Peter: Sorry, I'm a bit late. Traffic was horrible.

Caroline: No problem. Well, I'll be showing you around today. Shall we get started?

Peter: Let's do it.

Caroline: As you can see, it's an open plan office.

Peter: Yes, it's rather large. How many people work here?

Caroline: We employ approximately 100 in this office. We've also got two plants outside the city with another 250 staff.

Peter: So quite a large company then.

Caroline: I guess we are medium-sized.

Peter: So what do they do down here?

Caroline: There is the sales department and this is the marketing department.

Peter: And this is reception, right?

Caroline: Yes, this is our main reception area. Oh, the phone is ringing. Mind if I answer it?

Functional Language

Describing a Company

The name of our company is...

Our company is located in...

Our headquarters is in...

We are in the computer business.

We're in computers.

We sell...

We produce...

We manufacture...

Our major products are...

Describing your department

My department deals with / is responsible for marketing / administration, etc.

We organize tests / studies / research.

We work with customers / suppliers / subsidiaries / other companies in the group.

Sabrina Fox is in charge of the department.

I am one of the managers / technicians / secretaries.

Practice

1. Choose the best option to fit in the sentence.

We are a new company that ............... (delivers / provides / possesses) high quality technical and environmental engineering services to it's clients.

We ............... (aim / reach / target) small to medium sized companies and government organizations.

Thanks to contracts with other companies, OMB Group is in a ............... (place / position / situation) to take control over the local market.

The primary ............... (objectives / destination / end) of OMB Group over the next year are to meet customers' needs and to maintain a full service large-scale company.

The World of Work

Hot Desking

Many office workers have started in an open plan office or at a hot desk. Open plan offices are popular because they provide for interaction between co-workers and a younger employee can learn from a more experienced employee. Open plan offices mean space and cost saving for the company. Sales staff are at their desk only 10-20% of their time. Although open space helps solve issues promptly, they are not popular due to noise and possible distraction.

Hot desking is a new phenomenon. It is sharing of a desk/seat/workstation by more than one member of staff. With hot desking, you can share your desk with two or more people, or sometimes chairs and tables are pooled. In some companies, the desks have numerous drawers and the users just open their drawers and take out their personal things to work.

Words That Work

Learn these words.

Lesson Vocabulary

open plan offices - otvorené kancelárie nepredeľované stenami

hot desking - spoločné užívanie kancelárskeho stola viacerými osobami

to increase - zvýšiť

valuable - vzácny

to acknowledge - priznávať

distraction - rozptýlenie

to pool - zdieľať

Study the following expressions which have something to do with hot desking and their definitions.

cubicles and caves are both terms used to refer to private places within an open plan office, formed by screening and/or partitioning, to offer (a degree of) privacy or quiet. They have the advantage of being demountable.

hotelling refers to hot desking whereby workers ring in advance to pre-book the area and support facilities they need for a work session.

motelling is similar to hotelling but does not involve pre-booking;

workers simply turn up and arrange their facilities on the spot.

guesting is rare (as yet) but refers to mutual arrangements between two (or more) organizations who will provide hot desks for each other's employees (because, for example, it makes sense on a geographic basis).

Write It Right

Sample Memo to Employees

Date: October 1

To: All Employees

From: HR Department

RE: New Employee on Board

Peter Schmid is our new employee as of today. Over the next few weeks, Peter will be circulating various departments of our company and learning about our business.

It is his first day at work so please welcome him warmly and show him around if he needs anything. Caroline from reception will be his start buddy this week but anybody is welcome in accommodating him in our company.

With this in mind, I would like to remind everyone of the possibility to show Peter round his new desk and where to get the office supplies.

If you have any questions, you can reach me at my phone.

Thank you for your assistance and attention!

Grammar Rules!

Study these rules.

Present Perfect Simple

subject + auxiliary verb + past participle

I have worked

We use Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. We use it with nonspecific expressions:

ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Present Perfect can't be used with specific time expressions:

yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I lived in Italy, at that moment, that day, one day, etc... (These are typical for Past Simple)

Have you read the book yet?

Present Perfect is used to describe your experience or that you have never had a certain experience.

I have been to New Zealand.

Present Perfect is also used to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.

The government has become more interested in education.

Present Perfect Continuous

subject + auxiliary + been + main verb + ing

I have been working

Present Perfect Continuous is used for actions that started in the past and stopped recently or are still going on. The focus is on the course or duration of the action (not on the result).

I have been working in this company for over ten years now.

I have been trying to change the toner cartridge - now my fingers are dirty.

Practice

5. Complete the sentences in Present Perfect Simple or Continuous.

1. Our company ............... (retain) 51.1% of the shares.

2. We are happy to inform you that we ............... (establish) a new branch in Mexico.

3. Tim ............... (not send) out the quotation yet.

4. I ............... (look for) something that looks fashionable and up-to-date since Monday.

5. Sam ............... (answer) emails all morning.

6. We ............... (make) the decision from the cost-cutting point of view.

7. Which company ............... (submit) the most favorable offer?

8. I ............... (try) to get through to Mr. Smith for the last 20 minutes.

Key:

1. provides, target, position, objectives

5. 1. has retained, 2. have established, 3. hasn't sent, 4. have been looking for, 5. has been answering, 6.have made, 7. has submitted, 8. have been trying.