Managing Change

Trainer’s notes

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Unit 2 Why change?

Change is often influenced and determined by external factors, both positive and negative. Therefore, it is worthwhile working on how companies and individuals respond to these factors. The unit also emphasises how important it is to develop long-term thinking about change as opposed to being reactive, with the risk of a ‘knee-jerk’ response to threats or opportunities. Identifying the reasons for change is a key skill and the unit uses a well-known case of failure to do so (Kodak) to exemplify this, as well as focusing on the argumentation language required to convey the need for change. Linked to strategic thinking around this area is the final element covered in the unit, namely the capacity to communicate the positive long-term consequences of change – a vision of what benefits will be accrued.

A Discussion and listening

Think about it Exercise 1 This task can be done as pair work with each pair reporting back to the whole group. You can take part with examples of your own to add a little variety. Listen to this Exercise 2 This listening takes the form of a discussion within a meeting. It is lengthy, so learners will probably need to listen twice to note down all the information required. Collate the answers at the end. Exercise 3 This exercise briefly focuses on the language of communicating consequences and results. Use the listening exercise to identify where the exponents are used in the meeting. Pause the CD where necessary. If you feel it is worthwhile, you can add other exponents to the four used. Focus on language Exercises 4a and 4b These exercises use the threats and opportunities highlighted in the listening task, so learners may be able to identify which at least some of them are from memory. Having checked the answers and written them on the board, ask the whole group if they can give you any other examples of the kinds of threats and opportunities companies can face in their operating environment (e.g. labour costs, economic instability, lower prices for technology).

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Exercise 5 Once they have attempted the gap-fill exercise, ask learners to compare answers. Guide them towards identifying which words each of the verbs connects to (forming a collocation). At some stage (and now is as good a time as any), highlight the importance of organising their intake and learning of common collocations in business English, pointing out that there is a vast range of such vocabulary pairings/grouping in this area of language. Let’s talk Exercise 6 Learners can use their own companies if they have sufficient information and are prepared to share that information with the others in the group. They will need a significant amount of thinking time to prepare their interventions, so be aware that this task may take longer than other Let’s talk tasks. On occasions, going into such detail about their own companies can be a sensitive point for certain individuals, especially if there is someone else in the group whose company works in the same sector (by no means unlikely). If this is the case, you can allocate a different sector to members of the group in order to make their information less commercially sensitive. Some ideas are: • fast food • technological gadgets • industrial machinery supply • healthcare • clothes retailing Summarise what you think are the main outcomes of this lesson. By the end of this part, students will have had the opportunity to: • talk about different kinds of external influences bearing upon companies’ needs for change. • learn how to use language for expressing aims and positive consequences. • identify and practise using expressions referring to specific threats and opportunities. • identify and use common collocations referring to the external business environment. Ask them to think about what could be applied to their own work and what they want to write down in their learning diary.

B Communication skills: Discussing change strategy

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Think about it Exercise 1 As an introduction, you could elicit the common expressions referring to positive, negative and realistic scenarios: worst-case scenario, best-case scenario and most likely scenario. This adds an extra focus on discussing the usefulness of spending time as an organisation projecting the possible consequences of change. Exercise 2 Ask for real-life examples as a whole-class activity. Note that the question refers to both professional and personal examples. It might be interesting to ask learners to reflect on the latter, as interesting cases can emerge from learners’ previous life experience. Listen to this Exercise 3 You can play the first sentence of the listening exercise to identify the sector in which the company is operating. Then, ask the learners to answer questions (a) to (c). Highlight the fact that only one scenario is discussed here. Once you have collated all the answers and clarified any queries, learners could work in small groups to present their assessments of what choice(s) the partners could make. Exercise 4 This exercise identifies skills required for scenario-planning and gives a detailed definition of each one. Learners can work individually to match the definition to the label it is given in the Venn diagram (explain the name if required, as a point of interest). Exercise 5 This exercise is a short consolidation of the three elements of scenario-planning from the previous exercise. If you wish, you can replay the listening extract to identify in which part of the discussion the sentences occur. Focus on language Exercise 6 This exercise focuses on the language used to express degrees of certainty about the future. Many learners have problems in expressing this concept, relying on the default ‘perhaps’ or ‘maybe’. If certain learners finish before others, ask them to think of other exponents which mean the same as the ones they have used. Thus, the whole group can benefit from an extension of the language focused on in the excise. This tip is applicable to all exercises where completion is often dependent on the previous knowledge the learner brings to the task.

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Exercise 7 Ask learners to use their answers from the previous exercise (plus any extra ones generated) to fill the columns. Collate and comment where necessary. Exercise 8 As previously mentioned in Unit 1, change can often be framed in terms of ‘drivers’ and ‘resistors’. The expressions 1–6 are used in this exercise are examples of varying degrees of resistance or reservations about change. Sentences a–f are suitable responses to these ‘resistors’. If the learners are curious about how they can frame their responses as clear alternatives, you can present introductory phrases we use to express contrary opinions or points of view, such as: • Yes, but … • Even so, … • I see your point, but … • I hear what you are saying, but … • OK. Nevertheless, … Exercise 9 This exercise asks learners to assess the validity of the responses given. If they question it, you could ask them to come up with an alternative response. This could include the tactic of asking a question to the original speaker to probe why they are expressing reservations or resistance. Exercise 10 Spend a short time extending language from the previous exercise. Learners could work in pairs to generate possible objections to change. Give them hints where necessary. Let’s talk Exercise 11 This task focuses on a specific sector, that of publishing. As instructed, learners work in groups. Ask them to use flipcharts to present their findings to the other group(s). If you feel you want to add variety, you could give each group a sub-sector of the publishing industry to work on (e.g. newspapers, books, glossy magazines). Monitor the groups’ progress and input ideas where necessary. Summarise what you think are the main outcomes of this lesson. By the end of this part, students will have had the opportunity to: • learn about common threats to a company from its business environment. • Identify, discuss and assess scenario-planning.

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• learn about and practise using the language of degrees certainty about the future. • discuss different scenarios and strategies in relation to a sector-specific example. Ask them to think about what could be applied to their own work and what they want to write down in their learning diary.

C Professional communication skills: Making the case for change Think about it Exercise 1 Give learners a few minutes to think about companies which have been negatively affected by an incapacity to adapt to changing times. The technology market provides several examples (Blackberry, Nokia, Microsoft, Sony and Yahoo), but others could include Sears (mail-order catalogue retailing), Blockbuster (Video/DVD/Gaming rental) and Woolworths. You may need to explain some of these examples. Exercise 2 This is a brief introduction to the following reading exercise. Ask learners to help you compile a list of Kodak products, including cameras, film, slides and other accessories (useful vocabulary). Read this Exercise 3 As a quick task, ask learners to skim the first four paragraphs and identify the answer to the first question. Then give them time to read the article in more detail and gather the answers to the following four questions. Exercise 4 Learners can work in pairs to create a list of steps (either a simple list or a form of flowchart) to complete the task. You could ask them to take one of the companies identified in Exercise 1 in this section if they need a specific example to frame their response. They can then briefly report back / present their information to the group. Focus on language Exercise 5 This exercise may require reference back to the text. The words on the left all refer in some way to the idea of learning from the past about how and when to implement change. Ask learners to briefly compare answers and report back to the whole group.

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Exercise 6 Feed in and check comprehension of the structure should have + past participle, and ask learners to work in pairs to reconstruct the four sentences using the positive or negative form where appropriate. Let’s talk Exercise 7 The discussion focuses on how change has affected / could affect the industries around the use of technology for entertainment, work and financial services. This opens up the possibility for wide-ranging discussion, but may require some vocabulary input on your part to identify specific terminology for potential developments (e.g. augmented reality, touch-screen, self-driving vehicles, detachable, memory cards, intelligent houses, phablets, QR codes, phone swipe, and so on). Summarise what you think are the main outcomes of this lesson. By the end of this section, students will have had the opportunity to: • read about and discuss the risks of failing to adapt to changing circumstances. • learn about structures specific to identifying past mistakes. • express ideas and opinions concerning rapid change in various sectors reliant on technological change. Ask them to think about what could be applied to their own work and what they want to write down in their learning diary.

D Intercultural competence: Communicating a vision across cultures Exercises 1a and 1b In order to fully exploit these exercises, it may be useful for some input regarding different management styles. The diagrams below give you some models, the lexis from which can be input if necessary.

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Regarding how learners have picked up (or wish to adopt) management styles, ask them to work in pairs to brainstorm ways in which the skills/competences from management can be acquired (or learned?). Get feedback on the background of everyone in the group. Exercises 2 and 3 These exercises are simple matching tasks – adjectives applied to style on the left with definitions on the right. Learners can work individually on these, compare notes and move on to Exercise 3 to match the quotes with the qualities/definitions. As an optional extension to the exercise, ask learners if they can name any famous leaders (business or otherwise, e.g. politicians, sports managers/coaches) whose management style was distinctive and characterised by the qualities in the exercises. Exercise 4 For the three items under discussion, learners can work in three groups and move round from group to group in order to vary the dynamic and to get input from as many members of the group as possible. When getting whole group feedback, ask individual learners to comment on anything notable they have discovered about other members of the group. Exercise 5 This task creates four scenarios where the style of management could well need to be adapted given the circumstances. Learners work in groups and should be encouraged to recycle the vocabulary from the previous exercises. After the discussion, check whether all the groups agree with each other’s assessment of the style required. If not, explore the differences, depending on the time available.

Case study: Adapting a change strategy in China This case study explicitly references the particular style of business relationships and management required when working in the Chinese market. Give learners plenty of time to read and digest the text. For the listening extract, they should take notes and then compare in small groups to ensure they follow the details of his proposal and the style in which he presents it. Task 1 Before they read the short cultural briefing about China at the back of the book (and depending on the level of knowledge they have), ask learners to work briefly in pairs to predict what pieces of information such a briefing might contain. Then they can read the briefing and check how far they were right.

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Task 2 Working in groups, the learners could be given the role of external consultants to Netwerks, preparing to give advice to the liaison team in the company (or to Fred himself) on how he could better adapt his business approach to Chinese counterparts. Leave time for extensive feedback and discussion of answers to Task 2. This is a significant area for international business people to reflect on, especially given that, in this case, they may need to reassess their mind-set in order to change certain assumptions and behaviour about the ‘right’ style to adopt. Summarise what you think are the main outcomes of this lesson. By the end of this part, students will have had the opportunity to: • define and describe diverse management styles. • reflect on and discuss the importance of being capable of adapting style to context. • learn about the differences in written style for the same message. • advise a key international liaison manager on why his initial approach failed. Ask them to think about what could be applied to their own work and what they want to write down in their learning diary.

E Language reference This section is intended as a part summary, part extension of language for learners to retain from this unit. It is also designed mainly for self-study reference, although you may wish to use it for reinforcement in the classroom as well. Glossary Ask if there are any other words in the unit that students need to record in vocabulary notebooks. Writing tasks These tasks form an important part of the course. The course tends to reserve written tasks for Section E, so learners should be strongly encouraged to complete at least one, and preferably both. Providing feedback on student writing can be time-consuming. You need to be clear in advance about how much feedback you can realistically provide. In an ideal world, however, it’s best to provide feedback in two stages: 1) by highlighting text which you want the writer to revisit. and 2) by correcting a second draft. The consolation is that students who do this conscientiously often make quite rapid progress, so that the amount of error to work on goes down steadily with practice.

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Language learning tips Strongly encourage students not just to take note of these tips but to activate them. Reflecting on how one learns a language can help to make one’s learning more efficient; encouraging students to exchange ideas about the way each of them learns will help them to extend their repertoire of techniques and approaches. Talking about learning in the classroom on a regular basis will certainly increase the learning effectiveness of your students and make the time they spend with you more profitable for them – and for you, too.

F Change management tips and personal action plan Exercise 1 Although intended primarily for self-study and reference, this section of each unit, like Section E, can afford a great deal of additional classroom discussion – to start with, simply by addressing the questions in the rubric. TIP encourages learners to reflect on both personal and professional development. Although this must be respected as confidential in some sensitive cases, you can nevertheless encourage students to discuss events in their own jobs which have helped them develop. Furthermore, if you have the opportunity to get to know them over time, you can provide some perspective on where they were before and where they have moved on to. This is part of the praising role that coaches perform and reflects the opportunity you have to develop other roles in the classroom beside that of trainer-instructor. Personal action plan Exercise 4 If students can begin this kind of discussion and feedback process with each other, it can only be of benefit to them. If they can do it in your classroom, in an atmosphere of openness and trust, then you and they should find such exchanges increasingly rewarding.