What have you been up to the manager says

08.11.202321.08.2022 admin 0 Comments

What have you been up to the manager says

74 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with a Manager

What do you talk about in your one on ones? What questions do you ask in one on ones with your manager? What about one on ones with managers that report to you?

It’s important to understand that your one on ones– with individual contributors reporting to you– should be treated differently from those you’d have with the managers under you, and even moreso with the one on ones you have with your boss.

No matter the vantage point, one on ones helps you thrive at work and build and maintain great working relationships with your colleagues. Every type of one on one is unique, though, with different topics to discuss and questions you should ask to make the most of them.

Whether you’re an aspiring manager looking to manage up and want to make a career move into leadership, a senior leader wanting to better manage your team of managers, or a hungry learner wanting to learn more about both, this post is for you.

The post below is broken up into 2 sections:

Click on either of them or their related question subsections to jump to the part that applies most to your situation:

First, we’ll dive into questions to ask in one on ones with your boss to help you better manage up.

Part 1: 23 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with Your Boss

Having effective one on one meetings with your boss is important for a number of reasons. They can help you:

And that’s just the beginning. As former Intel CEO Andy Grove put it, regular one on ones can offer more than a 10x return on your time invested in them:

These meetings are a priceless opportunity. When else do you have the undivided attention of your manager, and have them solely focused on you? Chances are, this is the only time.

Whether your manager is taking advantage of your regular one on ones with you or not, you have the power to take charge of them yourself.

If you’re not getting what you want out of them, then bring some of your own agenda items and questions to change that.

You can create that 10X return just as much as your manager can.

Here are questions you can use to make the most of one on ones with your manager, and get them more engaged in supporting you:

1) Questions to help you take charge of your one on ones

Most managers have good intentions. Unfortunately, whether overworked, overwhelmed, or just figuring things out for the first time, they don’t always have everything perfect for you and your 1 on 1s.

The first place to start is if your manager isn’t being consistent with your one on ones. After all, if they’re not happening, there’s no benefit to be gained.

Use a question like this to get your manager to reschedule the next time they try to cancel a one on one:

This kind of response is useful for three reasons:

To make this even more effective, be prepared to suggest some new times for them to choose from. You can even bring up your calendar if you’re talking in person.

Your goal is to make it as easy as possible to reschedule right away and avoid missed conversations from canceled one on ones.

Key questions to help you take charge of your one on ones

There’s a lot more you can do than just make sure your manager sticks to your one on ones.

You can influence what’s talked about in your one on ones, what you get out of each meeting, and whether action is taken on what you cover. You may wish your manager would take charge, but that’s no excuse to keep having wasted meetings.

Here are some more questions you can use to help lead your one on one meetings with your manager to better results and outcomes:

2) Questions for managing up

What does your manager think of you? How can you manage up effectively, so you reduce the chance of having problems with them?

Or, even better, how can you strengthen your relationship with your manager?

Knowing how to effectively manage up is an important part of taking charge of your career; the relationship you have with your manager impacts everything from the projects you are assigned, the recognition you receive, your compensation, and promotions and new opportunities.

Leadership coach and Vistage Chair Beth Armknecht Miller says that the relationship you have with your managers can transform your career:

«Over the years, I have had the opportunity to coach many rising stars on their relationship with their manager, which is often the most critical to their success in an organization.”

Miller says there are three key elements to effectively managing up:

1) Know your boss’s priorities and goals. When you know his/her priorities, you can tailor the information you share during meetings and conversations with them. And when you are able to assist your manager in accomplishing his/her goals, you are demonstrating you are dependable and take initiative, two highly coveted traits managers look for in their employees.

2) Anticipate the needs of your manager. The more you anticipate their needs and demonstrate your understanding of them, the more confidence and influence you will build with your manager. They’ll trust you more and more.

3) Talk like your manager. Use the language and terms that he or she often uses, and focus on the topics that are most important to him/her. This aligns you and them to achieve goals for both of you.

One on one meetings with your boss are the perfect place to do all three of these things.

By asking the right questions, you can uncover their priorities, goals, needs, and their language and communication style. This helps you succeed in your career and becomes information you can use to improve your relationship with your manager.

Questions for uncovering your manager’s needs, goals, and language

By asking the right questions, you can discover all kinds of useful information to better understand and work with your manager.

Here are questions you can use to better manage up with your boss:

And questions to help you anticipate your manager’s needs:

Listen carefully to what they have to say, and practice active listening skills to ensure you understand them. In many cases, the requests they’ll make will be totally reasonable and just as easy to do as the other way you might have planned to do things.

3) Questions to drive your career growth

Improving the relationship you have with your manager is one of the most important elements for your career growth.

Thanks to the law of reciprocity (if you do something for me, I’m more likely to do something for you), if you’re helping your manager out in a few ways, they’ll be more likely to want to help you.

Fortunately, most managers aren’t like Dilbert’s boss. They have your best interest in mind, and want to help you succeed. However, they are unlikely to have your career top of mind nearly as much as you do.

You need to show it’s important to you and keep it top of mind for them.

Asking the right questions in your 1 on 1s can help open up your career to grow in a variety of ways. Like the other questions we’ve discussed today, your initiative to ask about your career growth can help get the ball rolling towards many positive results for you.

Checking in on your progress

A conversation is only the beginning. Once you’ve established what you need to work on, and where you’re heading, you need to make progress on it regularly.

As you begin making progress, use questions like these to check in with your manager to see how you’re doing along the way:

Some of these questions can be scary. You may not love what you hear, but it will get the elephants out of the room. If there’s a weakness your manager sees or something holding you back, you need to know.

[Editor note: Want one place to store all of these questions and add them to your 1:1 notes with one click? Try a free, 21-day trial of Lighthouse software now. Here’s a few of the kinds of questions you’ll have at your fingertips while running your 1 on 1s.]

It’s much better to hear these things on a Tuesday afternoon mid-quarter than it is to have a big surprise at the end of the year. By then, you want to have made progress and fixed those issues.

Being brave and taking charge of your career is how you advance faster. It also demonstrates to your manager you’re serious about your career.

Asking tough questions and really listening to your manager is the best way to make sure the effort you put in is noticed and headed in the right direction.

Part 2: 51 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with Your Managers

When you’re at the level in an organization where you manage others who also manage teams, your impact is exponential; not only do your efforts improve or hurt your team, but it trickles down to their teams as well.

Gallup calls this the «Cascade Effect»:

Unfortunately, many leaders make the mistake of not checking in regularly with those on their team that are managers. That’s a huge mistake.

As you can see in the chart, a disengaged manager will cause their team to disengage, too. That can get very expensive fast both in lost productivity and lots of turnover.

Support your managers with regular one on ones

Just because someone was promoted does not mean you can give them less support. In fact, they need more help and guidance from you.

When you abandon your people right when their Task Relevant Maturity is at its lowest, you crush their morale, and hurt they and their team’s ability to succeed. You can do better.

The best way to help your managers is to keep your regular one on ones with them. The questions to ask in one on ones with them may change, but the importance of the meetings does not.

If anything, one on ones become more important.

You and your managers’ time is precious. Don’t waste your one on ones with them on status updates. These one on one meeting questions to ask a manager under you can help you get to the root of key issues that can have an out-sized impact for your managers and their teams.

[Ed Note: If you’re looking for questions to ask in one on ones with an individual contributor, these 1 on 1 Meeting Questions Great Managers ask Their Teams can help.]

Questions to ask about the Multiplier Mindset

Being a multiplier (or in your case exponential) is a key mindset to have as a leader. You have the ability to improve the performance of everyone you manage, which compounds quickly.

Your managers have the same potential.

These questions to ask in one on ones with managers will help you explore the multiplier mindset with them. By asking them, you will ensure that they have the right habits and are thinking about how to be multipliers themselves.

These questions can help you think about how you can improve your team of managers, which means making a change that helps a whole group of people be more effective.

You may be surprised what a few small changes can do to improve things for your managers and their teams. By asking them these questions, you’ll get them thinking about the big picture, and out of their day to day hustling.

Questions to ask how things are going with their team?

Unfortunately, work isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There are conflicts. People can burn out. Valued staff can become bored. Turnover can spike, or morale can plummet after an unpopular decision.

These are all issues a manager must learn to deal with, and may want your advice on handling. Even better, they often can use your help in catching and fixing such problems before they become too big and devastating.

Fixing problems when they’re small is one of the best ways to keep your managers out of reactivate management mode (aka- fire fighting). By asking these questions, you make it clear they can safely discuss issues with you before they’re massive problems. You also get them thinking about exactly the kinds of things they should be doing and asking of their own teams.

Questions to ask about resources they need & how they perceive you

With changing teams, and new goals, comes new challenges. What was the right mix of resources and support previously may not work now. The best way to find out is to ask. Whether it’s a new team, or a manager you’ve worked with for a long time, these questions can give you fresh perspective:

Self awareness is hard. It’s not always clear how much your managers understand about what you do.

Having an honest discussion about what they don’t know about your job, and how you can better support them, can go a long way towards dispelling any myths, and strengthening your working relationship.

Sometimes this may be tough medicine to swallow. However, it’s better to tackle these issues while you can fix them, than a manager losing a large portion of their team, and them being frustrated at you for a lack of support.

As things change at work, this can become a moving target. Consider revisiting these questions semi-regularly to see how what they need evolves.

Want more questions like this right at your fingertips while you’re having a 1 on 1? Then sign up for a free trial of Lighthouse and keep all your 1 on 1s organized and covering the right topics.

Questions to ask how they’re feeling?

After initial excitement fades from a promotion, the real work begins. This isn’t always easy for people, especially if they’re new to management.

Asking a few questions about how they’re really feeling can be a huge relief for them as they spend most of their time helping their team with their problems.

Sometimes the simplest questions are the most powerful. Making sure your managers are happy in their roles is a great way to ensure their teams are happy too.

No one benefits from working for someone who doesn’t like their job. It’s also why companies like Netflix make it safe for managers to return to individual contributor work if they decide they don’t like managing anymore.

Questions to ask about how they manage & grow their people

People leave managers not companies. A few key habits like regular one on ones, helping grow their people, and showing they care, can make all the difference in morale, motivation, and retention.

If you’re developing managers on your team, it’s important to make sure they’re building and maintaining these habits with their teams, too. Of course, the example you set is one of the most important parts, and these questions to ask in one on ones with them can help as well:

Identifying stars is a great way to ensure good people stick around. By supporting them and showing a path before you need them in a new role you avoid them looking for growth outside your company.

Meanwhile, helping with underperforming or problem team members can be a relief for a manager’s entire team.

Questions to talk about handling change

Not all change is popular. And even for changes that are welcomed, buy-in and long term success is no accident.

These questions can help navigate the broad objections and implementation issues from the front lines so they trickle up to leaders like you.

While ideally, you’ll get some feedback on changes before a public announcement, that’s not always possible. By checking in whenever you can about a change, you demonstrate you are listening, and care about what they think.

If you make adjustments based on valid feedback from your managers and their teams, this can be especially valued, and increase buy-in for you as a leader. This line of questions can also then provide you a forum to explain to your manager why a decision was made, which they can then selectively share as well.

Questions to talk about managing up to you

Your relationship with your team of managers is just as important as their relationship with their team members. However, it’s easy for someone like you a few layers up to become buried in work and demands and lose sight of this.

Asking questions like these can help identify problems and opportunities for you and your managers to work better together. You can also use these to teach them how to better manage up to you:

These questions on managing up can open a very healthy dialogue. Once you’ve heard their perspective, they’re more likely to listen to and appreciate yours. Then, you can find the common ground needed to work better together.

By creating clear expectations and opening safe communication in your one on ones, you will help your managers be more successful in their role and specifically in working with you.

As a company grows, communication becomes more difficult. By investing in one on ones and asking the right questions, you can combat these challenges and ensure you focus your time on the highest impact areas to help your managers.

These 51 questions to ask in one on ones are a great place for you to start.

Want to document all of this in one location? Download our free 1:1 meeting template below.

what have you been up to

1 What have you been up to?

2 What have you been up to?

3 what have you been thinking up?

4 have

5 have

I have a very good flat у меня́ прекра́сная кварти́ра

I have no time for him мне не́когда с ним вози́ться

to have a pleasant time прия́тно провести́ вре́мя

I have a headache у меня́ боли́т голова́

we had news мы получи́ли изве́стие

I won’t have it я не потерплю́ э́того

I won’t have you say such things я вам не позво́лю говори́ть таки́е ве́щи

he has no Greek он не зна́ет гре́ческого языка́

I have your idea я по́нял ва́шу мысль

he had you in the first game он поби́л вас в пе́рвой па́ртии

as Shakespeare has it как ска́зано у Шекспи́ра

if you will have it. е́сли вы наста́иваете.

he will have it that. он утвержда́ет, что.

I have got = I have, you have got = you have, he has got = he has и т.д. (в разн. знач.)

I have got no money about me у меня́ нет при себе́ де́нег

please, have your brother bring my books пусть твой брат принесёт мои́ кни́ги

what would you have me do? что Вы хоти́те, что́бы я сде́лал?

I have done, I had done я сде́лал, I shall have done я сде́лаю

I have to go to the dentist мне необходи́мо пойти́ к зубно́му врачу́

we’ll have them down for a few days они́ бу́дут гости́ть у нас не́сколько дней

we have enough coal in for the winter у нас доста́точно у́гля на́ зиму, нам хва́тит у́гля на́ зиму

you had better go home вам бы лу́чше пойти́ домо́й

have no doubt мо́жете не сомнева́ться

he had eyes only for his mother он смотре́л то́лько на мать, он не ви́дел никого́, кро́ме ма́тери

to have a question out with smb. вы́яснить вопро́с с кем-л.

to have it in for smb. затаи́ть что-л. плохо́е про́тив кого́-л.

to have smb. up привле́чь кого́-л. к суду́

to have nothing on smb.

let him have it дай ему́ взбу́чку, зада́й ему́ пе́рцу

will you have the goodness to do it? бу́дьте насто́лько добры́, сде́лайте э́то

he has never had it so good ему́ никогда́ так хорошо́ не жило́сь

6 have

I have everything I want. — У меня есть всё, что я хочу.

I have no money on me. — У меня нет при себе денег.

The car has power brakes. — У этого автомобиля мощные тормоза.

April has 30 days. — В апреле 30 дней.

He has only a little French. — Он знает французский очень плохо.

We don’t have time to stay. — У нас нет времени оставаться.

We have a famous lecturer for this seminar. — Семинар у нас будет вести известный лектор.

I must have that dress in the window. — Я просто должна приобрести то платье в витрине.

to have a bath (a wash) — принять ванну, помыться

to have a word — перекинуться парой слов, поговорить

The cat had six kittens. — Кошка родила шестерых котят.

She is going to have a baby. — Она беременна.

She had a sudden heart attack. — У неё внезапно случился сердечный приступ.

I have a cold. — Я простужен.

We have him now. — Теперь он наш.

He realized that he’d been had. — Он понял, что его надули.

We’ll have no more of that. — Мы этого больше не потерпим.

He can be had for a price — Его можно подкупить за определённую сумму.

Why, she’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her. (W. Shakespeare, King Henry IV) — Потому, что она ни рыба ни мясо, и мужчина даже не знает, с какой стороны к ней подступиться. (пер. Е. Бируковой)

He has a table in his room standing. — У него в комнате стоит стол.

I had her on the carpet twisting. — Она у меня на ковре танцевала твист.

Have him return it at once. — Заставь его вернуть это немедленно.

Have him come here at five. — Пригласи его прийти в пять часов.

What would you have me do? — Что вы хотите, чтобы я сделал?

He had his watch repaired. — Ему починили часы.

He had his pocket picked. — Его обокрали.

Sorry, I’ve got to go now. — Извините, я должен идти.

They had it that he was guilty. — Они утверждали, что он виновен.

You had better go home. — Вам бы лучше пойти домой.

Have no doubt. — Можете не сомневаться.

to have smb. / smth. on board — иметь кого-л. / что-л. на борту

to have smb. on the phone — говорить с кем-л. по телефону; дозвониться до кого-л.

to have eyes only for smb. — смотреть только на кого-л., не видеть никого, кроме кого-л.

to have a question out with smb. — выяснить вопрос с кем-л.

Let him have it. — Дай ему взбучку.; Задай ему перцу.

He has had it. — Он безнадёжно отстал.; Он пропал.

Will you have the goodness to do it? — Будьте настолько добры, сделайте это.

Have a nice day — До свидания!; Всего доброго!

I was sure I hadn’t met him before. — Я был уверен, что не встречал его раньше.

Having been there before, I knew what to expect. — Побывав здесь раньше, я знал, чего ожидать.

No Response After an Interview? Here’s How to Follow Up By Email

You finished your interview, went home excited to hear back, but now what? Maybe it’s been a few days (or weeks) and you haven’t heard anything.

In this article, I’m going to show you how to send a follow-up email after an interview if you’ve gotten no response, including:

Let’s get started…

How to Follow Up by Email After an Interview:

Step 1: Craft a Strong Follow-Up Email Subject Line

Email subject lines are important because they determine whether your email gets opened, and how quickly.

I recommend following up with whoever said they’d been in touch after your interview, or if you’re not sure, follow up with whoever you were emailing to scheduling the interview.

The person who scheduled your interview is a good person to follow up with to check the status of interview feedback.

The best way to write a subject line for a follow-up email is to simply reply to the latest email thread (that you used to schedule the interview) and leave the previous subject line.

For example, let’s say that this was the previous email subject line:

Interview on Thursday at 10:00 AM

You should hit “reply” in your email program and then the subject line will look like this:

Re: Interview on Thursday at 10:00 AM

Continuing with the existing email thread and leaving the subject line as-is will boost your email’s chances of getting opened faster.

The recipient will open your follow-up email because it’s clear what the email is about (and it’s clear that you’re not a stranger or someone cold-emailing them).

If you don’t have a previous email to reply to, then choose one of the following subject lines for your interview follow-up email:

Step 2: Writing the Body of Your Follow-Up Email

The body of your follow-up email should be short and to-the-point. Most employers prefer to receive a short and sweet follow-up email after the job interview without any unnecessary info.

So be clear and direct about why you’re following up. Don’t be timid. However, you should be polite and respectful, no matter how long you’ve been waiting.

How to write a follow-up email after an interview:

That last point is critical. Even if you’re about to send a second or third interview follow-up email after two weeks, writing a rude message or showing frustration won’t make the employer’s decision-making process move any faster, and it could even cost you the job.

So use a positive tone, tell the employer that you’re checking for status updates and you’re excited to hear feedback when they have a chance, and then conclude by saying something like, “Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to hearing back when you have a chance.”

Next, I’m going to make the task of sending an email after the interview even easier. I’m going to give you word-for-word samples you can copy…

Sample Follow-Up Emails After an Interview

First Follow-Up Email:

I hope all is well.

I’m excited to hear about the next steps, and the role seems like a great fit for my background based on what I learned! Any updates you can share would be great.

If you send this, wait five business days for a response. If you don’t receive a reply at that point, then it’s time to send a second email…

Second Follow-Up Email After No Response:

I hadn’t heard a reply to my last email so I wanted to check back in to see how the interview process is moving on your end.

Are there any updates you can share regarding the position? I’m still interested in the opportunity, and I look forward to hearing from you when you have any news to share.

Note: The follow-up email templates above are best if you’ve already sent a thank-you email a day after your interview.

We can’t go back in time though. So if you didn’t send a thank-you note after your interview, you can write a follow-up email that also thanks the employer…

The basic interview follow-up steps above will still work, but we need to add one piece near the beginning of the follow-up email.

After greeting the hiring manager or interviewer by their name, you should thank them for taking the time to interview you.

I’d mention the specific date you spoke to remind them, too. For example: “Dear Jeff, thank you for taking the time to meet with me on Thursday.”

Then you can use the same steps that we covered above for a regular interview follow-up email…

Say you enjoyed learning about the position you discussed (be specific and refer to it by the job title), and then tell them you’re eager for an update. Be clear and direct, and ask for an update.

Finish by thanking them, and then conclude the email with your full name, just like the examples above.

Interview Follow-Up Email Combined with a Thank-You Email:

Thanks so much for taking the time to meet with me on Thursday to discuss the position. I enjoyed our conversation and the information you shared about was interesting.

I’m following up to see if you have any updates regarding the position now.

I’m excited to hear about the next steps, and the role seems like a great fit for my background based on what I learned! Anything you can share would be great.

And for your future interviews, here is a thank-you email template I recommend after your interview. Send this within 24 hours. I prefer lunchtime of the following day:

How Long Should You Wait After an Interview to Follow Up?

You should follow up five business days after your job interview if you haven’t heard feedback from the employer. Or, if the employer provided an expected date for feedback after the interview, follow up one business day after that date has passed.

For example, if the hiring team said that they would inform you about the next steps within three days of your job interview, wait four days, and then send a follow-up email.

The idea is… this will help you avoid looking too eager and desperate.

Note that you should also send a thank-you email within 24 hours of the interview!

Don’t use these follow-up templates to email the company a day after your interview; employers need time to make their decision. However, companies appreciate a brief “thank you” before they’ve even made a decision.

You can use this article to write a thank-you email.

What Else to Do While Waiting for Interview Feedback

Keep in mind that delays happen and the hiring process takes time. So the best thing for you to do while waiting for a status update is to apply for more jobs and try to get more interviews scheduled. You shouldn’t stop doing this until you’ve signed a job offer!

No matter how well you write your follow-up email, it isn’t going to get a company to move its process faster, bypass delays, skip over other candidates, etc.

This is why you should keep applying for jobs until you’ve signed a job offer. No exceptions. Because you never know if a company is interviewing 10 other people, considering promoting an internal candidate, or any number of other things that could cost you the job even if your interview went well.

“These Emails Seem Too Simple. Should I Add More?”

Some job seekers have asked me whether the example emails above are too brief or too simple. In my opinion, no.

I always recommend using a short and sweet follow-up email in your job search. I recommend keeping the length approximately the same as the templates I provided above.

Don’t complicate your message. Give a polite greeting, be up-front and say what you want (an update on the hiring process), and then conclude your email politely without any unnecessary “fluff” or filler content.

This type of follow-up email is your best shot at getting a prompt update after your interview without seeming pushy, desperate, etc.

In all likelihood, the person you emailed will get back to you and apologize and say they’re still working on a decision. Or there’s a chance they have news to share and will update you as soon as they get your email.

Either way, you reminded them you’re waiting for news and still have interest in the position, which is the goal (employers aim to hire people that seem genuinely interested in the role, and they won’t just assume you’re interested after an interview if they don’t hear from you!)

If you want to know what else hiring managers look for when conducting interviews, read my list of job interview tips here. It’ll help you understand the employer’s mindset better and will give you a big advantage over the competition in your job search.

What if the Employer Says They Don’t Have Any Feedback Yet?

In some cases, the hiring manager or recruiter will reply to your follow-up email and say they’re still in the middle of the hiring process and don’t have information about the next steps yet.

At times, they’ll be specific about what they’re working on behind the scenes (for example, they might say that they’re still working on getting the whole team together as a group to discuss various candidates) but often, they won’t tell you the specifics.

Either way, I recommend responding with a brief email to keep the conversation alive and ensure that you stay in touch. By using the following email template, you give yourself an opening to follow up again if needed, too.

Sample Email Response if Employer Says They Don’t Have Any Status Updates:

Thank you for the information.

When would be an appropriate time for me to check back in?

I’m excited about the opportunity and want to stay in touch, but I know these things take time so I don’t want to follow up too often here.

Any information that you can share about the process would be great.

What if the Company Hasn’t Responded to Multiple Emails After the Interview?

If you sent the first and second follow-up emails from the samples provided earlier and still didn’t hear back from the employer about your status as a candidate, here’s what to do:

Sample Email Body:

Be Patient After This…

If you still haven’t gotten a response at that point, I’d be patient. There’s a chance that an important person in the hiring process is on vacation, or that the person you’ve been emailing is extremely busy, sick, etc.

So I recommend waiting a minimum of 48-72 hours at this point, and in some cases, a full week is better to wait.

Sending another follow-up sooner than this won’t help you get the job. So try to focus on other tasks in your job search while waiting to ask for an update again.

Once you do feel it’s time to take things further, here’s who to email and how to write the email…

Pick the next logical person in the company to email.

For example, if you were emailing an HR person before, try the hiring manager or somebody in the department you’ve been talking to in your job interviews. Or vice versa; if you’ve emailed the hiring manager multiple times with no response, then try checking in with HR, a recruiter, or another relevant contact within the company.

Since this is a brand-new email thread, you’ll need to write a subject line. I recommend keeping it simple and using one of the example subject lines that I shared earlier in this article.

Follow-Up Email to Second Person in Company (After No Response):

I had emailed last week and hadn’t received any reply or updates, so I thought it made sense to ask you next.

If/when you have any feedback you can share, please do let me know. I enjoyed learning about the opportunity and am looking forward to hearing feedback when your team has a chance.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

How to Conclude Your Interview Follow-Up Email

In the sample emails above, you’ll notice a mix of different ways of “signing off” and concluding the email. You can choose whichever option sounds natural for you, as some are more formal than others.

Here’s a complete list of good, reliable options for how to end your interview follow-up email (in order of more formal to less formal):

You can also decide whether to write your first and last name or just your first name. Choose based on your previous interactions with the hiring manager or employer, and what you feel fits with the industry and company culture.

If you’ve been exchanging emails with the hiring manager on a first-name basis, you can just sign your email with your first name.

Two More Tips for Following Up

If you follow the advice above, you will have great emails to send after any interview… from a phone interview to a final stage in-person interview.

However, there are also a few other tips I can share that will make the process easier and help you get the job:

Tip 1: If you’re still not 100% confident about your emails after reading the information above, have a friend or family member look at your follow-up email to give feedback.

They can double-check everything and tell you if it sounds polite and clear, or whether something sounds off!

Tip 2: End each interview by asking when you can expect to hear feedback. Simply say, “When can I expect to hear feedback, and who will be in touch?”

Sometimes it’s normal for it to take one to two weeks for a response after your job interview. For example, maybe you were the first person they interviewed and they need to talk to a couple of other candidates before making a decision.

So this tip will save you a lot of stress because you’ll know whether it’s time to follow up or not, and you won’t be worried if you’ve gotten no response after a couple of days.

While you wait for feedback, you can read these signs your interview went well or badly.

Hold Up! Before you go on an interview.

Get our free PDF with the top 30 interview questions and answers. Join 10,000+ job seekers in our email newsletter and we’ll send you the 30 must-know questions, plus our best insider tips for turning interviews into job offers.

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7 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them (With Examples!)

Project managers keep things running at almost any type of organization, whether it’s a small nonprofit, a growing startup, or a giant corporation. If you’ve just landed an interview for a project management role, congratulations! Whatever company you’re interviewing with, they obviously need some help, and you’re one step closer to proving you’re the one for the job.

SEARCH OPEN JOBS ON THE MUSE! See who’s hiring here, and you can even filter your search by benefits, company size, remote opportunities, and more. Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.

You might’ve started by preparing to answer common interview questions, but if you want an extra boost over the competition, there are some specific questions you’re likely to get as a project manager candidate that you should be prepared for.

Here’s what you can expect in a project management interview.

What Are Interviewers Looking for in Project Managers?

Project managers work across industries and in so many contexts that each role is a little different from the next. Make sure you look closely at the specific requirements and responsibilities in the job description for the role you’re interviewing for. At the same time, there are some more universal qualities interviewers are looking for, including:

Sometimes an interviewer will ask you directly about these skills and qualities, but you should also be prepared to demonstrate them throughout your interview. Here are some common questions you’re likely to get in a project management interview—plus advice on how to showcase your strengths in your answers and examples of what that might sound like in practice.

1. What Types of Projects Have You Worked On?

An interview is a chance for a recruiter, hiring manager, or other potential colleagues to get to know you better. Even though they’ve probably looked at your resume, they might still ask you this question, which sounds basic but is a great chance to sell yourself and your skills for the job at hand.

The interviewer will want to understand the size, scope, and complexity of projects you’ve handled in the past to get a sense of what you could do for them in the future. What industry were you in? What types of clients were involved? Did you personally interact with external stakeholders? How many people or teams were involved internally? How big was the budget?

How to Answer

Like most other interview questions, you’ll want to tailor your answer here to the role you’re interviewing for. Look at the job description and do some additional research to try to understand what kinds of projects you’d be working on in this position and make sure you touch on similar work you’ve done in the past.

“Take your current experience and make it relevant to what you’d be doing there,” Campos says. For instance, if you know you’d be working closely with software developers or interfacing with clients in person or over the phone, and you have experience doing the same in previous roles, be sure to highlight that in the examples you give.

Your response might sound like this:

“In my role as a project manager for ABC Architects, I frequently work simultaneously on multiple long-term design projects for commercial buildings with seven- and eight-figure budgets. I’m not only in constant contact with the internal team of architects, but also coordinating ongoing communication with clients and ensuring that everyone is on the same page in terms of timeline and expectations. In my previous project management role for a small design firm, I worked very closely with the creative team. So I’m acutely familiar with the pressures that come with big-budget projects and the nuances of interfacing with both clients and designers—and I’d be excited to put that experience to good use working with Design Your Space’s enterprise clients.”

2. Can You Walk Me Through a Specific Project You Worked on, What Your Role Was, Who the Stakeholders Were, and What Problem You Were Solving?

While you may have already given an overview of the kinds of projects you’ve worked on, an interviewer might also call on you to talk through one example in detail.

“By asking this, we’re hoping to get a better sense of how a candidate approaches managing a project and how clearly they can communicate an idea,” Jensen says.

How to Answer

Considering how important it is for a project manager to be able to communicate clearly and succinctly with various parties, it’s crucial that you be able to give a coherent explanation of a project in an interview.

So make sure you articulate the underlying purpose and goal of the project. And think about what context an interviewer might need and what their level of technical or industry knowledge is so that you can adjust your explanation accordingly.

“Be specific. I think a lot of candidates worry they’re getting in the weeds, but without context, an interviewer isn’t going to understand the full project,” Jensen says.

So you might say:

“Last year, I worked on an app rollout for a Harry Potter trivia game—which, side note, I was absolutely thrilled about because those were some of my favorite books growing up. Our goal was to appeal to a broad audience—from adults like me who fell in love with the series when it first came out to kids and teens just discovering it now.

“There was a product manager I worked with very closely who was more focused on keeping track of the technical development. My main responsibility was on the content side, overseeing the creation of the trivia questions as well as bonus content. I met with our two in-house editors to develop a plan for assigning out the question writing to a group of freelancers split up by book, film, and other sources in the Harry Potter world (like theme parks, J.K. Rowling tweets, and more). We set a timeline together for the initial influx of questions and put a process in place to fact check everything. I also spent a lot of time with my counterpart in product talking through how to create a content repository that the app could pull from and that could be continuously updated, and we documented a system for introducing new content.

We also worked together to coordinate testing: First we had our coworkers who weren’t involved in the project test it out. Then we addressed some bugs and issues. And finally we set up user interviews and repeated the process. We were able to release the initial version of the game on time and it exceeded our first month download goal by 34%. Beyond that, not only did I have a blast learning even more than I already did about Harry Potter with all this trivia, but my nieces and nephews thought it was the coolest thing and have been telling all their friends about it!”

3. Tell Me About a Time When a Project You Were Working on Went Off the Rails or an Unexpected Challenge Came Up—and How You Got It Back on Track.

“If someone tells me everything is all good and rosy, I probably won’t believe them,” Jensen says. “Every project is going to be messy in some way.”

Because problems are commonplace, interviewers want to know how you spot them as early as possible, how you communicate about them internally and externally (if that’s part of your role), how you collaborate with the team to brainstorm possible solutions, and how you decide which route to ultimately take. They also want to be sure you can communicate these decisions clearly and concisely.

“What the employer is looking for is agility, ability to problem solve, conflict management, and stress management,” Campos says. “A lot of the questions are screening for that”—including this one.

How to Answer

When you hear the words “Tell me about a time when…” in an interview, that’s a pretty sure sign you can and should turn to the STAR method to craft your answer. In other words, briefly explain the Situation; clearly articulate what your Task was; lay out the Action(s) you took; and close with the Result(s) you got in terms of how that project turned out and what you learned from the experience. Pick a scenario that didn’t end in total disaster, but otherwise be honest.

The main thing to remember is, “Don’t act like you solved the whole thing on your own,” Campos says. In your effort to impress, you may want to focus on your role in the scenario, which is fine, but don’t go so far as to imply you were working alone. Project management is inherently collaborative and you’ll make a far better impression if your answers reflect that.

And definitely don’t throw anyone else under the bus. “If something went wrong on a project, it’s not important for us to know who is to blame; interviewers are more interested in hearing about how the problem was solved,” Jensen says. “It’s also not a great look to make your teammates look like they messed up—that suggests to an interviewer that a candidate might not be a team player.”

You could say something like:

“When I was working at Go to College, a nonprofit that aims to help kids in underserved schools become the first in their families to get a four-year degree, we had an amazing opportunity to screen a short film about the organization’s mission at a series of high-profile events with potential donors. I was the project manager for the film and we were in the final stages of the editing process when one of the schools we’d filmed at came back and said that, for various reasons, we couldn’t use the footage shot there.

“I called an emergency meeting with pretty much the entire staff. It was a small organization and everyone was really invested in the opportunity. Plus, this was the kind of situation where the more brains we had the better. We decided on two parallel courses of action. On one side, our program manager for that school would start a conversation there about whether we could remove any obstacles to using the existing footage. At the same time, our marketing team would work on pulling possible alternative footage we had in our archive and brainstorming any other options.

“I created a special Slack channel as a space for real-time updates and decision-making so that no time was wasted during the final stretch. In the end, our social media manager stumbled across an alum of the program who’d been keeping a funny, insightful blog about their college experience and reached out to them about participating in the film. I coordinated logistics to shoot some last-minute footage with them to tie the video together.

4. How Would You Describe Your Communication Style?

You should consider your entire interview—in fact, the whole hiring process, from email correspondence with a recruiter to in-person meetings with your prospective boss and colleagues—an assessment of your communication skills. Your interviewers will be paying attention to how you interact with them to get a sense of how you’d talk to teammates and clients in the role.

“Pay attention to how you’re communicating to anyone in the recruiting process,” Jensen says. “Sending sloppy emails or not responding for a couple of business days might indicate you’re not the most organized or a good communicator and that’s really important for project managers specifically.”

But they may also ask you to explicitly articulate your communication style in order to glean more insight into how you approach this essential element of project management. In part, they want to know you’ve thought about it and developed methods that work for you. They also want to know if your particular communication style is a good fit for the team and company.

How to Answer

There are some wrong answers here. (“I like to yell at people until they’re so scared they do what I’m asking,” would be wrong, for example.) But there’s no one correct answer.

Before your interview, reflect on how you’ve communicated in the past: How do you choose to phrase your updates and requests from colleagues and clients? How do you convey goals and expectations? When do you speak to someone in person versus writing them an email? What have people responded well to in the past? Is there a system or strategy you’ve honed over time that has helped ensure everyone’s on the same page?

Your answer might sound something like this:

“I’m an empathetic communicator but also very clear. I like to ask internal and external stakeholders a lot of questions, especially early on in the process, to ensure that I understand everyone’s perspective and can take it into account throughout. My goal is to make sure people are aligned at all times and know very clearly what’s expected of them and when.

“Once I have a sense of where people are coming from, I can tailor my communication with them to ensure I’m conveying goals, expectations, and updates in a way that jives with their style as well. That might mean sending periodic updates to the full team via email and highlighting action items by employee or team, which I like to do so that people can keep track and refer back to my notes, but also hopping on the phone with a remote employee to go over any odds and ends they may have missed and make sure they feel like an integral part of the team. The common thread, though, is that I always make sure that people understand the ask and remember the ultimate goal. In my experience, everyone can use regular reminders of why we’re doing what we’re doing and how each step relates to the larger goals. So I always tie small asks to the bigger picture. It keeps people motivated!”

5. How Do You Motivate People to Stay on Track and Meet Their Deadlines?

Project managers are leaders who are responsible for achieving results. But more often than not, they don’t have direct authority over the people doing the work to complete the project. In short, they’re not always the formal bosses of the people they rely on to get things done and be successful in their own roles.

So it’s critical that they have the interpersonal skills to motivate their coworkers—some of whom might be their peers or even senior to them—to deliver on time and in line with the expectations and requirements.

You also want to show your stakeholders—and now your interviewers—that you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and put in the work yourself. Because that in itself will motivate everyone around you to do the same. “Really good project managers, they get in there and they get their hands dirty,” Campos says. “What I mean by that is they are right there along with their team making sure things are happening.”

How to Answer

This is another answer that demonstrates your empathy and communication skills—and one where you can turn to the STAR method if you have a relevant story to share from your past experience.

“Give an example that shows you took the time to understand how that person works and also what else is on their plate,” Yurovsky says. Show the interviewer that you took the time to “create the buy-in for them and let them be part of the decision-making process.”

So your answer might be:

“My approach is to get to know the people I’m working with so that I can figure out how to get them excited and motivated about the work. I’ve also found that when people feel like they’re involved in figuring out how the process will go and have a say in deadlines and deliverables, they’ll be more personally invested in making it happen. Also showing your appreciation and gratitude goes a long way!

“I remember one time when I was working at an e-commerce startup and we were looking to launch a new email recommendation system to send existing customers suggestions for new items based on their previous purchases. It was my job to scope out the project, make a plan, set the timeline, and make it happen. There was already a small team of engineers working on the actual recommendation algorithm, but I realized pretty early on that we’d also need a lot of support from our designer, who was already stretched pretty thin working on a dozen different projects at once.

“So one of the first things I did was sit down with the designer to talk through how they envisioned the email product looking, what this process would require of them, and what kind of timeline would be feasible. I was able to take that early feedback into account when setting the overall timetable. Not only did we roll out the first version of email recs on time, but the designer was really grateful I’d come to her first to understand what she needed to be able to design templates she’d be proud of. I also made sure to share with her how happy I was, and our higher ups were, with the fun, sleek, and effective designs she’d come up with. That set the stage for future projects and she became one of my most enthusiastic and productive collaborators.”

6. What Experience Do You Have With Process Development?

You might be walking into a situation where you’ll be called upon to create processes and workflows from scratch—or to overhaul and redesign existing ones that aren’t cutting it. So an interviewer might want to know if you’ve done this before.

How to Answer It

The easiest way to answer here is to approach it as a behavioral question and give a specific example of a time when you planned and implemented a new process (yep, that means turning to the STAR method yet again).

“Since my last two roles have been at startups transitioning from their early stages to more stable long-term growth, I’ve often been tasked with creating streamlined, standardized processes where there previously had been scattered ad hoc approaches. For example, in my last role, we were getting a lot of questions from freelancers and contractors about their payments. Plus there was some feedback that they were never sure who to send what info to and when. They’d get frustrated when they received random follow-up requests for more info weeks later that delayed them getting paid. I was involved with the projects these freelancers were working on and was getting wind of their irritation. A couple even stopped taking new projects from us.

“So I reached out to a few freelancers and had short conversations with each of them to make sure I fully understood their pain points. I also set up a meeting with our accounts payable team and some of the folks internally who dealt most frequently with freelancers to understand their needs and limitations and talk through what a streamlined process would look like. With the input from all of those conversations, I was able to suggest a new process where freelancers invoiced once a month on a set date. We came up with a standard invoice template across the company to ensure all the necessary info was available up front and created an automated email that would get sent to the freelancer when their payment went out.

“The accounts payable team ended up being able to cut down the amount of time they spent dealing with freelancer payments almost by half, freelancers were getting paid faster in most cases and always knew what was going on, and we were able to increase our retention and focus on our other goals. In short, it made everyone’s lives easier.

7. What’s Your Proficiency Level With [Name of Software or Tool]?

There’s a whole slew of project management tools and software that companies might rely on nowadays, whether it’s Trello or Basecamp or something else. So your interviewer might want to know which tools you’re familiar with or, more likely, what your experience or proficiency level is with a particular tool they’re already using.

How to Answer It

The best case scenario is that you’re a seasoned pro who’s used this exact tool before, in which case you can say so and talk a little bit about what kinds of processes you’ve used it for and how.

If you don’t have experience with whatever software the interviewer is asking you about, don’t panic! In most cases, that’s probably not a disqualifier. What they do want to know, though, is that you have experience with other tools and that you’d be able to pick it up quickly. If you know the purpose of the tool and a bit about its interface, Campos says, you can draw a comparison to your expertise working with another similar tool and credibly predict you’d be able to adjust quickly as a result.

“You can even throw in how you love working with or learning new tools,” Campos says.

So you might say:

“I haven’t used Asana much in the past but I’m confident I could pick it up quickly. I’ve used Trello for a lot of project tracking in my current role and so have a lot of experience using and leveraging calendar and Kanban board views, which Asana has too. I’d also be excited to explore the other functionality it offers, especially the features that allow you to prioritize and view your overall progress on a larger project. I’m actually kind of a nerd when it comes to trying out new productivity tools. I’ve tested probably a dozen to-do list apps—seriously, ask me about the pros and cons! And before I started my current job I’d never used Trello before but I dived right in and found all kinds of shortcuts my colleagues didn’t know about. Within a few months, I was leading refresher trainings across the organization to make sure new and veteran employees were on the same page about how we were all using the tool.”

No matter which questions you get in your interview, make sure you keep in mind the most important skills, qualities, and points you’re trying to convey. Review the info above and reread the job description for the specific role as you prepare. And then tell your interviewer—and show them through how you behave before, during, and after your interview—why you’d be the very best choice.

Unit 7: management styles

Starting up:

A: which of these statements do you agree with? Explain your reasons.

Managers should: be available at all times to give staff advice and support à because they are the person to go to when an employee has a problem, by giving advice and support they will feel more comfortable to asks things of their own.

Managers should: use polite language at all times: they are the image of a company and its employee, nice manners are essential to keep the image of the company high.

B: what is the role of a manager? Choose your top three roles from the following and explain your ideas.

Can you connect the roles above to the points you discussed in exercise A?

8 use polite language at all times: decision-maker and problem-solver.

6 be available at all times to give staff advice and support: motivator and problem-solver.

C: how important are these factors in judging the success of a manager?

The loyalty of staff: If he earns the loyalty of his staff he probably is a good manager.

Achievement of results: this literally indicates whether a manager is successful.

Popularity with their superiors: I believe you are only popular with your superiors when you perform well.

Vocabulary: management qualities

A: Give the opposite meaning for each of these adjectives, using the prefixes in, ir, un, il or dis. Then provide the noun forms.

B: mark the stress on the positive adjective and noun forms in Exercise A. Listen and check your answers.

C: choose the four best qualities of a manager using the adjectives in exercise A and rank them in order of importance (1 = most important). Then choose the four worst qualities and rank them (1 = worst).

D: match these pairs of contrasting management styles.

E: discuss these questions.

Laissez- faire is a style I’ve already experienced and it’s fun to do your own thing and see where it ends up.

Collaborative would be my own management style, I would work together with my employees in order to fulfil a task.

I think I possess the delegating quality and the people-orientated ability, I like to fulfil my part of the work but also manage the task in a way where I can delegate and say people what they could to in order to achieve a good result.

Listening: successful managers

A: which two factors influence the managerial function today, and what are the two examples that Laurie gives of these factors?

Factor one, the ability to manage in an increasingly competitive, volatile, changing, business environment. Example BRICK nations.

Factor two, nowadays, the manager must manage with an increasingly rate of technical changes. Example ICT, the manager has to interact with staff who may not be at the same desk.

B: listen to the second part. Which six managerial philosophies does Laurie manage mention?

C: listen to the final part and complete these extracts.

Reading: management styles

A: discuss these questions.

I would like a laissez-faire management style. An office where I could do my work on my own rate would be my ideal workplace.

An office where I could do my work on my own rate would be my ideal workplace.

B: work in pairs. Read the article quickly and decide which of these statements are tru for the CEO you read about.

C: read your article again. In pairs, compare and contrast the styles of the two CEO’s.

D: which of these adjectives do you think describe Anna Wintour?

She is a perfectionist, demanding, ruthless.

E: match the adjectives in the box to the definitions below.

Anti-authoritarian, approachable, demanding, perfectionist, ruthless, self-motivated, talented, volatile

F: complete this paragraph with adjectives from exercise E.

G: discuss these questions.

The first one is very decisive, impatient and bears a look that says that she is the boss. A very strict management style. Not every employee can handle this way of managing.

The second one is less strict, it’s a more relaxing way of managing. People might not always meet the deadlines because they manager is less demanding.

I don’t care whether a have a male or female manager. I only care about the personality of the manager. My ideal manager would be both my boss which can motivate me to perform at my best but also in a way a colleague which I can go to if I need help.

I think meetings are a necessity as long as the subject that are spoken off are relevant and need further attention before the employees get to work. If the work that needs to be done doesn’t need any further attention then their shouldn’t be a meeting.

Language review: text reference:

A: look at the Jim Buckmaster article on page 145 and say what all the words in red refer to.

All the words in red refer to pronouns.

B: look at the first paragraph of the Anne Wintour article on page 69 and find an example of it as an ‘empty’ subject.

C: look at the anna Wintour article again and underline all the examples of text reference. Use this checklist to help you.

D: say what all the words you underlined in Exercise C refer to.

They can refer to nouns.

E: read this paragraph and say what the former and latter refer to.

Former refers to the critics and latter refers to her supporters.

F: write a profile of a manager you know or are interested in.

I would like to one day either be a sales manager or a brand manager.

A sales manager would be an interesting job because I like the personal aspect of the job where you need to have certain people skills in order to be good at your job. I also would like to work with others and try to achieve good sale numbers.

The job of a brand manager also looks very interesting. Working and thinking about the design and the different functions of a product inspire me too.

Skills: presentations

A: Jason. Listen to both parts of the presentation and answer these questions.

What is the name of the product?

When will it be launched?

At the beginning of March.

What are its unique selling points?

They come is several flavours and versions. And it’s a thirst-quenching.

What will the audience take away with them?

B: listen to the first part again and complete these extracts.

C: listen to the second part and complete these extracts.

D: match each extract in Exercise B and C to a heading in the useful language box below.

Stating the purpose:1, 1A

Involving the audience:2

Persuading:3,5

Emphasising:4,1B

Changing the subject:

Referring to visuals:2A,4

Discussing implications:3A,3B,3C

Exemplifying:5

Unit 8: team building

A: Think of at least two advantages and two disadvantages of working in teams.

If a problem occurs more people can work out a solution and then you can pick the best solution. The more people you have the more you can spread the work and let everyone do the things he’s the best at.

The people you team up with are supposed to make the work go faster but one bad player can make the whole team fail at the end, there can’t be a bad player because that would drag down all the other group members.

A group needs to work together in order to be successful, you can’t expect to work better in group if they can’t stand different opinions.

B: For each category in this quiz, tick the three statements that most apply to you. Then read the explanations on page 136.

What sort of team player are you?

Doers vs. Thinkers

Details vs. Ideas

Planners vs. Improvisers

a) I consider what I say

b) I contribute a lot in discussions

c) Action is more important than reflection

d) I listen to others before I say anything

e) Discussion gives me energy and ideas

f) I don’t say a lot at meetings

a) I often come up with unusual solutions.

b) It’s important to be realistic

c) People see me as a creative person.

d) I like practical solutions

e) You shouldn’t overlook details.

f) You shouldn’t get lost in details.

a) I like to think logically

b) I keep emotions out of decision-making.

c) I avoid confrontation

d) I sometimes tread on people’s toes.

e) Understanding people is as important as being right

f) I care about other people’s feelings.

a) Meetings have to be prepared for carefully.

b) I like surprises.

c) I hate time wasting at meetings.

d) Too much time can be spent on preparation.

e) People say I’m a punctual person.

f) I need a deadline to get me going

C: work in groups and compare you answers to Exercise B

A: match the prefixes of the words (1-10) to their meanings (a-c).

Very / more than usual

B: complete this web advert using the correct form of words from exercise A.

Is your team letting itself and the company down?

We have the solution.

C: complete the final part of the advert from Exercise B with the verbs in the box.

Loyalty and trust

D: Add prefixes to these words to give their opposite meanings. Then use them to discuss the questions below.

Listening: building successful teams

A: listen to first part of an interview with Dan Collins. According to Dan, what is a team, and what is a leader’s role in a team?

A team is a group of people that are enthusiast to achieve the same goal.

The leader makes sure the goal is well understood and clear. The leader has to encourage people along to way to the objective.

B: listen to the second part. What kind of communication problems do people at work often have?

To have more spontaneous conversations which explore new opportunities.

C: listen to the third part. Work in pairs. Which four team roles does Dan mention?

Leaders: appointed leaders or natural leaders. Natural leaders because it’s in their nature to lead.

Creative people are the people who solves problems because they are creative. They think creative, out of the box. There are also creative people who use analysis to solve problems.

gluers: these people glue the team together. They make sure the team feels good. Example: birthday card on team members birthdays.

Doers: these people insure that things get done and that they get done in time.

D: listen to the final part. What does Dan say about the attitudes to teams and how they are led a) Europa and the US, and b) India and China?

In the US and Europe, they are very open to empowered form of leadership. More In the US than in Europe.

The leader can do things as they want with very little interference.

E: you have to set up a team for a very important project. Choose four people you know and say why they would make a good team.

My girlfriend Camille as the doer because she is good at working towards deadlines and make sure things are done in time.

Me as the leader, I enjoy being the leader of a group, I always have. I think it’s in my nature to help people perform at their best. I think I’m a good listener which helps a lot but I can also be very direct and say who needs to be done why and how.

My friend Maxim as the creative thinker. He someone who come up with creative ideas to solve a problem. His way of thinking would help out when the team is stuck.

My friend Daan as the gluer, he has a very nice character. I think he’s the kind of guy you can’t get mad at and you respect him for that. He can bring people that have different characters together and make sure everyone feels appreciated.

Reading: new ways of team building

A: you’re going to read an article entitled Recipes for team building. What do you think are the advantages of sending teams on cookery courses?

I think a cookery course could help a team to get to know each other but more importantly they get to experience working together. Maybe it’s in not a relevant assignment to work on together but they learn how to work as a unit.

B: read the article on the opposite page and check if your answers in A were mentioned. What other advantages were mentioned.

Entertain clients, foster team spirit and relax. Business bonding.

C: scan the article to find

D: read the article again and answer these questions.

Anna Venturi: Founder

Masala Siatsu: Vice President CPU, HR

Christi Strauss: CPU Chief Executive

Richard Pash: Marketing Manager

Rosalind rathouse: Founder

Letizia Tufari: Daugther of Venturi

E: without looking at the article, complete these word partnerships.

F: answer these questions.

The sound of a cookery course as part of a team-building exercise sounds very attractive to me, I like to cook every now and then but more importantly getting to know you team members in another environment must be interesting, people tend to behave differently when they are somewhere else.

I can’t really think of anything, but the thing I would find difficult is to stay motivated when you get a team that doesn’t want to do anything and that you get stuck with them and can’t figure out how to succeed on you own strength.

They ones that hold you back to be successful, if they don’t want to obtain good results and hold you back to get good result, you’re in a very bad position.

I think I would design a team-building course where I would change up the roles of the people that are going to participate. Example, a boss comes with his employees. I would make sure that the employees could have the change to lead the boss in order to let both parties experience how it feels to do the other persons job.

G: write a short paragraph summarising the advantages of sending teams on a cookery course.

They get to know each other and work together in a different environment. It is a sort of therapy that is supposed to let them bond. The stress of getting results isn’t there so everyone gets to know the others in a different sphere.

Language review: modal perfect

A: answer yes, no or not sure to each of these questions.

1: They should have changed the team leader.

Did they change the team leader? No

2: Alicia needn’t have spent so much time on the report.

Did Alicia spend too much time on the report? Yes

3: They could have prepared better if they’d had more time.

Did they prepare as well as they wanted to? No

4: The team would have been stronger without him.

Was the team as strong as it could be? No

5: The team may have made a decision by now.

Has the team made a decision yet? Not sure

6: Carlos shouldn’t have spent all the budget on one team-building course.

Did Carlos spend all the budget on one team-building course? Yes

7: The Chairman couldn’t have prepared properly, as we lost the contract.

Did the Chairman do enough preparation? No

8: I’ve lost my memory stick. I must have dropped it somewhere

Did I drop my memory stich somewhere? Yes

B: Which of these statements use the modal perfect correctly? Suggest alternative modals for the incorrect statements.

1: It’s too late to sign the contract. You must have done it last week.

2: I’m a bit angry. You would have told me you had invited the entire team for dinner.

3: His behaviour yesterday could have ruined all the team spirit we have built up.

4: They bought the shares when they were cheap and sold them at their peak, so they needn’t have made a lot of money.

5: Simone wasn’t at the meeting. She might have been delayed at the airport.

6: You couldn’t have booked a place on the June course because it was completely full.

7: She’s made a lot of mistakes. She should have been very careless.

8: Abi was inspirational and a motivator. We must have made her team leader.

Skills: resolving conflict

A: Read these suggestions about ways of dealing with conflict. Put each of them under one of these headings: Do or Don’t.

B: Listen to the conversation between Karen, Head of Department, and Larissa. Which suggestions from Exercise A does Karen use to deal with the conflict between Larissa and her colleague, Sophie?

The suggestions 1,2,3,4,5,7 and 10

C: Listen again and note down the phrases Karen uses to deal with the conflict. Add them to the appropriate selections in the Useful language box below.

4.What do you want me to do?
Resolving the conflict

7.Why don’t we wait for a while?
Expressing your feelings

Unit 9: raising finance

A: what are the advantages and disadvantages for private individual of borrowing money from these sources.

B: in what situations might someone use the sources of finance mentioned in Exercise A?

I wouldn’t recommend going into business with a loan shark but if you 100 sure that you will be able to pay back in time and the reward is greater than the risk only then would I go for it.

C: what do you think these sayings mean? Do you agree with them?

D: what would you like to raise money for, and how would you fix it?

I’m not the person to go raise money for anything but If I should pick one I would go raise money for the ill who deserve treatment but can’t pay for it.

I would organise stuff where people can buy things were there is a good profit margin so they get something in return and know they pay more for a good cause.

VOCABULARY: financial terms

A: choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

B: choose the correct words to complete each definition.

C: discuss these statements.

LISTENING: ways to raise money

A: simon Davies. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer these questions.

Which three ways of raising finance does he mention?

What are the advantages of:

Much deeper pockets, greater source of funding

Far greater amount of funding available.

B: listen to the second part and answer this question

What are the disadvantages of:

A fairly significant capital cost.

No type of private relationship with clients.

Potential lack of capital. They want a significant return. They want a say in the business.

C: listen to the final part. Simon says there are four reasons why finance has become a short-term business. What are they?

Reading: finding finance

A: how can start-up companies raise money?

They can lend money of family members, they can go to the bank to loan money.

B: work in small groups. Before you read the article, check that you know the meanings of these terms.

C and D: work in pairs and answers these questions in pairs.

E: find idioms in the first six paragraphs that mean the following.

F: complete these sentences with the idioms in Exercise E.

G: discuss these questions

I would ask her for advice before I would even start to consider thinking of starting up something on my own without having the certainty of finding investors.

I would start of by checking if I know people who could be interested in investing in my business. Every part of the funding that can be cheaper than a banc loan I would consider. If I still needed money I would look for a partner to help cover the cost and if needed we could still go to loan but with less risks for myself.

Language review: dependent prepositions

A: Complete the extract from the article with suitable words and dependent prepositions from the box.

B: study grammar reference on page 150, then match these halves of sentences. They are all from newspaper articles or headlines;

A: which of these negotiating tips do you agree with? Why? Why not?

B: match the techniques to their definitions.

1open questions= d

2closed questions= e

Unit 10: customer service

A: which of the following irritate you the most when dealing with customer service departments? Choose the top three.

· Being put on hold

· Choosing a series of options during your call

· Too few staff at peak times

· Unhelpful customer service personnel

· Stressed or indifferent staff

Repairs and refunds:

· Disputes over credit notes ‘proof of purchase etc’

· Poor- quality repairs

· Delays on repairs

B: discuss these questions.

It’s very important the reputation of the brand itself can be damaged if there is no or poor customer care.

Yes, sometimes you just need to be left alone so you can do you own thing while shopping.

If you can make up your mind about something and they try to convince you in something you don’t like and regret it when it’s too late. Yes, in clothing stores for example.

A: complete the beginnings of these sentences with words from the box.

To be diplomatic

You know their buying habits

A minimum expectation these days

Will lose customers

To retain customer loyalty

Of high-quality customer service

Only way to meet customer expectations

B: match idiomatic expressions to their meanings.

C: Use the expressions from exercise B in the correct form to complete these sentences.

Listening customer service:

A: discuss he best and worst customer service you have had in a restaurant.

Once we were at a restaurant and they didn’t book us for that night so they took another table with the best view of the restaurant and apologised.

There was a restaurant at the sea that was so unfriendly and had us waiting so long to order that we just left instead.

B: listen to the first part of the interview would you like to go to Le Manoir. Why, why not?

I would love to go there, they have a 2star Michelin restaurant. The kitchen stands central and food is important for them. And it’s a nice hotel which tells you what you can do rather than what you can’t do.

C: listen to the second part and complete these extracts.

D: listen to the third part and answer these questions.

Get them to empathise with the customer, the guest, try to put them in the customers place.

People expectations are very high, we’re a high-end so we must try to exceed their expectations.

E: listen to the final part. How are customers changing, what are they doing, and how can this be useful?

Much more demanding than before. More open world in which people as more questions. The people are complaining much faster than before. The complaints however, help to improve the company because the company can prevent those complaints in the future. The complaints help to improve the company and even exceed the clients expectation even more.

Reading: changing customer service

A: Read the article and say if the writer agrees with these statements.

He certainly does agree that service is important.

He mentioned that it’s very important that a client has a human contact when he has a problem or complaint.

B: read the article again and answer these questions.

It used to be face-to-face and nowadays they clients can contact someone with their cell phone that can help them from across the world.

Speaking to customer service representatives based in other parts of the world or mechanical systems that didn’t offer the right choices.

Using insights in their location, previous purchases, personal data and other information, customer management systems can react as soon as a customer contacts the business.

Companies seem to be happy to rely on canned, scripted responses, poorly strained agents and clunky systems to deliver customer services.

C: summarise paragraph in 5 one sentence.

The response has to be personal. This means pre-empting the customer’s needs and acting intuitively to minimise the time spend on the phone.

D: find idioms in the first and last paragraphs that mean the following.

E: complete these sentences using idoms in exercise D.

F: which changes in customers service mentioned in the article have you noticed, and which industries.

Changes in the way of getting information when there is a problem. It used to be in a personal and familiar way now it’s rather impersonal, you get help from someone you don’t know or get to see.

Language review: gerunds

B: match these sentences to their meanings

1. I regret telling you

I told you and I wish I hadn’t

2. I regret to tell you

I am sorry about the bad news I am about to tell you

3. We stopped producing the Alpha model.

We stopped the production of the Alpha model

4. We stopped to produce the Alpha model

We stopped the production of something else in order to produce the Alpha model

5. I tried speaking to Customer Services

It didn’t resolve the problem

6. I tried to speak to Customer Services

I couldn’t get through to anyone there

C: Complete these guidelines for improving customer service with suitable gerunds.

Skills: active listening

A: how do you know if someone is not listening to you? How does it make you feel?

Just by asking a simple question about what you were saying you will notice immediately whether the person was listening or not. I feel very annoyed if someone doesn’t listen to what I’m saying, if they are not interested they can just say so, that way I also know that I don’t need to waste my time by telling them anything.

B: which of the following do you do to show people that you are listening to them?

I do all these things, except ‘say nothing until you are absolutely sure that the speaker has finished. It’s a bad habit of mine to interfere someone while he’s speaking but that’s only proof that I’m interested in what he or she is saying.

C: listen to three conversations in which people are talking about customer service and make notes under these headings.

Unit 11: crisis management

A: think of a crisis you have experienced. Say what happened and how it was handled.

I once fell and my bike got stuck in the train rails. The crisis was that at the point of me crossing the train track the bell had already rung. The only thing I could think of is that my leaving my bike on the track would cause great problems so I stayed calm and eventually managed to get the bike out of the train tracks the second the train was coming out of the turn.

B: crisis-management experts have identified 10 key steps for companies in a crisis. Complete 5-10 below using the verbs in the box

Analyse, disclose, inform, practise, predict, set up

C: complete this table with the steps in exercise B.

Before the crisis

During the crisis

After the crisis

· Try to predict what crises could occur

· Inform the directors

· Practise making decisions under stress

· Analyse as much information as you can

· Set up a crisis management team

· Disclose the actions you took to deal with the situation

D: answer these questions.

Problems with employees that are ill. Deadlines that need that are inclosing with risk of not managing it in time.

A problem is something you can try to figure out but if it doesn’t work the outcome is not that bad, a business crisis however is much more sever. The crisis is endangering everything and needs to be solved immediately.

Vocabulary: handling crises

A: match words from box a with words from box b to make word partnerships, adding ‘of’ if necessary.

Action, admission, contingency, damage, flow, legal, speed, loss, press, press

Action, conference confidence information liability limitation plan release response

B: complete these sentences with word partnerships from exercise A

C: match an expression from exercise a and b with each of these verbs.

D: answer this question, then discuss your ideas.

Which of the word partnerships in exercise C do you think are:

Essential in a crisis?

Implement an action plan

Important to avoid?

Suffer loss of confidence

Take legal action

Useful but not essential?

Control flow of information

Prepare a contingency plan

Listening: dealing with crises

A: in groups tell three things you know and three things you would like to know about the Toyota crisis of 2009/2010.

I don’t know anything about this crisis and I don’t need to know anything about it.

C: listen again and complete these extracts using no more than three words in each gap.

D: listen to the second part and answer these questions.

it says that you need to attend to the possibility of a crisis beforehand. There is a before piece, a during piece and an after piece.

E: listen to the third part. What three things need to be done during a crisis?

First you need to recognise that there indeed is a crisis= crisis identification.

Second thing to do is contain the crisis as best as possible.

Third thing to do is resolving the crisis, finding what the cause of the crisis is.

F: listen to the final part. What questions does he ask with regard to:

how do you recover from the crisis?

What can be learned? What worked and what didn’t work?

How does it rebuild itself? How does it recover?

Reading: dealing with crises

B read your article and choose the best headline on the left:

Expect the unexpected

C: read your articles again and take notes on these questions.

There was a problem with the pushchairs: in a few cases fingertips were chopped off in the pushchair hinges.

It was issuing repair kits.

That they have to be ready, that they have to empathise. To be polite and don’t discriminate.

E: in pairs make as many word partnerships as you can.

Language review: conditionals

A: match the sentences below to these headings

B: decide whether each of these situations is a) likely or b) unlikely to happen to you.

Skills: asking and answering difficult questions

A: listen to the interview and answer these questions

Stuffed (animal) toys.

The problem is very serious, the stuffed toys have a defect. The eyes can be pulled of the toys very easily by children and they then put them into their mouth and start choking. This is a very dangerous situation that needs to be looking in a treated accordingly.

B: listen again to these questions from the interviewer. In each case, decide whether the question is a) neutral/ polite or b) aggressive.

Unit 12: mergers and acquisitions

A: What do you understand by these terms?

An enterprise taking over another enterprise.

When two companies go work together as one bigger company, the two separate companies no longer exist but become one company.

When two companies work together at something because they have mutual interests or goals. They work together because they want to achieve the same thing.

C: think of three reasons why one company might wish to take over another company.

D: what do you think the advantages and disadvantages of acquisitions may be for a company?

Employees: they might lose their job when another company can do all the work with their own employees.

Customers: they might be happy because a there is less competition so cheaper products on the markets.

Suppliers: they can have bigger orders because the company grew bigger.

Shareholders: they can make a lot of money when the price of the shares goes up.

Products and services: two are stronger than one, I think there can be made better services and products when two companies combine their strengths.

Vocabulary: describing mergers and acquisitions

A: match the terms to the definitions

A business activity in which two or more companies have invested together

MBO (management buyout)

When a company’s top executives buy the company, they work for

Two or more companies joining to form a larger company

Getting control of a company by buying over 50% of its shares

Offer money for shares in a company

Money risked or invested in a company

B: circle the noun which forms a word partnership with each verb.

C: choose the correct words or phrases to complete these extracts.

D: think of a merger or acquisition you know about.

I don’t know any.

Listening: making acquisitions

A: listen to professor Scot Moeller. What three reasons does Scott give for the lack of success of some mergers and acquisitions.

B: listen to the second part of the interview and answer these questions.

You also need to determine whether you want to impose your own culture and way of operations on that company, or in fact to keep that company’s own culture separate.

Are you going to appoint somebody from the company itself to run that division, or do you want to bring in a new management, perhaps from the acquirer’s own management, or perhaps from the outside?

C: listen to the final part and take notes why the merger between the bank of New York and Mellon bank was eventually successful.

They understood some of the mistakes from previously, so experience is very important. They met very early before the deal became public, and they determined what it was that were showstoppers, things that could derail, that could stop the deal in the future from being successful, and they did determine what those items were, very early on.

D: how would you go about making sure that the staff of a company that you have just acquired feel valued and welcomed?

I would make sure that they feel certain. By telling them that they will remain highly appreciated employees of the company. Give them reason why they shouldn’t worry for what might chance in the future and that they would only benefit from the acquirement.

Reading: acquiring a green business

A: in groups, look at the table below and answer these questions.

They all acquired other smaller companies. They took over the smaller ones in column B.

Unilever= Ben and Jerry’s

Danone= Stoneyfield Yogurt

Colgate-palmolive= Tom’s of Maine

L’oreal=the body shop

Estéé Lauder= Aveda

Cadbury Schweppes= Green and Black’s

They all have certain values that were implemented in their brand, they had certain USP’s that were important for them. They all were green independent businesses.

B: read the first paragraph and check your answers in Exercise A.

C: read the rest of the article and say if these statements are true or false.

D: answer these questions

Multinationals can increased distribution, access to more markets, and most of all, cold, hard cash.

It cause factory closings, job losses, and management changes.

E: find the three expressions in the first paragraph that describe one company being taken over by another company.

F: complete the paragraph below with the words from the box.

G: discuss this statement.

The transport of values from a smaller green company to a large multinational that has taken it over is impossible.

It depends on how the takeover needs to add value to the bigger company. If they took over the company to innovate than I can be that they take over their core values. If they just wanted to take over competition than they don’t need to care about its values because they are no longer rivals.

Language review: prediction and probability

A: choose the correct verb forms.

B: work in pairs. Say what you really think about the likelihood of these things happening.

C: work in pairs. Make predict about you company, your country or yourself.

In my lifetime, it’s certain that I’ll find a job.

In the near future, you will be finding me hanging in a bar.

In the next couple of years, I will be studying at Brussels.

Over the next decade I will have been in the news.

Skills: making a presentation

A: listen and answer these questions.

There are three main reasons: the gap in the market, the market conditions and the opportunity for growth.

She has a clear, realistic and ambitious strategy for the Highview brand. We plan to buy other hotels in the UK, improve their performance and market them using the Highview brand. Highview will be the future of budget hotels in the UK. Highview will set a new standard for value for money.

D: you are the Managing Director of Eastman Property. Your company intends to buy one of these businesses located in your country:

Choose one of the businesses. Make a presentation to a group of investors explaining why you wish to buy the business, and what plans you have for its future development.

Right why did we choose this business equipment store. This is the fantastic opportunity to acquire this business equipment store. There is a gap in the market which offer full market cover. Right I’ve told why we want to acquire, the equipment store will set new standard in a complete new market that we’ll be having all for ourselves in the next couple of years. We will start small but since there are little competitors known we will become the market leader at the end of our first year in this newly discovered market.

Источники информации:

What have you been up to the manager says

74 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with a Manager

The post below is broken up into 2 sections:

Part 1: 23 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with Your Boss

1) Questions to help you take charge of your one on ones

Key questions to help you take charge of your one on ones

2) Questions for managing up

Questions for uncovering your manager’s needs, goals, and language

Further reading:

3) Questions to drive your career growth

Checking in on your progress

Further reading:

Part 2: 51 Questions to Ask in One on Ones with Your Managers

Support your managers with regular one on ones

Questions to ask about the Multiplier Mindset

Questions to ask how things are going with their team?

Questions to ask about resources they need & how they perceive you

Further reading:

Questions to ask how they’re feeling?

Questions to ask about how they manage & grow their people

Further reading:

Questions to talk about handling change

Questions to talk about managing up to you

Further reading

what have you been up to

No Response After an Interview? Here’s How to Follow Up By Email

How to Follow Up by Email After an Interview:

Step 1: Craft a Strong Follow-Up Email Subject Line

Step 2: Writing the Body of Your Follow-Up Email

Sample Follow-Up Emails After an Interview

First Follow-Up Email:

Second Follow-Up Email After No Response:

Interview Follow-Up Email Combined with a Thank-You Email:

How Long Should You Wait After an Interview to Follow Up?

What Else to Do While Waiting for Interview Feedback

“These Emails Seem Too Simple. Should I Add More?”

What if the Employer Says They Don’t Have Any Feedback Yet?

Sample Email Response if Employer Says They Don’t Have Any Status Updates:

What if the Company Hasn’t Responded to Multiple Emails After the Interview?

Sample Email Body:

Be Patient After This…

Follow-Up Email to Second Person in Company (After No Response):

How to Conclude Your Interview Follow-Up Email

Two More Tips for Following Up

Hold Up! Before you go on an interview.

Keep Reading

7 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them (With Examples!)

What Are Interviewers Looking for in Project Managers?

1. What Types of Projects Have You Worked On?

How to Answer

2. Can You Walk Me Through a Specific Project You Worked on, What Your Role Was, Who the Stakeholders Were, and What Problem You Were Solving?

How to Answer

3. Tell Me About a Time When a Project You Were Working on Went Off the Rails or an Unexpected Challenge Came Up—and How You Got It Back on Track.

How to Answer

4. How Would You Describe Your Communication Style?

How to Answer

5. How Do You Motivate People to Stay on Track and Meet Their Deadlines?

How to Answer

6. What Experience Do You Have With Process Development?

How to Answer It

7. What’s Your Proficiency Level With [Name of Software or Tool]?

How to Answer It

Unit 7: management styles

Unit 8: team building

Unit 9: raising finance

Unit 10: customer service

Unit 11: crisis management

Unit 12: mergers and acquisitions

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