You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Jennifer and I'll be your host for this lesson, the third in our series on handling a crisis.
In the first part of a crisis, there may be a lot of confusion and activity.
But if you make it through that part okay, what comes next?
At a certain point after the critical phase, people will come together to re-evaluate the situation.
Teamwork is important.
People need to be working together to handle the crisis.
If they don't, if they disagree and try to go in different directions, it won't be good for the company.
Unity is absolutely essential.
It takes good leadership to establish that unity early on, but it takes good teamwork to maintain it.
In our last episode we heard Mike, the production engineer, talking with the VP of Communications in Singapore, Monica.
She was getting some information from Mike about an accident and creating a communication plan.
That was still the critical phase of the crisis.
In this episode, we'll hear a phone meeting after that critical phase.
It's time to think about what has happened and re-evaluate the situation.
We'll hear Mike and Monica, as well as Frank, the American boss Sandy, the plant manager and a lawyer named Simone.
Let's listen as they try to gain perspective on the crisis and figure out how well they've handled the situation so far.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
Alright everybody.
We need to catch up on what's been going on and talk about the next steps.
We've also got Simone on from Belgium.
She's going to help us out with the legal stuff.
Mike, could you start us off, please?
Okay.
Our two guys in the hospital are doing pretty well, and we've got someone helping the families.
I've already started an environmental impact assessment on that H2SO4 and I've sent out an update to everyone.
But sorry Simone, I need your email.
Not a problem.
Frank's already passed it on.
In fact, I'm just looking at it here and Well, I'm a bit concerned by some of the things I see here Michael,
Could you be more specific?
I thought I was clear on everything, but if there's something I... Hold on a sec.
I don't think this is the right time to be pointing fingers.
Let's talk about what's happened and what we're going to do about it.
I understand.
But the security of our contracts depends in part on how culpability for this incident is assigned.
If it is shared, or if we can minimize our own liability, we may see little impact on operations.
But if we... Sorry, Simone.
Could we leave aside the legal details for a moment?
What we really need to know is...
What's the bottom line?
Well, I'll need to review things in greater detail.
But we could be, how do you say, we could be toast.
Whoa, that seems a bit extreme.
I don't think we're done yet.
I'm with you, Sandy.
On the communication side, we've handled things pretty well.
Mike's done a great job.
We've taken good care of our people, and we haven't been dragged over the coals by the media.
With all due respect, Monica, I'm not so optimistic.
While Mike did a great job of handling the early part of the crisis, especially considering he's new from a legal perspective, we're certainly not out of the woods yet.
Now let's take a closer look at that dialogue.
All right, everybody.
We need to catch up on what's been going on and talk about the next steps.
We've also got Simone on from Belgium.
She's going to help us out with the legal stuff.
Mike, could you start us off, please?
Okay.
Our two guys in the hospital are doing pretty well, and we've got someone helping the families.
I've already started an environmental impact assessment on that H2SO4 and I've sent out an update to everyone.
But sorry Simone, I need your email.
Frank is the boss, so he starts the meeting off.
He wants to catch up on what's been happening.
In other words, he wants to make sure everyone has the latest information.
He introduces Simone, a company lawyer, and then asks Mike for the latest news.
Mike doesn't waste any time.
Perhaps he learned from the previous discussions that people want clear and direct information.
He says that someone is helping the families of the injured men and that he's started an environmental impact assessment, a technical analysis of the damage from the gas that was released.
Mike is sure to mention that he has already started this.
He also says that he has sent out an update to everyone.
As far as we know, nobody has asked Mike to do these things.
This shows that he is taking initiative or actively trying to improve the situation, without being told to.
What are some other ways that we can show initiative?
I went ahead and conducted an employee survey on this issue.
I took a couple of hours yesterday and reorganized the resource room.
I thought you might need a report template, so I made one for you.
I decided to put together a summary of our problems to take to the board.
But not everybody is impressed with Mike.
Not a problem.
Frank's already passed it on.
In fact, I'm just looking at it here and well, I'm a bit concerned by some of the things I see here Michael,
Could you be more specific?
I thought I was clear on everything, but if there's something I... Hold on a sec.
I don't think this is the right time to be pointing fingers.
Let's talk about what's happened and what we're going to do about it.
Simone says that Frank passed on or sent Mike's email update.
And she says she's a bit concerned.
It's clear that she is more than a bit concerned and there's an indication that she thinks Mike hasn't done a great job.
Mike wants Simone to be more specific.
He would like to defend himself if necessary, but he doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Monica interrupts.
She doesn't want anyone to be pointing fingers or saying who is at fault.
She'd rather talk about what happened and what to do.
Avoiding blaming people can be important in a crisis when a team has to work together.
So let's practice a few more examples.
Let's not focus on who did what at this point.
We're all in this together so let's not start pointing fingers.
I don't think we'll get anywhere if we just talk about who's at fault.
Figuring out who made the mistake won't solve the problem.
Simone has more to say about her concerns.
I understand, but the security of our contracts depends in part on how culpability for this incident is assigned.
If it is shared, or if we can minimize our own liability, we may see little impact on operations.
But if we... Sorry, Simone.
Could we leave aside the legal details for a moment?
What we really need to know is, what's the bottom line?
Simone is attempting to explain what her concerns are, but she's not being completely clear.
She's using words such as culpability, which relates to blame, and liability or responsibility.
She's worried about contracts and operations.
Is it clear what she's talking about?
Not to everyone.
Sandy in particular wants Simone to stop using legal language.
He wants Simone to be frank or honest and direct.
That's why he says, what we really need to know is, what's the bottom line?
The bottom line is the most important or central point or issue.
We've already seen that in a crisis situation, people want direct and honest information.
So how else can we ask for that?
I need you to be honest and direct with me.
I just want to know exactly how you feel about all of this.
Let's stop talking around the issue and get to the point.
Forget all the background information.
Just give it to me straight.
How does Simone respond?
Well, I'll need to review things in greater detail.
But we could be, how do you say, we could be toast.
In Simone's opinion, the bottom line is that the company could be toast.
That's very bad.
That could mean they are completely finished.
But not everyone agrees.
Whoa, that seems a bit extreme.
I don't think we're done yet.
I'm with you, Sandy.
On the communication side, we've handled things pretty well.
Mike's done a great job.
We've taken good care of our people and we haven't been dragged over the coals by the media.
Sandy thinks Simone is being unreasonable and Monica uses the expression I'm with you to show that she agrees with Sandy.
She supports Mike's work and says they've taken good care of their people and haven't been dragged over the coals or strongly criticised in the media.
Earlier, Monica tried to avoid blaming people.
Now she's trying to give support to Sandy's opinion and maintain a positive outlook.
There are lots of other ways that we can lend support to another person's opinion, so let's run through a few more.
He's got a very good point there, and I know other people who believe the same thing.
I can back him up on that.
I've seen the exact same thing myself.
It's true.
Just yesterday, the local paper reported on the same issue.
That's right.
We are moving too slowly.
Monica hasn't convinced Simone yet, as we can hear.
With all due respect, Monica, I'm not so optimistic.
While Mike did a great job of handling the early part of the crisis, especially considering he's new from a legal perspective, we're certainly not out of the woods yet.
Simone is careful not to upset Monica too much.
We use, with all due respect, when we want to politely disagree with someone, especially someone in a higher position.
But Simone continues criticising Mike, just not directly.
She says he handled the early part of the crisis well, with emphasis on early.
That suggests that he didn't do a good job in the other parts of the crisis and she says his work is good, considering he's new.
That suggests a more experienced person would have done things differently.
This is called veiled criticism.
It doesn't immediately sound negative, but it is indirectly critical.
Veiled criticism is difficult to do well, so let's practice some more examples.
I think that you perform very well in most situations.
We think you would do better in a supporting role.
We're glad that Mike has managed not to make things any worse.
Throughout this crisis, Gail has done the best she could.
We've heard both positive and negative opinions about the handling of the crisis.
This is all part of the important process of gaining an informed perspective on the situation so that you can start planning the next steps.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned for lending support to another's opinion.
First you'll hear a statement.
Then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to lend support to the original statement.
For example, if you hear... I think we should appoint someone to handle the media.
You've got good point.
You can say... We'll play an example answer after each practice.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
I back up that.
Example answer.
I can back him up on that.
I've seen some really basic errors on the production line.
Example Answer Yes, I've seen the exact same thing myself.
True.
Don't have people.
Example Answer That's true.
We don't have enough people.
We are spending far too much on printing.
Example Answer That's right.
We are spending too much.
Now let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear...
You can say, The details are not important.
I need to know the bottom line.
We'll play the correct answer after each question.
Let's begin.
With all due... I don't think your plan will work.
Answer.
With all due respect...
I don't think your plan will work.
Sales have been good, so I feel about the coming year.
Answer.
Sales have been good, so I feel optimistic about the coming year.
The newspaper dragged us over the... for our mistakes.
Answer.
The newspaper dragged us over the coals for our mistakes.
Employees are pointing... at management for the accident.
Answer.
Employees are pointing fingers at management for the accident.
We've also seen how to lend support to another person's opinion and to give veiled criticism.
Be sure to tune in for the next episode on moving forward in a crisis.
We'll hear the team try to resolve their disagreement and come together as a group.
For more practice, premium members can access the online quizzes and study notes for this and other episodes in the new Learning Centre.
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Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
