I Work Project Time B Manager Person Lot

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Unless you are the owner of the company, you will have a boss. This lesson will cover all English you need to know to express what you want to say to your boss. This will include asking for feedback, explanation, showing frustration, asking for more work, and more.

If you are doing a project and you want your manager to review it before submitting it, then you can ask the manager in several ways.

Did you want to review my project?"
I just completed the assignment. Did you want to review it?"
This is my first project and I was wondering if you could review it real quick?"
I think I covered all the bases, but could you do a quick check."

If you are new at your job, then it is good to ask for feedback. This can be done when you complete a project or after several months on the job. Some companies have a process in place where you have a weekly one on one meeting with your manager. You can use this time to talk about your work and anything else on your mind. If you don't have a weekly meeting, then you might have to set up a time with your manager to discuss your progress.

Hi Roger, can we set up a time to discuss my progress so far?"
I was wondering if we can meet to discuss how I am doing."

If you are doing work that doesn't include projects or assignments, then you can't ask for feedback on the work you completed. But you can ask how you have been doing in the last several months.

Can I get some feedback on my performance?"
Where do you think I need to improve?"
What areas do you think I should work on?"

If you have a project you completed, you can ask for feedback on the project. But make sure you give your manager enough time to review the work before asking for feedback.

Did you finish reviewing my project I completed?"

Hi Mark, this was my first project, and I wanted to know how I did so I can improve."

Where do you think I could have done better?"
Is there any areas that I could have done better?"

What should I do better for next time?"
What areas did I do well, and what areas did I do poorly."

Asking for more work

Most companies will have so much work that you will never run out of things to do. But there are times when you don't have enough to do. In this situation, you should ask your manager to give you more work.

Hi Mark, I finished all my weekly duties already. Do you have more work I can do?"
I've been completing my work early on a regular basis. Can I have more responsibilities?"
I have a lot of extra time. I usually double check all my work, but that doesn't take much time. Is there any additional work I can do?"

Although asking for more work is a good sign of being productive, there is actually something better. Instead of asking for more work, find the extra work without asking. After you find something to do, then tell your manager that you want to do the work.

I had extra time on my hands so I started investigating the network problem. If you don't mind, I would like to work on this project to help the office productivity around here."

If you are a manager, would you want someone asking you what to do, or would you prefer a worker who found a problem and wants to fix it. I have had people ask me for more work and it is stressful trying to think of something. I am busy and don't have that much time to find extra work. If a worker identifies more work to do, then I would appreciate it that much more.

I have been completing my work a day early every week. I know the reference material has been sitting there for some time. Would you like me to do that project, or did you want to assign another project to me?"

Although having extra time to do more work is a good situation to be in, there might be times when you have too much work. Here are a couple of sentences to ask for help.

Hi Mark, the addition we made to the project made it difficult to complete by myself. If the deadline doesn't change, I will need some help to complete it. Can you assign someone to help me out?"

I have spent every minute on this project and have been putting in serious overtime. This project is a lot bigger than we anticipated. I am going to need some help to complete it on time. Do you have anyone available to help me?"

The Alpha project has been eating so much of my time that I didn't have much time to work on the Beta project. Is there anyone with extra bandwidth to help me finish the Beta project?"

Complaining and Showing Frustration

Showing frustration is ok if you do it right. If you are frustrated and you start complaining, then the manager will either think you are not capable of doing your work, or the manager will realize that you have way too much work. So it is important how you complain and how you show your frustration.

Showing frustration because of your mistake is ok to do. It shows that you are upset at yourself and that you can't believe you made a mistake. So it is indicating to the manager that you are not going to screw up again. Hopefully you won't screw anything up, but just in case, here are some ways to show your frustration.

I can't believe I messed that up. I don't think I am stupid, but this is suggesting otherwise."
I am so frustrated at myself. How did I not catch that?"

Complaining about someone else is not good. But if you are so frustrated and you have to tell your manager, take a deep breath, calm yourself down, and say something like my example as calmly as you can.

It's frustrating working with Tim. I'm doing everything I can to help and I am trying to be understanding, but he is slowing our project down immensely."

The best kind of frustration is when the manager knows exactly what you are talking about. If the manager is frustrated as well, then he or she will completely understand. An example of this is when you are working with another company and they are not doing their work properly.

I'm having a hard time working with ABC Company. They are always late and the work they do has numerous errors. It is really frustrating because I have to spend a great deal of time proof reading the material. I recommend not giving ABC Company any more work."

Talking to your boss about another boss

Sometimes there are multiple bosses and they both give you work. This can cause some problems. The best way to handle this situation is to tell your direct boss what is happening so it gets straightened out at the management level.

Hey Mark. I'm doing all the projects you gave me, but John gives me additional work. I don't mind it, but lately it's been too much."

Hey Mark. John has been assigning a lot of work to me. I have a lot of current work I am doing, so I would like to know what work has more priority."

John wants me to do the payroll analysis. He said he needs it by end of week. But didn't you want the employee headcount finished by Friday? I can't finish both. What should I do first?"

If another boss is giving you a hard time, you can tell your manager what you think. Here are some professional sentences that you can use to show your frustration about another boss.

I'm having some problems with John lately. He is very critical and puts me down in public. I don't know what I am doing wrong so I don't know where I need to improve. What do you think I should do about this?"

John has been very difficult to work with. He is very bossy and expects everything to be done his way. I have been tolerating it because he is a manager, but some of his methods are wasting a lot of time. I always suggest other ways, but he will not hear me out."

Talking to the Boss - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.