Unit 8

Teamwork in IT Industry

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

In this unit you will:

1. understand the benefits of teamwork and tips of improving teamwork.
2. have some knowledge about the solution of teamwork building issues.
3. get to know etiquette for small talk.
4. learn how to write an email on job.
5. look at the skills of long sentences translation.
152 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Part One Unit Overview

Michael Jordan, one of the best basketball player in 21st

century, said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence
win championships.” In IT industry, teamwork is also
extremely important for the success of a company. Reid
Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, COO of paypal, once said,
“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re
playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.”
In our daily work, we often find some project managers try and run a one-man (or woman)
show, barking out orders and then moving on. Others try to micromanage every situation, often
distracting the other team members from their work. So, what is the most important aspect of
teamwork? And what makes a competent team leader? Unit 8 will lead you to explore these
questions.
In the CULTURE READING MODULE, you are going to understand the significance of
teamwork for IT project and how to develop goal-oriented teambuilding after reading the passage
“Improving Teamwork: Optimizing Collaboration”. Then in the case learning passage, a tool called
ThinkLet is created for the solution of teamwork building issues. This passage will help you
understand how human factors affect teamwork building for IT project.
In the SKILLS LEARNING MODULE of this unit, you would learn how to start a small talk
with colleagues and boss in the communication etiquette workshop and how to write emails in the
writing skills training workshop. Remember, clarity, conciseness and being correct are the three
keys for a good email!
After learning the general concepts about teamwork, in the EXPERTISE DEVELOPMENT
MODULE you will explore further on teamwork. You would watch two videos, one about 4C
characteristics that good team members are supposed to possess. The other video introduces
common mistakes that newly promoted team leaders are likely to make. Teambuilding is a tough
task, not to mention a multi-cultural team. In the article “Managing Multi-cultural Team”,
Professor Jeanne Brett from Northwestern University and her team introduce several examples
about multi-cultural teambuilding: how Indian and American staff work well together; how a team
of Japanese, Indian and Singapore staff work efficiently; and how Chinese and American colleagues
work out problems together based on understanding and respect. Read the article and you would get
more inspiration about multi-cultural team.
 T IT I 153

Part Two Culture Reading

Task 1: Concept Learning

Introduction
You are going to read a passage about team work. You will learn about the benefits of good
teamwork and some tips on improving teamwork in working environment.

Improving Teamwork: Optimizing Collaboration

Importance of Teamwork in Organizations
According to HR Bible, one of the most popular myths about teamwork is that the skills of
team members are more important than their energy, interest and drive for the tasks. Another
popular myth is that members are not individually responsible for the successes or failures of their
teams. The truth is that individuals are the smallest units within their teams and that their personal
abilities affect various outcomes in their teams. Teams often arise when employees come together to
accomplish a common goal. Teamwork within the workplace not only benefits your workers but
also significantly affects in your business.
1. Work Efficiency
Teamwork enables you to accomplish tasks faster and more efficiently than tackling projects
individually. Cooperating together on various tasks reduces workloads for all employees by
enabling them to share responsibilities or ideas. Teamwork also reduces the work pressure on every
worker, which allows him to be thorough in the completion of the assigned roles.
2. Improved Employee Relations
Teamwork is important in an organization because it provides employees with an opportunity
to bond with one another, which improves relations among them. Workers who constitute a team
working on a project often feel valued upon the successful completion of such tasks.
3. Increased Accountability
Teamwork increases the accountability of every member of the team, especially when working
under people who command a lot of respect within the business. Team members do not want to let
each other down and hence do their best to contribute to the successes of their teams. In contrast to
working solo on a project, peer pressure is usually high within teams such that cases of low morale
are less likely to impact individuals.
4. Learning Opportunities
Cooperating on a project is an opportunity for new workers to learn from more experienced
employees. Teams often consist of members who differ from one another in terms of skills or talents.
Working together is a great opportunity to acquire skills that an employee never had beforehand.
154 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Setting Clear Goals to Improve Teamwork

A team without a goal is like a house without a frame — it will simply fall apart with the
slightest nudge. Every company, whether it produces cars or television shows, should have a clear
goal in mind. Individual teams must understand what that goal is, and know their role — both
individually and as a group — in accomplishing it.
Keep all goals posted somewhere highly visible in the office. Refer back to them whenever
team members start losing sight of what’s important.
To accomplish your goal, the team must have the right tools. At the beginning of the project,
create a list of everything you’ll need — in terms of both staffing and resources.
Set up a results-oriented structure that encourages the team to achieve its goals. For example,
the goal of an IT team in an advertising agency might be to upgrade the design equipment so the
agency can launch a new social media campaign. Set up a list of tasks that will lead you to your
final goal, with specific deadlines to accomplish each of these tasks. Make sure each team member
commits to finishing each task on schedule.
No team can exist in a vacuum. In order to work effectively, team members need to
communicate effectively with each other, and with the company’s management.
Management should make every effort to provide teams with accurate and timely information
about the company’s plans, goals, concerns, and accomplishments, and how the team fits into each
of these areas. It’s also important for management to recognize, support and encourage the team’s
efforts. After all, motivated teams are productive teams.
Conflicts can arise in any group setting; workplace teams are no exception. Constant infighting
can have a detrimental effect on the team if it’s allowed to continue. However, if conflicts are
resolved effectively, they can actually strengthen the group and enhance its compatibility.
Here are a few simple ways to prevent and resolve conflicts:
Make sure each team member is shouldering an equal share of the work burden so no one
feels frustrated or resentful.
Have a clear set of rules and responsibilities team members need to follow.
Make sure the team leader resolves conflicts effectively.
If the team leader can’t resolve the dispute, bring in a management team leader or
consultant to act as a mediator.
There are challenges each day in any workplace, and a strong team environment can act as a
support mechanism for staff members. Work group members can help each other improve their
performance and work together toward improving their professional development. Team members
also come to rely on each other and trust each other. These bonds can be important when the team
faces a particularly difficult challenge or if the group is forced to deal with the loss of a team
member while still trying to maintain productivity.
 T IT I 155

1.1 Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.

English technical terms Chinese equivalents

optimizing collaboration
accomplish a common goal
reduce workloads
peer pressure
low morale
results-oriented structure
launch a new social media campaign

1.2 Answer the following questions according to the passage.

1. Explain why the myths mentioned in the first paragraph about teamwork are wrong.
2. How can teamwork increase accountability?
3. Why are goals important for teamwork?
4. How to make the goals clear within a team?
5. How can a company’s management make sure of a good teamwork?
6. Can conflicts be avoided in teamwork?
7. How to resolve conflicts in a team?
8. Describe in your own words what a good team should be like?

1.3 Complete the following sentences by using the words and expressions in the box.

tackle optimize myth dispute

consultant morale accountability bond

1. A _________ is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide knowledge
of the subject matter.
2. So often people will step up and do things for others they won’t do for themselves. For many the
emotional pain of letting someone else down is far greater than being hard on themselves. To
_________ this problem, delegate part of the project to other people. Get them involved so your
own sense of obligation helps you meet deadlines and do higher quality work.
3. One of the _________ about viruses is that people think they can reinstall Windows on their PC
after a virus infection, only to copy their files from a backup drive and then re-infect themselves
all over again. You need to make sure that your documents and data have been scanned for and
are free from viruses, especially after an infection.
4. Doctors are concentrating on understanding the disease better, and on _________ the treatment.
5. Organizations with high _________ experience higher productivity and staff engagement, they
show lower employee turnover and absenteeism, and they have a happier workforce. What’s
156 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

more, they find it easier to attract and retain the best talent.
6. Team and teamwork must be encouraged at workplace as it strengthens the _________ among
the employees and the targets can be met at a faster pace. Workload is shared and individuals feel
motivated to perform better than his team members.
7. In the evolution of any _________ which cannot be resolved by the parties, a mechanism shall
be used to publish decisions or recommendations on how the matters in issue should be settled.
8. Cultivating _________ across the organization requires managers to take specific actions.
Employees need to clearly understand their role in the company and what they are responsible
for accomplishing. Managers need to define expectations up front and reinforce them
periodically within the context of the business and ensure their employees are empowered to do
what is expected.

Task 2: Case Learning

Enhancing Teamwork in Software Projects with ThinkLets

Software engineering is an important area within industry and academia. Normally there is a
high demand for well-trained software engineers, since chips and code are embedded in almost all
consumer products. Consequently young professionals who finish their studies in Computer Science
or Informatics have many job opportunities, and the majority of them will work on software
development, a human centered process.
As a human centered process, human factors have a great impact on the process and its
performance. Although human factors have been proven to have an impact on the software
development process, they are still overlooked by researchers. One of the most important human
centered processes involved is the one that deals with the coordination of the activities and the
ability to combine people skills and teamwork.
In this thesis, we define a ThinkLet as an activity or process that produces predictable results to
deal with recurring collaboration problems in software development teams. A ThinkLet can be seen
as a kind of process pattern to address collaboration problems. ThinkLets can also be seen as
building block for collaborative processes.
After a short period of time during the research observations we saw that the three influencing
variables (Communication, Coordination and Motivation) stood out among the variables mentioned
in the Related Work. It was also possible to envision that the problems belonging to these three
variables could be categorized according to two different points of view: Internal (within the team)
and Client (outside the team).
Internal communication deals with the challenge of each team member to conduct effective
communication with his peers. Let’s take one of the major recurrent problems caused by it and the
ThinkLet that can be used to address it for example:
 T IT I 157

ThinkLet Recurring Problem Corrective Actions Useful Practices

Stage fright There are members that are Weekly meetings, where Stand up meeting
not willing to express their all team members must Trust
opinion in public. This report their work status Sit together
problem reduces the capacity Try to generate confidence Team-Building
of the team to generate ideas, between the team members. Workshop
to identify challenges or the
Coaching
capacity to generate warnings
during the project.

Client communication involves the communication between the development team and the
client. Client availability is one of the problems:

ThinkLet Recurring Problem Corrective Actions Useful Practices

Client The client is an important To establish a fixed day Trust
availability part of the project; he/she is and time of a weekly Retrospectives
the expert. It is his /her meeting with the client, Real customer
responsibility to define and prior to the beginning of Involvement
clarify key points to the the project.
Sit together
project. If he/she is not Define a decision relevance
Informative
available he/she can become protocol that should be
Workspace
a bottleneck for the project, used in every meeting.
Team-Building
and lockout the decision-
Workshop
making process and validation
of the project.

Internal coordination is the process through which the team members coordinate their own
activities to reach a common goal. For example:

ThinkLet Recurring Problem Corrective Actions Useful Practices

Lone wolf There is one team member Be assured that the workload Trust
who monopolizes project between team members is Sit together
tasks. Lone wolf is considered equally distributed. Ubiquitous
a “psychological state” in Have a weekly meeting of Language
which one prefers to work the team to evaluate what Stand up meetings
alone when making decisions was done, where tasks can
Iteration planning
and accomplishing goals. be reassigned between
Public profile
They also define lone wolves team members according
as people highly committed, Coaching
to each one capacity or
who devote a lot of energy to knowledge, taking always
complete tasks. the workload balance in
account.
158 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Client coordination involves a set of activities that allows the development team to coordinate
their effort with the client. For example:

ThinkLet Recurring Problem Corrective Actions Useful Practices

Change The client changes the Define an analysis process of the Planning game
again requisites of the project. changes requested by the client Estimating
This can have a huge (“Change Management”). This Risk management
impact on the project analysis has to estimate the impact of
schedule and in the the changes in the project and have
quality of the final to be done by all the team members.
product. Define a tool to implement a formal
workflow to manage the change
management of the project.

During the experimental observations a catalogue of the issues was developed. At the same
time extensive research on them was done to try to look for patterns that had been addressed before,
regardless of the context that had been previously addressed. Therefore a list of ThinkLets was
created along with the practices that can be used to mitigate the recurrent problem. Analyzing our
results we saw to see that the majority of the problems were mitigated with the use of the ThinkLets.
Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.

English technical terms Chinese equivalents

software engineering
industry and academia
address collaboration problems
weekly meetings
stand up meetings
project schedule
iteration planning

Task 3: Reading Comprehension

Answer the following questions by choosing the best one from the choices given below. You can
find the answer to each of the questions from the above two passages.
1. Which one is not true according to the article?
A. Teamwork enables you to accomplish tasks faster and more efficiently than tackling
projects individually.
B. Teamwork is important in an organization because it provides employees with an
opportunity to bond with one another, which improves relations among them.
 T IT I 159

C. Teamwork increases the accountability of every member of the team, especially when
working under people who command a lot of respect within the business.
D. Cooperating on a project is not an opportunity for new workers to learn from more
experienced employees.
2. How to prevent and resolve conflicts? (More than one correct answer)
A. Make sure each team member is shouldering an equal share of the work burden so no
one feels frustrated or resentful.
B. Have a clear set of rules and responsibilities team members need to follow.
C. Make sure the team leader resolves conflicts effectively.
D. If the team leader can’t resolve the dispute, bring in a management team leader or
consultant to act as a mediator.
3. Which one is not the importance of teamwork in organizations?
A. Work efficiency. B. Setting clear goals.
C. Improved employee relations. D. Increased accountability.
4. Which one is not true about setting clear goals?
A. A team without a goal is like a house without a frame—it will simply fall apart with the
slightest nudge.
B. Individual teams must understand what that goal is, and know their role—both
individually and as a group—in accomplishing it.
C. Teamwork increases the accountability of every member of the team, especially when
working under people who command a lot of respect within the business.
D. To accomplish your goal, the team must have the right tools.
5. Which one is not about learning opportunities?
A. Cooperating on a project is an opportunity for new workers to learn from more
experienced employees.
B. Teams often consist of members who differ from one another in terms of skills or
talents.
C. Working together is a great opportunity to acquire skills that an employee never had
beforehand.
D. Teamwork increases the accountability of every member of the team, especially when
working under people who command a lot of respect within the business.
6. Which one is not true about software engineering according to the article?
A. Software engineering is an important area within industry and academia.
B. Normally there is a high demand for well-trained software engineers.
C. Internal communication deals with the challenge of each team member to conduct
effective communication with his peers.
D. Although human factors have been proven to have an impact on the software
development process, they are still overlooked by researchers.
7. How does the author define the ThinkLet?
A. They define a Thinklet as an activity or process that produces predictable results to deal
160 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

with recurring collaboration problems in software development teams.

B. A ThinkLet can’t be seen as a kind of process pattern to address collaboration problems.
C. ThinkLet can’t be seen as building block for collaborative processes.
D. Internal communication deals with the challenge of each team member to conduct
effective communication with his peers.
8. What are three influencing variables standing out among the variables mentioned in the
related work? (More than one correct answer)
A. Communication. B. Coordination.
C. Motivation. D. ThinkLet.
9. Which one deals with the challenge of each team member to conduct effective
communication with his peers?
A. Internal communication. B. Internal coordination.
C. Client coordination. D. ThinkLet.
10. Which is true about client communication according to the article?
A. It deals with the challenge of each team member to conduct effective communication
with his peers.
B. It involves the communication between the development team and the client.
C. It is the process through which the team members coordinate their own activities to
reach a common goal.
D. It involves a set of activities that allow the development team to coordinate their efforts
with the client.

Part Three Communicative Skills Training

I. Professional Communication Etiquette-Small Talk

Many young people who are brand new to the work place are very much afraid of small talk.
Sometimes they even wish they were invisible. Unfortunately, wishing to be invisible is the worst
thing you can do if you plan to make a lasting impression with
your boss and colleagues. Studies have found that friendly,
positive small talk can help you solve many problems, and
small talk even makes you smarter. Many young people have
been asked why they are afraid of small talk. The response is
they don’t know how to start a small talk? How long shall they
talk? When to stop the talk? This passage will help you solve
the problems.

Small talk with colleagues

For your colleagues, the best topic is always the weather. If the weather topic is over, you have
to move on to another topic. There are always some safe and comfortable topics there to pick up.
We suggest you a three-month rule. That is, start with topics on something you’ve just done in the
 T IT I 161

past three months or are planning to do in the next three months.

You may talk about taking a vacation, renting an apartment or the traffic. Not only are you
comfortable talking about these topics, but the other person can offer his or her experience on the
subject. For example, you would start the conversation in this way, “Hi, I am looking for an
apartment. Do you know any apartments for rent in your neighborhood?”
Generally speaking, people feel comfortable, and enjoy, talking about themselves. While it
might be a little intimidating to start the conversation, the easiest way to get it going is to ask a
question to which you know that senior colleague has an answer. Questions about their commute,
their hobbies and television, are all light-hearted, easy, and enjoyable topics.
Regardless of whom you’re talking to, do not forget the etiquette. Show the other person
respect by listening to what they have to say. Acknowledge appropriately, either verbally or
with a nod or a smile. Do not interrupt while they are speaking.
Remember, if you are really afraid of small talk and nervous to come up with any topics, the
least you can do is to give genuine compliments. There is no one on earth who does not appreciate
honest compliments. But, don’t overdo it. Just be honest and open.

Small talk with your boss

Small talks with colleagues and boss share something in common, yet still different. Small talk
with colleagues is more social, while small talk with your boss is more professional.
When you are talking with your boss, or someone who has authority over you, maybe your
boss’ boss or the CEO, the word “small” can have a big impact.
How could you hold an enjoyable small talk with your boss? How could you impress your boss
in two or three minutes? We summarize and recommend you the following four suggestions to help
you move from mediocre to memorable in the eyes of your boss. Remember them as
Prepare-Listen-Observe-Smile, PLOS.
1st, P, prepare: preparation can increase greatly the odds of success. Yes, you need to plan and
prepare what you will say to the senior managers. Think in advance about what you are going to say
to a senior person if you met him or her in person. Take it as homework. Work out a key message
about your projects, your career and yourself, practice, rehearse and get ready for the talk.
2nd, L, listen, listen to their story. People all love to share their story. Ask your boss about his
or her success and their route to the top. How do they achieve to be the CTO? They’ll be flattered
into sharing the benefits of their wisdom.
3rd, O, observe, observe body language of your boss. The key to making small talk with your
boss is to listen while paying great attention to their body language. When you’re talking to your
boss, do not neglect the non-verbal communication. What kind of hand gestures do they make? Do
they fold their arms? Are they looking at somewhere while talking?
Read their body language to read the situation. Keep speaking if the boss is interested; if not,
thank the person for his time and move on, even when you didn’t get the opportunity to say what
you’d prepared. Remember, knowing when to end the conversation demonstrates more of your
162 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

professional communication ability than the verbal communication.

4th, S, smile and relax. When you are introduced to the senior leader, smile, relax, and make
eye contact. Your boss will spot any fake interest a mile off. There’s nothing worse than an awkward
silence — especially with your boss. Your smile will give you a positive appearance that will make
people feel comfortable around you. As Mother Teresa said, we shall never know all the good that a
simple smile can do.

Personal Space in Culture Difference

Lastly, it is necessary to mention personal space in culture difference. In a multi-cultural
workplace, a close talker would bring embarrassment, and even ruin the beautiful first impression.
So, what is personal space?
In a multi-cultural workplace, sometimes, some invaders of personal space aren’t aware that
they make other people feel uncomfortable by occupying someone else’s personal space.
Therefore, we recommend you two simple rules to help you make other people comfortable
with proper personal space.
1) Try to stand at least one-arm-length from other person;
2) When someone gets uncomfortably close to you, casually lean away from the person or take
a step back.
Small talk, not only does it make you smart, but it also makes you feel good. Small talk is a
way to connect, and it opens your eyes. It is worth all the efforts. How do you get better at it?
Practice.

Task: Fill in the blanks and answer the following questions.

1. Topics of small talk with colleagues can be _________________, _________________,
_______________, _______________, _______________, _______________and so on. If you are
really afraid of small talk and nervous to come up with any topics, the least you can do is
to .
2. Regardless of whom you’re talking to, do not forget the etiquette.
______________________
______________________
______________________
3. What is PLOS?
____________________________________________________________________________

4. What are the two simple rules to make proper personal space when you have small talk with
others?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Are you good at small talk? Do you have any other suggestions or good topics about small
talk in workplace? Please share them with your friends.
____________________________________________________________________________
 T IT I 163

Ⅱ. Email writing
Emails are widely used on job. Sometimes they need to
be formal, and sometimes an informal one may be a better
choice. Emails on job are not quite the same as writing a
business letter but it’s definitely a huge step in that direction.
Clarity, conciseness and being correct are the keys! To write an
email on job, follow these guidelines.

First, use a neutral email address.

Your email address should be a variation of your real name, not a username or nickname.
Use periods, hyphens, or underscores to secure an email address that’s just your name without
extra numbers or letters, if you can. Never use an unprofessional email address. No one will take
you seriously if your reply-to is joke name or inappropriate name.

Second, use a short and accurate subject header.

Avoid saying too much in the subject header, but make sure it reflects the content of your email
to a person unfamiliar with you. If possible, include a keyword that will make the email content
easier to remember and/or search for in a crowded inbox. For example, “Meeting on March 12th” is
specific enough that the email topic won’t be mistaken for anything else but not so specific as to be
distracting (for example “Schedule, Guest List, Lunch Requests").

Third, use a proper salutation, and introduce yourself, if necessary.

Addressing the recipient by name is preferred. Use the person’s title (Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Dr.) with
their last name followed by a comma or a colon. Optionally, you can precede the salutation with
“Dear...” (but “Hello...” is acceptable as well). Using a last name is more formal and it should be
used. If you don’t know the name of the person you’re writing to (but you really should try to find
one), use “Dear Sir or Madam” followed by a colon. If you are on first-name terms with the
recipient, you can use just the first name.
Introduce yourself in the first paragraph if necessary. Also include why you’re writing, and
how you found that person’s email address or the opportunity you’re writing about.

Fourth, write the actual message.

Be sure to get your point across without rambling; if it’s fluffed up, the reader may glance over
the important details. Try to break up the message into paragraphs by topic to make your message
more logical and digestible.
Indenting isn’t necessary and will likely be lost during the email transfer. Insert a line break
between each paragraph.
The email should be no more than 5 paragraphs long and each paragraph should be no more
than 5 sentences long.
In informal emails, write your message clearly, but keep your language casual. The body of
your message should be easy to understand but the tone should be informal and conversational.
164 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Read your email and ask yourself if the content of the email sounds like the way you speak in
person. If so, then you’ve achieved a good tone for a friendly email. You can use contractions,
slangs and emoticons when appropriate.

Fifth, sign off appropriately.

Use the correct form of leave-taking. This will depend on your level of intimacy with the
recipient. Examples include:
Yours sincerely,
Yours cordially,
Respectfully,
Best,
Your student,
T I
I

Last but not the least, proofread your email before sending.
Proofread your message for content. Make sure you haven’t omitted any important details (or
repeated yourself). And also proofread your message for spelling and grammar. Sometimes a word
processor is of great help.

Task: Answer the following questions.

1. How to write an email on job?
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
2. What can be a neutral email address?
3. Why should the subject header be short and accurate?
4. What should be paid attention to when you write actual message?
5. Write an email of application to ABC Company, applying for the position of internship. The
person in charge of the recruiting is Peter Smith.

III. Science & Technology Translation

长句的翻译
 T IT I 165

主
主

主
主

Task: Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. The truth is that individuals are the smallest units within their teams and that their personal
abilities affect various outcomes in their teams.
2. In contrast to working solo on a project, peer pressure is usually high within teams such that
cases of low morale are less likely to impact individuals.
3. Individual teams must understand what that goal is, and know their role both individually
and as a group — in accomplishing it.
4. Team members also come to rely on each other and trust each other. These bonds can be
important when the team faces a particularly difficult challenge or if the group is forced to deal with
the loss of a team member while still trying to maintain productivity.
5. Constant infighting can have a detrimental effect on the team if it’s allowed to continue.
However, if conflicts are resolved effectively, they can actually strengthen the group and enhance its
compatibility.
166 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Part Four Expertise Development

I. Watch and Answer

Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You
can scan the QR code to get the videos “4 Cs for Teamworks”
and “Common Mistakes Made by Newly Promoted Supervisor”
and answer the questions based on what you will get from the
video.
1. Which one is not one of 4cs according to the video?
A. Commitment to goals for team.
B. Communication.
C. Cooperation.
D. Confidence.
2. Which one is true about communication according to the video?
A. People have to create results.
B. Good team players are willing to communicate and share information with the other
team members they need.
C. Good intention is not good enough.
D. Define the team.
3. Which is true according to the video?
A. Communication defines the team.
B. Good team members should finish their jobs alone.
C. All good team members have only one characteristic.
D. Communication is one of the characteristics that good team members should have.
4. What’s the problem if the first person adjusts the angle?
A. The work can’t be finished at all. B. The second person can’t match it.
C. The third person can’t match it. D. The boss doesn’t want to do that.
5. What can we learn from the video?
A. The boss has to answer every question or solve every problem.
B. The boss needs to solve any problem right away.
C. The boss should be put around the edge of the circle.
D. The boss shouldn’t leave the middle of the circle.
 T IT I 167

II．Read and Answer

Task 1
Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You can scan the QR code to get the
article entitled with “Managing Multi cultural Team” and answer the questions based on what you
will get from the article.
1. What did the project manager do when they needed to produce a new product quickly?
A. They assembled a team of employees from India and the United States.
B. They generated frustrating management dilemmas.
C. They interviewed managers and members of multicultural teams from all over the world.
D. They may create more problems than they resolve by intervening.
2. According to the article, why did conflicts arise?
A. They arose from cultural differences.
B. Indian team didn’t finish their job on time.
C. American didn’t give Indian team enough time.
D. Indian team and American team didn’t work at the same time.
3. Which one is not true according to the article?
A. Multicultural teams often generate frustrating management dilemmas.
B. Cultural differences can create substantial obstacles to effective teamwork—but these
may be subtle and difficult to recognize until significant damage has already been done.
C. Cultural challenges are manageable if managers and team members choose the right
strategy and avoid imposing single-culture-based approaches on multicultural situations.
D. The differences between direct and indirect communication can’t cause serious damage
to relationships when team projects run into problems.
4. Which one is the challenge in managing multicultural teams effectively? (More than one
correct answer)
A. To recognize underlying cultural causes of conflict.
B. To intervene in ways that both get the team back on track and empower its members to
deal with future challenges themselves.
C. Communication in Western cultures is typically direct and explicit.
D. In many other cultures, meaning is embedded in the way the message is presented.
5. Which one is true about having trouble with accents and fluency?
A. Misunderstandings or deep frustration may occur because of nonnative speakers’ accents,
lack of fluency, or problems with translation or usage.
B. The meaning is on the surface, and a listener doesn’t have to know much about the
context or the speaker to interpret it.
C. People tend to assume that challenges on multicultural teams arise from differing styles
of communication
D. Communication challenges create barriers to effective teamwork by reducing information
sharing, creating interpersonal conflict, or both.
168 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Task 2
Read the following paragraphs excerpted from “The Essential Drucker” by Peter F. Drucker
and answer the questions.

1. How has the labor force in society and organizations changed from past to now?
2. Why do manual workers need efficiency while knowledge workers need to provide effectiveness?
For manual work, we need only efficiency, that is, the ability to do things right rather than the
ability to get the right things done. The manual worker can always be judged in terms of the
quantity and quality of a definable and discrete output, such as a pair of shoes. We have learned how
to measure efficiency and how to define quality in manual work during the last hundred years — to
the point where we have been able to multiply the output of the individual worker tremendously.
Today, however, the large knowledge organization is the central reality. Modern society is a
society of large organized institutions. In every one of them, including the armed services, the center
of gravity has shifted to the knowledge worker, the man who puts to work what he has between his
ears rather than the brawn of his muscle or the skill of his hands. Increasingly, the majority of
people who have been schooled to use knowledge, theory, and concept rather than physical force or
manual skill work in an organization and are effective insofar as they can make a contribution to the
organization.
Now effectiveness can no longer be taken for granted. Now it can no longer be neglected.
Knowledge workers cannot be supervised closely or in detail. They can only be helped. But
they must direct themselves, and they must do so toward performance and contribution, that is,
toward effectiveness.
One can indeed never be sure what the knowledge worker thinks — and yet thinking is his or
her specific work; it is the knowledge worker’s “doing”.
The motivation of the knowledge worker depends on his being effective, on being able to
achieve. If effectiveness is lacking in his work, his commitment to work and to contribution will
soon wither, and he will become a time-server going through the motions from nine to five.
The knowledge worker does not produce something that is effective by itself. He does not
produce a physical product — a ditch, a pair of shoes, a machine part. He produces knowledge,
ideas, information. By themselves these “products” are useless. Somebody else, another person of
knowledge, has to take them as his input and convert them into his output before they have any
reality. The greatest wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data. The knowledge
worker, therefore, must do something that a manual worker need not do. He must provide
effectiveness.
Excerpted from The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker

Part Five Hands-On Practice

The topic for hands-on practice in this unit is: What makes a good team leader? Please
summarize what you’ve learned on this topic and support your opinions with examples.
 T IT I 169

Task 1: Summary
Write down the factors that can lead to a good team leader according to this unit and give
examples to support the factors. Here is an example:

Factor A good team leader can generate confidence between the team members.
A good team leader organizes team building activities which can improve
Example
an employee’s confidence in a team.

Now write down your answers:

Factor 1
Example

Factor 2
Example

Factor 3
Example

Task 2: Oral Report

Practice giving an oral report based on the summary in task 1.

Performance Review

After learning this unit, can you fulfill the

tasks listed in the following tables? If yes, tick
the after YES; if no, tick the after NO.

Can you tell the Chinese equivalents of the following English expressions?
1. optimizing collaboration YES NO
2. accomplish a common goal YES NO
3. reduce workloads YES NO
170 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

4. peer pressure YES NO

5. low morale YES NO
6. results-oriented structure YES NO
7. launch a new social media campaign YES NO
8. software engineering YES NO
9. industry and academia YES NO
10. address collaboration problems YES NO
11. weekly meetings YES NO
12. stand up meeting YES NO
13. project schedule YES NO
14. iteration planning YES NO

Can you define the following terms?

15. low morale YES NO
16. ThinkLet YES NO
17. internal communication YES NO
18. client communication YES NO
19. internal coordination YES NO
20. client coordination YES NO

Do you know
21. the etiquette for small talk? YES NO
22. how to write emails on job? YES NO
23. what the discourse differences between English and
YES NO
Chinese sentences are?
24. how to translate long and complicated English
YES NO
sentences?
25. how many methods there are when translating long
YES NO
sentences?

Can you
26. translate the sentences from the passages into proper
YES NO
Chinese?
27. start a small talk with your colleagues or boss? YES NO
28. write a complete and concise unit report on the
YES NO
given topic?