WIXLIB

Business English Role Plays

Contents1 Late to work2 A Retirement Gift3 Bad Parking4 No Receipt5 Cover Me6 Double-booking7 An Urgent Message8 An Intruder9 The Late Caterer10 The Moody Secretary11 A Medical Emergency12 Small Talk13 Noisy People14 A Little Accident15 Broken Photocopier16 Japanese Visitors17 Fitness Campaign18 Cutting Costs19 Security Issues20 Going Green21 Working Late22 Asking for a Raise23 A Presentation To Do24 Technical Help25 Bossy Co-worker26 No Team Spirit27 A Better Price28 No More Leave29 Getting Ahead30 Monkey Business31 A New Product32 Nothing to Do33 A Phone Reference34 A Late Project35 Motivation36 Goodbye37 Who to Promote?38 New Responsibilities39 A Transfer40 Family Fun DayAppendix A – Teaching NotesAppendix B – Vocabulary List2http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

1 Late to workSituation:Alan has just come to work late for the third time this week. His managerasks to see him.Student A: You are Alan. You need to explain to your boss why you arelate. You may wish to apologise.Student B: You are Alan’s manager. Find out why Alan has been late anddecide whether you need to discipline him.Suggested phrases:“I’m sorry I was late.”“It won’t happen again.”“This behaviour cannot continue.”“We expect our employees to be punctual.”3http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

2 A Retirement GiftSituation:Jeremy has been working with your company for over thirty years and isgoing to retire next week.With a partner, you have been tasked with choosing a retirement presentfor him.Discuss the situation with your partner and come to a decision on what toget him.Suggested phrases:“What is our budget?”“I think we should get him a ”“What sort of things does he like?”“I believe he already has one of those.”4http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

3 Bad ParkingSituation:You come to work one day and notice an expensive car parking in thecompany’s handicapped parking space. A man exits the car and he looksperfectly fine.Student A: You are the employee. Approach the visitor and find out whyhe is parking in a disabled spot. This spot is usually used by one of theemployees, who is a wheelchair user.Student B: Explain why you parked in the disabled space. You have a sorefoot and you are in a hurry for an important meeting.Suggested phrases:“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”“We do have disabled employees who need thatspot.”“I have an extremely urgent meeting.”“I’ll be less than half an hour.”5http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

4 No ReceiptSituation:Recently, on a business trip, you stayed for two nights at the Fortuna Hotelat a cost of 200. You wish to claim the expenses back from yourcompany. However, you have lost the receipt. You decide to speak to theFinance Manager.Student A: You are eager to claim your money as the two nights werequite expensive. Although you lost the receipt, the company knows thatyou stayed at the hotel.Student B: You are the Finance Manager. You like to follow rules,especially where money is concerned. Your company has a simple rule: noreceipt, no money.6http://www.roadtogrammar.com/Suggested phrases:“I hope you can be lenient.”“It’s a lot of money.”“We have strict guidelines that we must follow.”“I don’t like to bend the rules.”

5 Cover MeSituation:Your co-worker often asks you to ‘cover’ for him. For example, yesterdayhe took an extra half-hour for lunch and he asked you to tell the boss thathe was in a meeting.Student A: Your co-worker wants you to cover for him again. You arebecoming fed up with his behaviour and you are worried that the boss willcatch both of you out.Student B: You need to take an extra half hour on your lunch break to pickup some medicine for your daughter from the pharmacy. Ask your coworker to cover for you if the boss is around.7http://www.roadtogrammar.com/Suggested phrases:“You’re going to get both of us in trouble.”“The boss is very suspicious.”“I really need you to do me a favour.”“This is an emergency.”

6 Double-bookingSituation:You work for a small company, which only has one nice conference roomfor meetings. You booked this room for an important meeting with a clienttoday at 4pm. However, when you arrive at the room at 4pm, you find outthat an employee from another team claims to have booked the room atthe same time.Student A: You really need to use the conference room. Your meeting isimportant and it cannot be rescheduled.Student B: You also really need to use the conference room. Your meetingis important too and it cannot be d phrases:“Our meeting is extremely urgent.”“We booked the room three days ago.”“There’s no way we can reschedule.”“Let’s come to a compromise.”

7 An Urgent MessageSituation:Jack has just received an urgent phone call from his wife. Her car hasbroken down by the side of the road. He has to go and help her out. Butfirst, he needs to get permission from his boss.Student A: You are Jack. Your wife’s vehicle has broken down and sheneeds your help. It will likely take you an hour or two to sort it out.Student B: You are Jack’s boss. You only allow employees to leave theoffice during working hours in cases of emergency.Suggested phrases:“I’ve just received a phone call from my wife.”“She’s very upset.”“How long will it take you to sort this out?”“I’m not sure that I would classify this as anemergency.”9http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

8 An IntruderSituation:You work for a bank and most of the building is closed off to the generalpublic. One day you see a strange person wandering about the hallways.Challenge the person and deal with the situation.Student A: You are the bank employee. It is very important to keepunauthorized persons out. If a person is allowed to be there, they musthave a visitor’s tag.Student B: You wandered into the bank building because one of yourfriends works there and you thought you might pop in and say hello.10http://www.roadtogrammar.com/Suggested phrases:“Are you looking for someone?”“I’m afraid that this area is restricted.”“I’m just here to see a friend.”“I’m not doing anything wrong.”

9 The Late CatererSituation:You have ordered catering for a company event today at 4pm. However, itis now 3:45pm and the catering service hasn’t shown up. Call the catererand resolve the problem.Student A: You are the employee. It will be very embarrassing for you ifthe catering is late or does not appear. All the senior managers will be atthe event.Student B: You are the caterer. You mistakenly thought that the event wastomorrow, not today.Suggested phrases:“We were expecting you to be here already.”“This really makes us look bad.”“It appears that we made a mistake.”“You have my sincere apology.”11http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

10 The Moody SecretarySituation:Your secretary has been very moody recently and it has been affecting herwork. You suspect that she is having some sort of trouble at home.Student A: Speak to your secretary. You want to be empathetic, but youalso want to make sure her problems do not affect her work.Student B: You are the secretary. Recently, you have been fighting withyour husband a lot and this has put you under a lot of stress. However,this is a personal problem and you would prefer not to discuss it with yourboss.Suggested phrases:“Is everything okay?”“I have noticed that you cannot concentrate onyour work.”“I’m having some personal issues.”“I’ll find a way to get through this.”12http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

11 A Medical EmergencySituation:It is a normal day at work when suddenly one of your co-workerscollapses. Call emergency services and explain the situation.Student A: Your co-worker has just collapsed. Call emergency services andask them what to do.Student B: You work for emergency services. When you receive a callabout someone who has collapsed, you need to dispatch an ambulance tothe correct address while asking the caller to check for a pulse. The callershould also check that the person is breathing and administer aid ifnecessary.Suggested phrases:“My co-worker has just collapsed.”“Our address is ”“You need to check for a pulse.”“The ambulance should be there in approximatelyten minutes.”13http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

12 Small TalkSituation:You have arranged to meet a client along with your boss. You have nevermet this client before. Unfortunately, your boss is running about fifteenminutes late. Make ‘small talk’ with the client until your boss arrives.Student A: Make small talk with the client.Student B: You are the client. Make small talk with the employee.Suggested phrases:“Where are you from?”“What exactly does your company do?”“Have you worked here very long?”“How is business these days?”14http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

13 Noisy PeopleSituation:You are trying to get some important work done, but some otheremployees are horsing around near the water cooler. They’re very loudand you need to ask them to stop.Student A: Ask your co-workers to stop making so much noise.Student B: You are chatting with some co-workers near the water cooler.Another employees asks you to keep the noise down.Suggested phrases:“Excuse me!”“I don’t mean to sound rude ”“I didn’t realize we were being so loud.”“We’ll try to be a bit quieter.”15http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

14 A Little AccidentSituation:You have just parked your car in the company car park when anothervehicle knocks into you. The driver is one of the senior managers.Student A: You need to ensure that the senior manager takesresponsibility for the accident.Student B: You are the senior manager. If you acknowledge that theaccident was your fault, you need to get the other person’s details for yourinsurance claim.Suggested phrases:“It looks like there is some damage.”“It could cost a lot to repair.”“It was my fault; I’m sorry.”“I will put in an insurance claim.”16http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

15 Broken PhotocopierSituation:You urgently need to photocopy a pile of documents and the officephotocopier has broken down again. You need to call the maintenancecompany and get them to come as soon as possible.Student A: Call the maintenance company. You really need to finish yourphotocopying by lunchtime and it’s now 9:30 am.Student B: You work for the maintenance company. You will be able toattend to the photocopier in the afternoon. According to the contract yousigned with the company, you are obligated to respond to a service callonly within 24 hours.Suggested phrases:“This happens all the time.”“We really need it fixed this morning.”“We will send someone this afternoon.”“The earliest we can get there is 3pm.”17http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

16 Japanese VisitorsSituation:A group of Japanese businesspeople are going to be spending a few daysvisiting your company and your boss has asked you and your partner(s) tospend half a day showing them around your city.With your partner(s), discuss where you would like to take them and drawup an itinerary.Suggested phrases:“Do you think they would like the local food?”“Perhaps we could take them golfing.”“What should we do after that?”“I have a great place in mind.”18http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

17 Fitness CampaignSituation:A healthy body means a healthy mind! Your boss has asked you and yourpartner(s) to come up with a fitness campaign to improve the health of theemployees in your organisation.With your partner(s), discuss and plan how to implement the campaign.Suggested phrases:“Should we make it compulsory?”“There is a gym opposite our office.”“How can we encourage people to take part?”“Do you think yoga would be a suitable activity?”19http://www.roadtogrammar.com/