BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Hi2023

A. Read the following departmental meeting in a customer services

department of a company. From the context, try to guess what the
meaning of the words/phrases in bold are.

Chair:
'Thanks for coming to the meeting today. I'm sorry that we had to put off the meeting until today. It would
have been better to have had the meeting last week as was originally planned. As I told you before, the
last meeting was postponed because something very urgent came up, which meant that I couldn't attend.
Everybody is here today except Peter Jenkins, who is on holiday. So Roger Wilson is standing in for him
today in the meeting. Welcome Roger.
You'll be happy to hear that we don't have a lot to get through today. There's only three items on the
agenda. So I'll start by just running through the items on the agenda. The first item is about the recent
changes to the customer service telephone project. The second item is about the problems at the Dublin
Call Centre. And the last item is an update on the new government legislation.
The meeting is scheduled to last two hours. I'm sure that it won't run over today. I believe that we'll be
finished after one and half hours. Before we start talking about the first item, I just want to inform you that
this Saturday's company cricket match has been called off. It seems that the weather forecast says that
it's going to rain all weekend. So you can relax at home this weekend.
So Jane, do you want to update us on the changes in the customer services telephone project.'

Jane:
'Thanks Steve. First of all, the project is still on schedule. We haven't run into any major problems. There
was a small issue in testing, about 10% of calls were being lost. I'm pleased to tell you that we identified
the problem and this has been sorted out. There has been a development with the automatic customer
answering system. The Managing Director told us earlier this week that he didn't like having a northern
accent on the answering system and has asked us to change it to a southern accent. So'

Chair:
'Sorry Jane, going back to the problem with the lost calls. What was the problem?'

Jane:
'Well, it was'

Ian:

'Sorry Jane, do you mind if I answer this?'

Jane:
'No, go ahead.'

Ian:
'There was a simple problem with the routing of the calls, which just required a reconfiguration. It won't
cause any more problems.'

Chair:
'Ok. So Jane, about the accent, go on.'

Jane:
'As I was saying, we have to change the accent. We've already hired someone to re-record the messages
in a southern accent.
The last change is about me. I'm leaving the project on the 12th of May to start another project with the
finance department. So, my colleague Tim Berridge will be taking over the role of Project Manager for the
project on that date.'

Chair:
'Sorry to hear that you're leaving us. I just need to take down the date when you're leaving the project. I
forget things if I haven't written them down. So you're leaving the project on the 12th of May?'

Jane:
'Yes.'

Simon:
'Although it's not connected, do you mind if I bring up an issue there is with the misuse of the internet by
staff, which I'd liked to discuss with you all?'

Chair:
'Simon, you'll have an opportunity to talk about this later, but there are other issues that we need to talk
about first.'

B. Below is a definition or description of each of the phrasal verbs in bold

from the above text. Now fill in the blanks with one of these phrasal verbs
in bold. Only use one phrasal verb once and write it as it is in the text.

1. A phrasal verb that means that someone temporarily takes the place and responsibility of
a person who can't attend a meeting, is
standing in, fill in
2. A phrasal verb that means something finishes later than expected, is
Run over
3. A phrasal verb that means to quickly talk about a plan or agenda, is
running through
4. A phrasal verb that means that something important unexpectedly happened, is
came up
5. A phrasal verb that is used when you want a topic/subject to be discussed in a meeting, is

bring up
6. A phrasal verb that gives somebody permission to talk, is
Go ahead
7. A phrasal verb that means something is cancelled, is

Called off
8. A phrasal verb that means to write some information or details, is
take down
9. A phrasal verb which asks someone to continue talking about something, is
Go on
10. A phrasal verb that means to complete a quantity of work/topics/questions, is
get through

11. A phrasal verb that means someone new will become responsible for a task or project, is
taking over
12. A phrasal verb that is used to ask about or refer to something said before, is
Going back
13. A phrasal verb that means to postpone something, is
Put off

Case Study 3:
The Al Munir Hotel Group and Spa Group wish to build customer
loyalty by getting to know their visitors better and encouraging them to
return to its hotels.
1. You are given the Results of Customer Satisfaction Survey (page
28), with this information develop a survey containing the main
points: location, rooms, amenities, service, staff, information,
value for money. * This is a 10 questions survey.
2. Once you have your survey, write two short reviews from the
customers given at the end of the survey. In each review use at
least four multi word verbs (phrasal verbs).
3. Write one conversation, as in the exercise above using at least 8
phrasal verbs. The conversation length is up to you, make sure
you cover the phrasal verbs requested.
Do not repeat the phrasal verbs (multi verbs).

Satisfaction survey
From 1 to 5 answer the following questions
1- Poor
2- Below the average.
3- Average.
4- Good.
5- Outstanding.

What do you think our Hotel & Spa are in a

Are you comfortable in our rooms?

What do you think about our caf, restaurant, spa, gym, business
center, swimming pool, crche and concierge?

Which of these words describe our amenities?

What can you say about our Hotel service?

What can you say about our Spa service?

How will you grade our Hotel staff (Their helpfulness, enthusiasm and
knowledge)?

How will you grade our Spa staff (Their helpfulness, enthusiasm and
knowledge)?

Hotel & Spa Value of money

good location?

Our Company sends our marketing specialist to drum up marketing

strategies.
As a company we want to get ahead in our job and work its why we are
trying to improve our services.
Were starting a new business hiring out limousines for weddings and parties
in our hotel.

Our employees should knuckle down and get on with their work.
We hope we measure up to your expectations.
General Manager:
Good morning miss Hernandez, thanks for coming to the meeting today. Were sorry that we had to put off the
meeting until today; the last meeting was postponed because something very urgent came up, and made it
impossible to meet that day.
Almost everyone is here; miss Rodriguez couldnt make it so Wilson is standing in for him today in the meeting.
So I'll start by just running through the to do list in the agenda, we don't have a lot to get through this time, I
wont take more than an hour, it won't run over today.
Miss Hernandez:
Sorry Manager going back to the to do list. What I need to do for next week?

General Manager:
Well, you will be taking over of the new marketing campaign to increase sales.