Unit 1 Office Work
Learning Objectives
In this unit, you will learn how to：
Talk on the phone
Make & change appointments/arrangements
Talk with associates
Background Information
General office skills may include answering phones, faxing, basic computer skills, as well as customer service skills. Effective communication concerning these skills at workplace is extremely important to smooth and efficient business operation. There are mainly two types of communication: verbal communication (such as meetings, phone calls, speech, one to one feedbacks, etc.), and non-verbal communication (such as written or printed emails, etc.). Communication at workplace should be clear, concise and specific. In addition, there should be effective use of body language at workplace. Good communication skills will help to establish a better working relationship where as poor workplace communication skills will have negative effects on business relationships and may result in decreased productivity.
Starting Up
Read the following tips and decide which are DOS ( √ ) and which are DON’TS (×). Compare your answers with a partner’s and explain your choices.
When you answer the phone in the office …
□ pick it up after the first ring
□ pick it up after three or more rings
□ immediately ask who is calling and what they want
□ say your own name
□ say your company name and/or department
□ just say “Hello?”
□ have a pencil and paper ready so that you can take notes
□ try to sound friendly and helpful
□ speak quickly so that the call is soon over
□ speak clearly and slowly
□ smile
□ use the speaker phone
Oral Workshop
A. Talking on the Phone
Dialogue 1 – Asking to speak to someone
Diana is making a call to Mr. Brown of Deep Blue Office Supply.
Operator： Good morning, Deep Blue Office Supply.
Diana： This is Diana Wong from MAP Advertising. I’d like to speak to Mr. Brown, please.
Operator： Is that Michael Brown or Tony Brown?
Diana： I’m not sure. I want to talk to someone about the maintenance of laser printers.
Operator： Then you need to speak to Tony Brown. He's with After Sales Department. I’ll put you through.
Diana： Thank you.
Mr. Brown： Hello, Tony Brown.
Diana： Hello, Mr. Brown. This is Diana Wong from MAP Advertising. I called last week about the laser printer.
Mr. Brown： Sorry, can you spell your name, please?
Diana： It’s W-O-N-G. Diana Wong, from MAP Advertising.
Mr. Brown： Oh, yes. I remember.
Diana： We bought 5 laser printers from you two weeks ago, but one of them doesn’t seem to work properly, and we also have some questions on maintenance.
So I’m calling to see whether it’s possible for you to send someone to help.
Mr. Brown： All right. Would tomorrow suit you?
Diana： That’ll be great. I’m in the office all day.
Mr. Brown： So I’ll send over an engineer around 10:00 in the morning.
Diana： Thank you very much, Mr. Brown.
maintenance 維修，保養(yǎng) put through 接通電話(huà)
laser printer 激光打印機(jī)
……