Fill in the gaps with the words from the box:

achievement chart     stickers  flow sense guidelines     challenges face      prioritize   meet      rewarding ahead

The project is going very well. In fact, we’re ___________ of schedule. The work______ is organized efficiently and we have a big wall _________ with __________ showing the different stages of the project and what everyone should be doing. I like our team leader – she has established the general __________ for our work, but she leaves it up to us to _____________ our tasks on a day-to-day basis. Of course, there are always ___________ to ________, but so far we’ve been able to meet those challenges. It’s great experience. I find the work stimulating and ______________. It’s given me a real _________ of ______________.

Fill in the gaps with the words from the box:

deadline frame circumstances workload control paperwork quick dirty short-cuts consuming stressed behind

 

The __________ in this project is far bigger than anyone expected. There is a lot of unexpected ______________ that is very time-_____________ to complete. Things aren’t going well, In fact, we’re _________ schedule. We might even miss the _____________. Everyone is totally ___________ out. People are taking ___________ and quality is suffering. It’s so frustrating and it’s not even our fault - it’s entirely due to ____________ behind our _________. The only way we’re going to finish this work within the given time _________ is by finding some kind of _____________ and ____________ solution. I know it isn’t ideal, but what else can we do?

3) Complete the sentences with the words from the box:

allow find make up put in run out of save spend waste

 

1. How much time do you _________ on reading books about management?

2. I know you are busy, but I wonder if you could __________ some time tomorrow to check my report?

3. That’s it. We have to finish now. We’ve ____________ time.

4. Please ___________ ten working days for delivery.

5. Last week I ___________six hours overtime. They are going to pay me time-and-a-half.

6. This really isn’t important. We’ll ____________ too much time if we do it. Let’s just leave it.

7. That’s an excellent idea – we could ____________ around two weeks on our planned schedule by doing it.

8. I got distracted this afternoon. I’ll have to __________time by staying late at the office tonight.

4) Look at ‘What managers do’ and find:

1. a word that is used in two ways: a) a plan of how to spend money, and b) the money itself. ______________

2. a formal word that is used in the field of human resources to mean ‘specific knowledge and skill’. In other words, knowledge and skills that are used for a particular task in a particular job. ___________________

5) Read the text about delegating and answer the questions below:

All managers have constraints on their time – so many tasks seem urgent and vital, and yet no one person can tackle them all. Delegation is the answer.

Once you’ve appointed the person responsible for the particular task, you need to brief them thoroughly. How much autonomy are you going to allow them? How often should they report back to you with progress updates, and in what detail? After all, it’s not just you who needs to know what’s happening.

Control will be a key issue. What happens if they hit an unexpected snag? You can’t take all the responsibility away from them – figuring out solution to problems will be a challenge and a motivation for them. However, you do need to make sure that tasks are completed successfully.

Find a word from the text that means:

1. limits ____________________________

2. deal with __________________________

3. give necessary information _______________________________

4. (four words) be part of a group of people that has information about something ________________________

5. (informal) problem ____________________

6. (phrasal verb) being able to understand, solving ______________________

Discussion topic

Draw your own personalized mind map of 'How l spend my time'. lf possible, focus on time at work. Otherwise, just think about your time in general. When you finish, show your mind map to a colleague end discuss.

Essay topics

Choose one of the topics below and write a short essay:

1) Planning is the basis of spontaneity. Do you agree or disagree? Explain why.

2) Harold Macmillan, a British Prime Minister, was  asked what was the greatest difficulty he faced. He replied 'Events, dear boy. Events’. Give an example from your own life of how events changed (or destroyed) your plans.

Text 3.

Vocabulary

entrepreneur

to have something in common

to simplify

authority

commitment

regardless of

as well as

praise

appreciation

recognition

used to (This building used to be our school. Moscow used to be a small village in the past.)

get out of someone’s way

empowering

trustworthy

resistance

to fail, failure

follow-through

ability

to laugh at yourself

financial reward

Reading

Leading and motivating