Your English proficiency score alone does not tell you what decisions you will be able to make in your workplace. We consider training by dividing work situations, necessary actions, and results to be confirmed.
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First, specify the situations in which English will be used.
We will confirm the relationship between speaking English and progressing in work. For example, in a meeting with an overseas team, your job is to provide explanations, listen to opinions, organize points of contention, request judgment, and decide on the next action. By writing down what you want someone to do in which situation, you can make the issues you want to address in training more concrete.
Confirm your current location through observable behavior
The big question of whether you can participate in a meeting is divided into whether you can confirm the other party's questions, whether you can explain the differences between multiple options, and whether you can meet the necessary conditions to make a decision. A language test is one of the materials used to confirm language ability. Avoid evaluating practical judgment and consensus building solely on that basis.
There is work before and after translation tools.
Even if you use tools to support translation and writing, you still have to make decisions about what to convey, what information the other person needs, and who will check the results. Make sure that the information you input outside the company is acceptable before using it, and do not consider the completion of the job only when the English text is well-written.
Try it out in practice and review the results
As an illustrative model, let's consider a situation in which a new proposal is communicated to an overseas base. The person in question organizes the purpose of the proposal, options, and desired decisions. After the actual dialogue, reflect on the other person's questions and the agreed upon actions, and decide what to do next. This is not an improvement record for a specific customer.
Items to check before training
- Have the expected roles and situations in which English will be used been determined?
- Does the person have the authority to make decisions?
- Is there an opportunity to try out the exercises in practice?
- What should supervisors and other stakeholders observe and how should they provide feedback?
Thinking about language issues and business design/authority issues separately will help you choose a support method.
Author
Global Career Incubator Co., Ltd. CEO Shinichi Ikawa
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he worked at the Ministry of Defense and the Australian Ministry of Defence, and worked in business development and organizational management at a business company, before founding GCI in 2023. We provide support that connects management and business strategies with the implementation of roles, human resources, and operations.
At the point of contact between Japan and the world, GCI supports the growth of companies and the development of individuals' careers and abilities.
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