Working from home - BUSINESS ENGLISH vocabulary and communication tips

Great communication and a good knowledge of business English is essential to developing your career, however this is even more true when we work from home! Working remotely, whether you're a digital nomad, location independent worker, or have a hybrid job, is more common than ever before. In this episode we look at some great business English vocabulary to talk about working from home, including idioms and phrasal verbs to help you sound more native and natural when you speak and write in English. We hear a natural and native sounding conversation about working remotely, and we finish with a quiz to find out how much of this new vocabulary you've remembered. Don't forget, if you want to work with me in one on one, private sessions then I am a full time Business English coach and tutor. I spend my whole professional life helping international professionals to improve the way that they communicate at work. You can book some of my time at www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Transcript

00:00:01 

Welcome back to the breakout Business English podcast, helping you to communicate better at work. Hi everyone. My name is Chris and I'm a business English coach and tutor. Thank you so much for stopping by and. 

00:00:20 

Today's topic is working from home or if you like, remote working. 

00:00:28 

The events of the past couple of years have changed a lot about the way that we work. One of the most common changes is that many more companies now allow their employees to work from home. So let's explore some vocabulary. 

00:00:48 

That we can use to talk about this new way of working. 

00:00:54 

We're going to start off slightly differently today. Usually we go straight to our vocabulary in sessions like this, but today I'd like to start with a short conversation, a dialogue. This is going to show you all of the vocabulary that we'll be talking about today. 

00:01:13 

In context, so take a listen and see if there's anything in there that's new for you. 

00:01:23 

I always thought I'd need a brick and mortar office, but since we started working from home, I've started to really enjoy it. I might even put my things into storage and become a digital nomad. 

00:01:35 

I see where you're coming from, but I kind of missed the office. I saw a Co working space in the city centre the other day and I think I'm going to try it out. 

00:01:48 

Well, it's not like the office has disappeared. 

00:01:51 

Do you think you might prefer a hybrid arrangement? You could come in a couple of days a week, for instance, and get the best of both worlds. 

00:02:00 

I think that might be a good idea. Besides, I think it's important to meet up with the team from time to time. Plus, when I'm in the office, at least I know when I'm supposed to clock off. 

00:02:15 

Personally, I don't know if I'll ever go back to the office. Everything is in the cloud now anyway. I can't remember the last time I needed to print anything out. 

00:02:25 

Well, OK, I guess I'll let the boss know that you'll be joining our next meeting from the beach then. 

00:02:35 

OK, so hopefully you found some vocabulary in there that you've never heard before. This is an example conversation that I use with some of the professionals I work with and I don't know if you noticed there, but well, I work on my own from home. 

00:02:55 

I didn't have anyone available to record those other parts with me, so that was an AI text to speech voice. 

00:03:05 

What did you think? Was it convincing? Should I continue to use those on the podcast? I didn't have anyone else around to record right then. So yeah, I think it sounds pretty good. I wonder if I hadn't told you if you would have noticed. 

00:03:24 

So. 

00:03:25 

Our first word for today is brick and mortar, or should I say our first phrase for today? 

00:03:33 

This is an old phrase that has really started to become more popular over the past 20 or so years. Bricks you may know are the things that we use to construct buildings. Mortar is the name of the stuff we use to stick those bricks together. 

00:03:54 

The grey substance that we can use with bricks to build walls and buildings, so then a brick and mortar office would be a real office, a physical, real life office building. 

00:04:10 

We often talk about how Internet based companies might not have brick and mortar offices or the fact that most online shops and stores don't have brick and mortar locations. So if you work for. 

00:04:28 

Home then maybe it's been a while since you were last in a brick and mortar office. 

00:04:37 

Next, there we had the phrase digital nomad in our conversation. One of our speakers said I might even put my things into storage and become a digital nomad. 

00:04:53 

This is a piece of vocabulary that I've used a lot over the past couple of years because until very recently I was one. I spent two years travelling around the world, working with professionals online, working remotely, and I was a digital nomad. 

00:05:13 

I went to 20 countries in around two years. 

00:05:18 

So if this is the kind of lifestyle that you live to, then maybe you can describe yourself as a digital nomad. I think some people are also using something like a location independent worker as well. I think that's quite common. 

00:05:37 

So digital is how we describe anything that uses computer technology. 

00:05:45 

So my digital watch or my digital display in my car. 

00:05:52 

Nomad is a less common word. This word means a person who travels all the time. In the past we use this mainly to describe, perhaps tribes of farmers who moved with their animals. However, these days we use it. 

00:06:12 

Most to describe professionals who work online and don't have a regular place that they work from, they travel around. 

00:06:21 

You will likely also hear, as I mentioned, location independent professional or other similar phrases used to describe people who work in this way too. 

00:06:35 

The next piece of vocabulary we heard today was Co working space, often used by digital nomads to give them a good place to work from. 

00:06:47 

Co working spaces are office type environments that you can work from for a fee. Usually there is a daily or weekly price. 

00:07:00 

You get a desk, great Wi-Fi and other things like maybe free tea and coffee and snacks. 

00:07:09 

Companies like we work made Co working space is popular and since 2020 many freelancers and other professionals who work remotely have been joining up. I think that one reason people like these spaces is that working from home can get lonely. 

00:07:30 

The office is increasingly becoming a social space where people simply go to meet and talk to their colleagues. Co working spaces give you the opportunity to do. 

00:07:44 

This even when you don't have access to a regular office through your employer. While we're here, a quick note for Native German speakers, and I also hear this from native Hungarian speakers. I often hear people saying things like. 

00:08:05 

I like to Home Office or I really wish I could Home Office more. 

00:08:12 

Home Office is not a very natural or native phrase. You might say I have a Home Office but not to use it. 

00:08:22 

As a verb. 

00:08:24 

Native speakers might use it as a noun. I built myself a great Home Office or I got a new chair for my home. 

00:08:32 

Office, but we wouldn't use it as a verb. Like I say, this is mostly a tip for Native German and Hungarian speakers, but if you use this phrase as a verb. 

00:08:46 

Be careful with that one. It's worth noting that the Home Office is also a department of the British government responsible for immigration, security and law and order, which might explain to some extent why we don't use this phrase. 

00:09:05 

So much in the UK. 

00:09:07 

OK, let's take a break from vocabulary for a moment and talk about some tips for working from home. 

00:09:17 

I know that a lot of people listening to this podcast will be working from home right now. I certainly know that a lot of the professionals that I work with every day to improve their English communication skills work from home. So what tips and ideas? 

00:09:37 

Can we use to make us more efficient and better at working from home? 

00:09:45 

Our first tip today is to over communicate, and by this I mean to communicate more than you usually would, especially when communicating important information. When you're working in the same office as your colleagues. 

00:10:06 

Not only is it easier to fix a failure of communication, but you're also more likely to be understood properly the 1st. 

00:10:18 

Let's take a look at a couple of phrases that you might use to over communicate an important point, for instance, that the date of the meeting has changed. 

00:10:33 

There's a good chance you're already aware of this, but I want to let you know once more that the date of the meeting has changed. 

00:10:46 

I just want to make sure that everyone is aware that the date of the meeting has changed. 

00:10:55 

Just to make sure that everyone is up to speed, the date of the meeting has changed. This might go without saying, but we've decided to change the date of the meeting. 

00:11:14 

Let's talk about that phrase up to speed. 

00:11:18 

If someone is up to speed, then they have the latest information on a certain subject. 

00:11:27 

We often use this idiom with the word bring as in could you bring the team up to speed on what's happening with the project please? Or hey, thanks for bringing me up to speed. 

00:11:44 

Let's talk briefly about that last phrase. If we say something goes without saying, then we mean that we probably don't need to say it. We mean that people likely already know this information without being told. 

00:12:03 

However, we're over communicating so we can use this phrase to make sure that everyone on the team is aware of something that we might even think is obvious. 

00:12:17 

This is similar to the phrase, Needless to say, which maybe feels a little bit more formal. 

00:12:26 

So that was our working from home tip for today. Let's take a quick tour of the phrasal verbs in today's conversation. Some of these you might know some of these might be new to you. 

00:12:44 

You might have noticed, for instance, I saw a Co working space in the city centre the other day and I think I'm going to try it out. 

00:12:56 

To try something out is a phrasal verb that means to try something to see if you like it or to form an opinion. Usually something new. For instance, you might try out a new restaurant in your town. 

00:13:16 

Or at work you might say to a colleague. Have you tried out the new coffee machine in the break room? 

00:13:25 

This is very similar to the verb try used on its own, and you could definitely say I'm going to try a new coffee shop this afternoon, or I'm going to try out a new coffee shop this afternoon. 

00:13:43 

Adding the preposition out and using the phrasal verb makes this a little less formal, however. 

00:13:53 

Keep in mind that if you want to say that you'll attempt to do something, as in, I'm going to try to write the report on my own, then you can't use this phrasal verb. It's not as natural there. 

00:14:10 

It has this very specific meaning of testing or sampling. Something to see if you like it, or maybe to see if it works. For instance, I've been using Android phones for years, but I think I'm going to try out an Apple iPhone next time. 

00:14:31 

The second phrasal verb in our conversation at the beginning today was to meet up to meet up. 

00:14:42 

One of our speakers said, I think it's important to meet up with the team from time to time. 

00:14:51 

To meet and to meet up mean almost the same thing and can be used in most of the same situations. However, to meet up is a phrasal verb, and as we know, phrasal verbs are usually more casual and. 

00:15:10 

Informal. 

00:15:12 

So to meet up is usually how you would describe meeting a friend, or if you're meeting a colleague after work, then you might say I'm meeting up with a couple of the team for drinks after work. Fancy joining us? 

00:15:31 

Don't forget when we use meet up, we usually put the word with before the name of the other person, as in hey, let's meet up with Andy tomorrow morning. 

00:15:46 

The third phrasal verb in today's conversation was clock off to clock off. This phrasal verb comes from the idea that you might need to stamp on a card using a machine with a clock on it at exactly the time you. 

00:16:07 

Arrive at work and leave work. So as you can probably guess, we use clock on to describe the time that we arrive at work and clock. 

00:16:21 

Off. 

00:16:22 

To talk about the time that we leave or finish. 

00:16:28 

An interesting fact here is that although clock off is common in British English, clock out is more common in the United States, and when you start work, you're more likely to say clock in if you're in the United States. 

00:16:48 

And clock on in the United. 

00:16:51 

Kingdom. 

00:16:52 

Both sets of phrasal verbs mean the same thing, though to clock on or clock in both mean to start work and to clock off or clock out both mean to finish work, so you might say something like do you think you'll get this finished before you clock off tonight? 

00:17:16 

Ohh hey, what time do you clock on tomorrow? 

00:17:21 

OK, let's take a look at an adjective. From the conversation we heard, and that adjective is hybrid hybrid. 

00:17:32 

One of our speakers today said do you think you might prefer a hybrid work arrangement? You could come in a couple of times a week, for instance, and get the best of both worlds. 

00:17:48 

We can use hybrid to describe anything that takes two ideas and tries to make them work together. These days we often hear this when we talk about working from home, a hybrid arrangement in this context would mean that you spend. 

00:18:09 

Some time working from home and some time working from the office. 

00:18:15 

You can use this in other contexts too in a problem solving meeting. For instance, you might hear someone say I think both of those are good ideas. Maybe we could try a hybrid of the two. 

00:18:34 

This would mean that you take some of one idea and some of another idea and see if they can work together. 

00:18:44 

Maybe the best parts of both solutions. 

00:18:49 

Or maybe if your company is growing, you might say we used to have one department that was a hybrid of accounting and logistics. However, these days we have separate departments for each. In this case, you're talking about changing from a hybrid system. 

00:19:10 

To two dedicated systems. 

00:19:14 

One for accounting and one for logistics. Instead of one department that does both. 

00:19:23 

There was an idiom in the dialogue today. Did you notice it? The idiom was the best of both worlds, as in the sentence you could come in a couple of days a week, for instance, and get the best of both worlds. 

00:19:41 

The best of both worlds is an idiom that means that you have two different options or choice. 

00:19:48 

Users and both have their advantages. However, if you have the best of both worlds, then you get the advantages of both options, and usually none of the disadvantages. For instance, if I walk to work then I get more exercise. 

00:20:09 

But driving to work gets me there a lot more quickly. Alternatively, I could ride a bike to work this way. I get the exercise and the ability to get to work more quickly. I get the best of both worlds. 

00:20:29 

You might wish that you could spend more time with your family, but also want a really good job. Well, if you work from home, you get the best of both worlds. You can have that great job and see more of your family. You certainly wouldn't need to commute anymore. 

00:20:50 

Or one more example, your boss might tell your team. I think both of these ideas have strengths. It would be great if we could find a hybrid solution and get the best of both worlds. 

00:21:07 

OK, let's go through two quick pieces of vocabulary here. One of our speakers said everything is in the cloud now. Anyway, the cloud refers to anything that is stored and exists on the Internet. You may store documents. 

00:21:26 

Or photos in the cloud. 

00:21:29 

You might also have meetings in the cloud. Many of us have jobs these days that exist entirely in the cloud, which is what allows a lot of people to become digital nomads. In fact, you could say that you want the safety of leaving. 

00:21:49 

All of your documents at work, but also the convenience of having access to them all the time. Storing them on the cloud gives you the best of both worlds, security and instant access at the same time. 

00:22:08 

OK, now that we've done our vocabulary for today, let's do some speaking practise. I'm going to ask you a question and I'd like you to try and speak about this topic for two minutes. Feel free to write the question down and come back to it later, of course. 

00:22:30 

If you'd like to know more about how to use these questions like this in a in a really productive way to build a great speaking practise routine on your own, then don't forget to go back and listen to episode 3 of this podcast where I explain in detail. 

00:22:50 

How you can do this? Wow, I think that was definitely a couple of years ago now, episode three. OK, here's today's challenge question. 

00:23:00 

Would you ever be interested in becoming a digital nomad? Why or why not? 

00:23:08 

What? 

00:23:10 

Remember that you need to speak on this topic for two minutes, so you're going to need to add lots of detail to your answer, and if you want to add another level of difficulty, maybe try speaking about the past, the present, and the future. 

00:23:30 

And your answer. 

00:23:32 

OK, let's finish today with a quiz. See how many of these you can remember. 

00:23:42 

Which two words can we use to describe a physical office space store or shop that you can visit in the real world instead of something that maybe just exists online? 

00:24:00 

I'll give you a couple of seconds. 

00:24:03 

And this is a brick. 

00:24:06 

And mortar place a brick and mortar office or a brick and mortar store, for instance. I used to work in a brick and mortar office, but these days everyone on my team just works remotely. 

00:24:23 

OK, here's #2 if you work remotely part time and from your brick and mortar office, the rest of the time, which H word can we use to describe your job? 

00:24:41 

Take a moment. 

00:24:43 

The answer is hybrid. A hybrid job as in I asked my manager if I could work from home full time and she said no, but it might be possible to make my role hybrid. 

00:25:03 

Let's keep going and which phrasal verb can we use to say that we are leaving work? 

00:25:12 

There are two possible answers to this question. Can you remember both of them? 

00:25:19 

These are to clock off or to clock out. 

00:25:25 

In a sentence this might be I'm clocking off at 5:00 PM today, so I'll finish this on Monday. Or maybe, hey, remember to e-mail the days of figures to the boss before you clock out today. 

00:25:41 

Remember to e-mail the day's figures to the boss before you clock out today. 

00:25:48 

Finally, can you remember today's idiom? This is a phrase that means that you can have the advantages of two different choices while at the same time having none of the disadvantages. 

00:26:04 

This idiom begins with a B and it is the best of both worlds to have the best of both worlds. 

00:26:15 

Now that we've been through all the useful and interesting business English vocabulary from the conversation you heard earlier, feel free to go back to the beginning, listen again and see if it's a little easier to understand. 

00:26:33 

All of the vocabulary I choose to feature in these podcasts is chosen because it can be useful to you at work in your interactions with colleagues, clients, and customers. 

00:26:47 

That is all for today. If you are on Apple Podcasts then please leave a review. It really does help me out. It helps spread this podcast to other people and let Apple know that hey, there's really useful information. Good stuff. 

00:27:06 

In here. 

00:27:08 

Also, if you'd like to work with me one-on-one to improve your business English, your professional communication skills, whether it's for a job interview for an exam, or you just generally want to improve the way that you communicate at work. 

00:27:28 

Then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish.com and get in touch. Send me a message. Let's chat and let's get to work. Thanks a lot, everyone, and I'll talk to you next time on the breakout business English podcast.