WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION Activities for Telephone Conversation, Company Presentation and Meeting

TELEPHONE SKILLS Work with a partner. Take turns to role play two situations using this flow chart. In one situation you will be a customer, and in the second situation a call handler.

CONVERSATION 1 Call handler: answer the phone Call handler: ask for the account number and details of the order Call handler: give the order reference and say goodbye Customer: identify yourself and say you want to place an order Customer: give your details

CONVERSATION 2 Call handler: answer the phone Call handler: ask for the account number and details of the order Call handler: explain the problem Customer: say you are checking on/ unhappy with an order. Customer: give your details Call handler: propose a solution. Customer: ask for a solution/ new delivery time. Customer: agree and say goodbye

COMPANY PRESENTATION Think of a service you know well. It could be your company’s product or service, or one you have recently bought or used. Present this product or service to the class, as if you are trying to promote it to them. Explain what makes it so good.

MEETING Work with a partner. You both work for a large manufacturing company. The commuting situation at your company needs to improve. Read this information: i. Your company employs 30% more people than it did two years ago. As a result there are too few parking spaces and it is unable to get more space for employees’ cars. ii. Traffic in the area is getting worse and employees travelling by car are often stuck in traffic jams and arrive at work late, feeling very stressed. Hold a meeting with your partner take turns to report some recent relevant data. Make notes as you listen.

MEETING The company is currently experiencing some problems. Hits to the website are up by 30% but the number of orders is down by 20%. The company profits have fallen by 10%. There is an increasing number of complaints which fall into these three categories: i. Problem using the website for online ordering ii. Poor quality/ condition of goods received iii. Problems with supply and delivery times.

Task: Work in groups of three. You are holding a meeting to discuss the problems at One World Bazaar. Decide what the company needs to do in order to improve its service to its customers and suggest possible solutions.

MEETING You work in a team for company image. What changes can you make so Morrisons is more competitive? Make a list of five ideas. Think about i. Staff training ii. Staff experience iii. Company image iv. What image is good for a supermarket

Task: Now hold a meeting and present your ideas to the other pair. Decide on five ideas you want to keep. See how do your ideas compare.

MEETING You work for a company with a similar structure to SEI. There are several new projects that need teams to work on them. Each project needs a team leader and some team members. i. Next year’s budgets ii. A new brochure to advertise your services o companies iii. A research project to look into possible new markets. iv. The annual staff party

Task: Work in groups of four. Talk about each project and the people they need. i. What roles does each project need? Someone imaginative? Someone with marketing experience? A practical person? ii. Which roles can you do? Why? iii. Which project you will like to work on?