, Michelle.
So here I'm giving you some advice about work assignments.
So are we again horizontal in our positions, Michelle?
We're just teammates here. Is that correct?
OK, good to know. So I think if you get started this Thursday, sorry, if you get this started on Tuesday, you can finish by Wednesday.
Uh, yeah, that should be okay. Okay, so make sure to read the citations and add those in.
Actually, can you do the citations and I'll review the grammar?
How does that sound to you? That's fine.
Oh, Michelle, you didn't mean that. That was not fine.
That's really funny, because I actually I planned this episode a while ago, and I forgot that I put that part in about the citation.
And then I just read it. That's funny. That's funny.
So yeah, maybe you would have pushed back there.
And maybe in another episode, we cover that topic.
Yeah. Yeah, that's true. I could do that.
But at the same time, it's like, no, I don't know that anybody's like, I love the citation.
So sometimes you just have to do it. At the same time, you know, it's important to just be a team player.
And yeah. Yeah, we could have a discussion on that in a different episode, right?
When might you try to push back and say, I think I'd be add more value here and how could you position that versus when do you just have to suck it up and do the work?
Just take the task, right? right right take the task so but basically yeah here um i don't know you sounded a little bossy to me lindsay was i bossy i guess i was i really came right in and told you what to do yeah you did but but i will give you credit then you said can you do the citation and i'll do the grammar how does that sound to you so at least at least do you use that at the end Yes.
Yes. I threw that on there. Interesting.
Okay. So what is the takeaway for today's episode?
This is a really useful business everyday skill.
Yeah, well, you know, we want to collaborate at work and we want to be flexible.
We want to show that we're flexible and that we want to hear feedback from our teammates.
And that's what this comes down to is realizing that people have their strengths and things that they like to do.
And we might not always do the tasks we love at work.
But it's always good to check in with people when you're making these suggestions.
Yeah, don't be brazen, right? Go into a room and say, you do this, you do that, you do that, unless you have that position of authority.
And even then, that's another episode for another day, assigning tasks as a manager or an executive, right?
No one's going to go and just assign tasks in that brazen way.
So it's constantly relationship building, Michelle.
That's what business is. That's the takeaway today.
Yeah. I love that. Love it. Love it. So good.
All right. Okay, Michelle, any special thanks again to our amazing listeners who reviewed Business English.
Guys, if you loved this episode today, go right now, write us a review.
Tell us what you think of the show. Ask your question right inside your review because we read every single review, don't we, Michelle?
Again, little Christmas gifts. Of course we do.
Yes. Thank you so much, guys, for those reviews and keep them coming.
All right. Good stuff. I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good one. All right. Thanks. Bye.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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