Listening1

H=Henry Wallace   S=Sarah Longman

H Hello, Hennry Wallace speaking.

S Hello, Hennry, it's Sarah Longman from Accounts.

H Oh hello Sarah. What can I do for you?

S I'm calling all of the heads of department about expenses. I just wanted to remind you that if someone claims any expenses, they must enclose receipts with the claim.

H OK. I'll send a memo to remind my salespeople.

S Thanks, Henry. Bye.

 

Listening2

K=Karen   J=John

K Hello. Karen Mitchell.

J Hello Karen, it's John.

K Oh hi John. How are you?

J I'm fine thanks. Look, i got your note yesterday about the meeting. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you.

K That's OK. But I'm flying out to Paris next week and we need to meet before I leave. Is Thursday all right for you?

J Not really, no. How about Tuesday?

K Fine, I've got to be in the office on Tuesday morning anyway. How about lunchtime?

J Well, that's fine by me, but we should find out if Steve's available then, as well.

K That's true. I'll send him an e-mail and see if lunchtime's OK for him.

J If it's OK with Steve, let me know and we can fix a time.

K I'll e-mail him now. Thanks John. Bye.

J Bye.

 

Internal communication

Memos, notes and notices

Reading

Danos is a manufacturer of office furniture and supplies. Look at the examples of the company's internal communication below and find the following information:

the company's markets.

some of the company's activities

where it is based.

 

Memorandum

To: All National Sales Managers

From: Henry Wallace

Sales Director

Date: 10 July 2001

 

International Sales conference

Our International Sales Conference will take place from 30 October to 1 November in Rome. I will send details of the hotel later. Please go ahead and book your flight to Rome now. Please note that you need to arrive in Rome by 15.00 on the Friday and stay until 16.30 on the Sunday. It is essential that everybody books an APEX flight or equivalent. Please contact me in case of any difficulty.

 

Salesperson of The Year

The decision for Salesperson of the Year has been almost impossible as there have been so many excellent performances. However, because of her work in turning round a long-term fall in sales, the prize goes to:

Paula Stuart

Madrid office

Congratulations to Paula, who wins a holiday in Florida.

Sue,

Can't find name or tel no. of customer who phoned about new searing range. If you're got it, could you give it to me ASAP?

Thanks,

Mike

 

Memorandum

To: Managers

From: Sarah Longman

Accounts Dept

Date: 4 July 2001

Salary sheets for the third quarter should arrive at Manchester Head Office

by the following dates:

For August: Thursday 23 July

For September: Thursday 21 August

For October: Tuesday 23 September

NB Please send salary detail by Guadanteed Delivery.

 

Answer the question below.

When is the next International Sales Conference?

What is the prize for Salesperson of the Year?

When do salary detail for August have to arrive at Head Office?

Who is the Head of the Sales Department?

Who is meeting on 14 July?

What has Mike lost?

 

Read the documents on the opposite page again. What are the differences between memos, notes and motices?

 

Functions

Look at the memos and notes again. Find phrases to express requests and obligation/necessity. Put them in the group below.

Requests

please (send..)

Obligation/necessity

you need to (arrive...)

 

Speaking

Work in pairs. Find out what kind of written communication your partner uses at work. How efficient is internal communication where he/she works?

 

Writing memos

Listening1

Sarah Longman calls Henry Wallace to talk about expenses. Listen and take notes.

 

Don't forget!

Writing memos

It's not necessary to use very formal language when writing memos. We often make requests with simple forms such as Please... and Could you...?

Please inform the secretary by 24 November.

Could you please inform

 

Writing

Now use your notes to write the memo Henry needs to send his salespeople.

 

Writing e-mails

Speaking

Work in pairs. Say the e-mail and website addresses below. Use the following words to help you.

@=at, .=dot, :=colon, /=forward slash, \=backslash, -=dash, _=underscore

http://www.ikea.com

morgan_i_t@zig-zag.de

www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/

c_jones\71@dfe.org.nz

 

Now take turns in saying and writing down other e-mail and website addresses.

Writing

E-mail can be quite short and may contain contractions and other characteristics of spoken English. Look at the e-mail and Henry's note below and use them to write an e-mail to Sue. Write 30-40 words.

Writing tip:

When you write e-mails always think about your relationship with the person you are writing to.

To Do

call Mike re:meeting when? Mon. am.

Thank Sue for remincle and check if she can come

Henry

Don't forget Mike's going to Helsinki tomorrow and we need to arrange a meeting to discuss out pricing strategies.

Can you call him before he goes?

Sue

 

Listening2

Karen Mitchell receives a phone call from John Woods, the Head of Human Resources. Listen and take notes. Then write an e-mail for Karen to send to Steve Cooper.

 

Look at the memo below from John Woods to all Training Officers. Rewrite it as a personal note from John to Karen Mitchell. Write 30-40 words.

To: All Training Officers

From: John Woods

Human Resources Manager

Date: 14 January 2001

There will be a meeting on Tuesday 21 January to discuss the training schedule. Please prepare your proposals by 18 January and make sure that everyone has a copy in advance.

Thank you

 

Karen

We're having a meeting on Tuesday 21 Jan to discuss the new training schedule. Could you prepare your proposals by 18 Jan please, and can you give everyone a copy before the meeting. Thanks.

John

 

Use the note and diary page below to write a memo to all staff in the Marketing Department. Write 30-40 words.

Alex

Could you organise a meeting on Tuesday with all the Marketing Department to discuss our new brochure and then send a memo to inform them about it?

Look at my desk diary for the best time. We'll hold the meeting in the boardroom and I think it'll take about an hous.

Thanks

Tuesday 8 June

09:00 Meeting with Paul Ross

9:30-10:30

10.00

11.00

12.00 Lunch with Stuart Fraser 12-1.30

13.00

 

Memo

To: Marketing Dept

From:

There will be a meeting on 21 January at 10.45 in the boardroom to discuss the new brochure. Could all staff please attend. The meeting is scheduled to last approximately one hour.

 

Exam practice

Elizabeth Sharp is going to be the new Human Resources Manager at your company.

She is going to visit your office to learn more about the company.

Write an e-mail to all staff:

explaining who she is

saying when she will be in the office

asking staff to introduce themselfves to her.

Write 30-40 words.

To All staff

From Elizabeth

Elizabeth Sharp, the new Human Resources Manager, will be visiting us on Tuesday 11 April. The aim of her visit is learn more about the company so please make sure that you introduce yourselves to her.