Business small talk: examples and useful phrases, Section 1
Scene: A conference room in a large tech company
Characters:
Sarah: CEO of the company
David: Head of Engineering
Emily: Head of Sales
John: Head of Human Resources
Mary: Senior Engineer
Peter: Sales Representative
Conversation:
Sarah: Thank you all for coming. I wanted to bring us together today to discuss a common issue that we’ve been seeing across the company: employee burnout.
David: Yes, I’ve noticed that a lot of my engineers are working long hours and feeling stressed out.
Emily: I’m seeing the same thing in sales. Our turnover rate has been increasing, and I’m worried that it’s because people are just feeling burnt out.
John: I agree. We’ve been seeing a lot of complaints about work-life balance, and I’m concerned that it’s going to start affecting our productivity.
Sarah: What do you think are the main causes of burnout?
Mary: I think it’s a combination of things. The workload has been increasing, and we’re constantly under pressure to meet deadlines. There’s also a lot of ambiguity about what our roles are and what we’re expected to do.
Peter: I agree. I feel like I’m always being pulled in a million different directions, and I never have time to focus on my own work.
Sarah: What are some suggestions you have for addressing burnout?
Mary: I think we need to be more clear about expectations and give people more autonomy over their work. We also need to make sure that people have the resources they need to be successful.
Peter: I agree. We also need to create a more supportive work environment where people feel comfortable talking about their problems.
John: I think we can also do a better job of promoting work-life balance. We need to encourage people to take breaks and disconnect from work when they’re not supposed to be working.
Sarah: These are all great suggestions. I’ll take them back to the team and we’ll start working on implementing them.
David: Thanks, Sarah. I’m confident that we can make a difference.
Emily: Me too. Our employees are our most valuable asset, and we need to do everything we can to support them.
Sarah: Thank you all for your time. I appreciate your willingness to be open and honest about this issue.
[End scene]