オリジナルプランがスムーズに進行するのが理想ですが、クライアントの都合やチーム内のトラブル、コスト面における問題などによって戦略の変更を強いられる事があります。予期できた事とできなかった事、そしてどう対処するかを説明します。
As much as we wish that every plan would continue smoothly without change or trouble, it's simply not the case. Sometimes meetings get pushed back, milestones change, analysis takes longer or shorter than expected or unforeseeable things happen.
In this lesson we will both describe changing plans, as well as discuss how to subtly show your feelings about is (as in, to show you are a little annoyed without being too explicit).
If you have a student who appreciates discussions, you can ask,
- How often have your project's milestones or timeline changed?
- How do you deal with that? (Do you have to work even more, do you hold an emergency meeting, do you feel a bit annoyed?)
Read the following dialog:
Ben: Hey Dan, how's it going?
Daniel: Can't complain... What can I do for you, Ben?
Ben: Okay, well, this is a bit awkward, but I just heard that the client pushback happened this morning. I didn't hear about it until just now. So I lost a few hours work. I was just wondering what happened there.
Daniel: Oh! That information should have been passed on to you!
Ben: Well, it wasn't. What happened?
Daniel: Okay, jeez. Well, I think I do know why. So, we have those Monday meetings, right? But the manager took us by surprise. He sat in on the meeting. He wasn't supposed to be there—it was just going to be us and our counterparts.
Ben: Oh... that's a recipe for trouble.
Daniel: Yea, tell me about it. So we started by confirming the strategy. You know, it was a pretty bold one, and of course, we had full buy-in. But when the manager saw some of the details in the first stage of the plan, he started getting cold feet.
Ben: Right. But those are just for the transition. The long-term profits will be amazing.
Daniel: Yea. But then Ken—by the way, he was in the meeting, too—he tells the manager that we can change course, and we can dial it back a bit.
Ben: Oh no!
Daniel: Yea. I was like, Ken, no! But of course, I didn't say that.
Ben: Of course.
Daniel: So, we went straight to our overseeing partner, Rachael, to report what happened. She was not happy. Ken should have told you right after that, but I guess he didn't?
Ben: Nope.
Daniel: Okay. I have to have a word with Ken.
- What do you think about this situation?
- There are some idioms in this dialog. Can you find and identify them?
- Which language is used to show a change of plans?
1. You can let the student react to the situation.
Note: This builds on the previous unit's situation. In the previous one, Rachael seemed annoyed. This is probably why.
You might ask the student: Have you ever worked with someone like Ken?
2. Some idioms:
- a recipe for trouble = something that often leads to trouble.
- tell me about it = I totally agree.
- to get cold feet = to become uncomfortable with a situation.
- dial it back = reduce something.
3. Language for changing plans:
- That information should have been passed on to you!
- (The CEO) wasn't supposed to be there...
- ...it was just going to be us and our counterparts.
- Ken should have told you right after that...
Litmus test for the confident
What's the difference in meaning and nuance for the following:
1. I was going to tell you
2. I was supposed to tell you
3. He should have told you
4. I should have told you
1. I was going to—I had a plan to do it, but I didn't.
This is not an apology, it probably means you had a good reason not to do it. Can you think of a good reason not to tell someone? (Perhaps something happened, like my boss called.)
2. I was supposed to—another person expected me to do it, and the nuance is that I didn't want to.
Please don't use this as the motivation for the action is come from another person's expectations. Professionals should be self-motivated. Expectations for things are often used (The meeting was supposed to finish at 11 AM.)
3. He should have—this is an expectation of a person or thing. It's not as strong as "was supposed to" and is more commonly used.
In both cases, there seems to be some confusion, "He should have told you. I'm not sure why he didn't but I suppose he has a good reason."
4. I should have—this is an apology. Use it whenever an apology is necessary.
A. There are three common ways to talk about expectations versus unexpected situations:
- Was going to—used for a past plan or expectation when the present situation is not what was expected.
- The weather report said it was going to be sunny all day, but now it's raining. I wish I'd brought my umbrella!
- I was going to tell you, but then I got a call from the client and had to go to their office ASAP. I'm sorry!
- Was supposed to—used for an unmet past expectation.
- Ken was supposed to tell you. He didn't?! I wonder why not...
- I was supposed to finish by 8 PM, but I hit a snag and had to work past midnight.
- This project was supposed to be quite ambitious, but the client got cold feet and now it's a pretty typical plan.
- Should have—used for a strong past expectation when the present situation was unexpected.
- I'm so sorry! I should have told you right away.
- I should have brought my umbrella.
B. Talking about the future is relatively simple:
- Now we are going to...
- Moving forward, we're going to...
- We have to.../We need to.../We've got to...
A. There are three common ways to talk about expectations versus unexpected situations:
- Was going to—used for a past plan or expectation when the present situation is not what was expected.
- The weather report said it was going to be sunny all day, but now it's raining. I wish I'd brought my umbrella!
- I was going to tell you, but then I got a call from the client and had to go to their office ASAP. I'm sorry!
- Was supposed to—used for a past expectation, when the present situation is either uncertain or not what was expected.
- Ken was supposed to tell you.
- I was supposed to finish by 8 PM, but I hit a snag and had to work past midnight.
- This project was supposed to be quite ambitious, but the client got cold feet and now it's just average.
- Should have—used for a strong past expectation when the present situation was unexpected.
- Ken should have told you!
- I should have brought my umbrella.
Another alternative you can share with your student is Should be:
- Personally, I think this project should be more ambitious.—an opinion about the present
- The documents should be coming in tomorrow morning.—an expectation about the future
B. Talking about the future is relatively simple:
- Now we are going to...
- As of yesterday, we are going to...
- Moving forward, we're going to...
- 1 and 2 refer to future intentions. The structures in 3 (We have to.../We need to.../We've got to...) are semi-modals of obligation. Form: draw attention to negatives (don't have to; don't need to/needn't; don't have to). Frequency: semi-modals are less common than modals. Register: semi-modals five times more common in conversation than in written English.
Note
All of these phrases can also be used in the negative:
- wasn't going to
- wasn't supposed to
- shouldn't have/shouldn't be
- aren't going to
Go over the negative forms with your student before moving on to the Practice section.
A. Look at the following situations and report what's happening:
- The principal says, "We just uncovered some new data showing that Plan A would lead to profits of about $4m, while Plan B now has projected profits of $7m."
- You have a meeting with a colleague who hasn't heard. Tell them, and guess if you think your team will pursue Plan B.
- You estimated that you could finish analyzing data by the end of the day. It's now past midnight and you realize you are definitely not going to finish.
- You have a meeting scheduled with your team leader in the morning to go over the analysis. Write an email to them.
- You have a meeting scheduled with an expert, but something came up and they had to push the meeting to tomorrow morning.
- You see your team leader in the elevator. Let them know.
- The expert above didn't show up to the rescheduled meeting. You'd even changed your schedule to accommodate them! You plan on sending them an email.
- Let your team leader know.
- It turns out the expert had meant their local time, but they hadn't specified a time zone and you didn't check—you take that as your mistake. You've rescheduled.
- Your team leader sees you in the hall and asks, "So what happened with that interview?"
B. Now think of some changes you've experienced. Try to think of both small and big examples.