B1 – Intermediate
Business is all about good communication. While communicating with customers is important, internal communication must be given attention, too.
Communicating effectively with your colleagues minimizes misunderstandings and increases work efficiency. Active communication also produces healthy working relationships. This, in turn, creates a more pleasant and less stressful work environment.
Watch the video about a conversation with a colleague.
Discussion Questions:
- Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
- What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
- Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
- What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
14 replies on “Conversation with Colleagues”
1. Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
It is easy to talk to my colleagues, we are a united team that faces the same problems in our day to day, so we can support each other, help us in everyday situations.
2. What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
We don’t usually talk directly, we have a chat through which we are continuously in communication and through which we can launch questions about daily situations so that anyone can answer us.
3. Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
There are times when virtual relationships can lead to misunderstandings. There are times when reading an email you can understand in another way. the best way to solve it is to pick up the phone and clarify the disagreement and be able to reach a common point.
4. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
The best way to avoid misunderstandings at work is to use correct language and not be too aggressive in the statements you make.
Great job answering your lesson’s discussion questions.
Take a look at some alternative expressions you can use in the following sentences to make them a little better:
Continue doing this exercise so you may further improve your writing skills.
1. Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
It is easy to communicate with my colleagues, when you are in a same job position, you share a lot, so there are no difficulties in communication, you can disagree in some points of view, but it is also constructive to share those different opinions.
2. What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
We talk about our daily tales, funny ones and of course, the ones that are not so funny… but we also talk about us, about our problems, our lives, our kids (the ones that we have) or even planning some days out together.
3. Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
At specific times this happens, of course. But as I was telling before, as we are colleagues and work in a similar way, the miscommunication is always rapidly solved and sometimes other colleagues can collaborate to intermediate in the issue. I think we have bigger miscommunication with our boss, sometimes he doesn’t understand what we are asking for or what do we need, but it is amazing being a group and supporting each other to move things.
4. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
Explain yourself with transparency, being as you are, not acting or trying to be someone that will scape your control. Asking what is not clear for you, and not being scared of that, it is not a silly way of acting, the other way around, it is better to ask everything than not doing it.
Well down penning your answers to your lesson’s discussion questions!
See how you can improve this response by adding an ‘introduction’ first before your main thoughts/answers:
Hope these suggestions help!
1. Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
I work from Homebased and is sometimes can be difficult maintain a fluid with them, because the work rhythm is too much, and each manage your scheduls. But, all friday we have job meets.
With some colleage I talk more about other thems.
2. What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
Sometimes, We talk about things that aren’t not relateds with job. For example, what did they do this weekend? Or what will they do this weekend? Or maybe we could talk about an travel, or one a visit to the museum, or a movie; trivials conversations.
3. Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
Until today, I have no problems with them. In our teams we are 6 people, it’s a small group, so I think be few is beneficial for effective communication. Because it is a near relationship.
4. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
Although my work is home-based, and communication between us is sometimes can be difficult because in the schedule that done the work isn’t the same. I have never had problems with others for this, never. And I hope haven’t!
Please keep practicing to improve more and more.
1.Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
I think so because we usually talk about things related to our job and the vocabulary is pretty much the same , . In any case is easier to understand not native english colleagues .
2.What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
I have a meeting once per week but sometimes we need to talk if
there is an urgent issue
3.Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
I count on my boss to clarify the siituation
4.What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
I think the key is study more and make simple sentences
Very good job constantly practicing your writing skills.
See how you can improve this sentence:
Keep at it.
1. Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
Currently, not too much, because I am a home-based worker, and before contacting your colleagues you have to see if they are available in Teams, and it’s not very frequent. Everybody is very busy!
2. What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
We usually talk about work, of course, but sometimes we keep a time to talk about our personal matters, the weather, things that we made or are going to do soon out of work…
3. Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
We were invited to a meeting but the organizer could not connect because he was driving by car, but precisely he was passing through a long tunnel. We were about to disconnect when finally at last minute he could join and explain the situation.
4. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?
Offering our availability, asking to repeat the message if we could not catch it well…
Great job answering this lesson’s discussion questions.
Here is a sentence you can revise:
Keep writing!
1. Depends on which colleagues. Some of them are easier and others there is a big delay on the answers and is not as fluid as others, maybe because of the workload, the interest, etc.
2. Depends on the rol and projects. With some daily, or weekly.
3. When there is a miscommunication, I re-checked the conversation or notes in order to find where was the missing point, if I did not pay attention, or I missed something, or if I told them in a clear way or it should be express in a better way, and then, by phone I find easier to discuss where we were lost, and try to summarize what happened and try to achieve a conclusion to amend it.
4. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work? Ask always if something is not clear. summarize at the end of a conversation in order to be sure the main message is there. Or even ask their thoughts about if the conclusion is possible to be achieved.
Good job in your writing. Keep up the good work.
This is a very good answer but take a look at how you can improve it overall.
Always enjoy your writing practice.
1. Yes, it is easy to communicate with my colleagues. We are working in the same projects and the communication is easy (different ways: teams, mails, phone…). It is important to listen and pay attention to what they are saying and in case of any doubt we are in contact.
2. I talk about with my colleagues very often. All days we talk about our job/projects but we also talk about our life, talk about our weekend.
3. At this moment I don’t remember a situation when I had a miscommunication with a colleague. If there is a miscommunication we solved the problem successfully.
4. Some examples that are useful in order to avoid miscommunication at work are: write better mails, listen, pay attention, think before speak, using clear communication, ask questions if I did not understand, etc.
Great job practicing your writing skills!
Here is a sentence you can improve slightly:
Keep up the good work in this exercise.