BE 368: Flailing with a New Office Tool? What to Say
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 368, Flailing with a New Office Tool, What to Say.

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.

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Hello, Aubrey. How are you today? I'm great, Lindsay. How are you? I am good. I'm good. I'm already ready for the weekend. But I do have a question for you here, Aubrey. Is there any tool at work that you've used recently that was kind of hard to get used to? It was new for you. You're kind of fumbling around. Yes. Oh, great question. We work with this amazing nonprofit called Be the Voice of Girls. And when I went to teach a class just last week,

They were using Google Meet, which I'm not as familiar with. Yeah. So I went to share slides and couldn't figure it out at first. And I wanted to still be able to see the students in the class while I saw the slides. And that was really tricky. It was kind of frustrating. Yeah.

Oh, that's always that moment of, can you see my screen? Right? It's that, are they going to say no, they can't see my screen. And then it's like, I don't know how to share my screen. It's so awkward. Oh my gosh. We've all been there, right? It's like tricky. You don't know exactly what they're seeing. And especially on a Mac, I don't know for all of you out there who use Apple laptops, there's different desktops and spaces. So sometimes it's tricky to choose to share the right desktop or the right screen. That can be really-

complicated well we feel really disorienting right because we spend so much of our lives if we work online work remotely in these tools and then all of a sudden there's this new tool and we don't speak the language right right but we have to say something especially if we're new at work we have to say something that sounds good sounds smart and sounds like oh i've got this under control

Right. Exactly. Yes. In that situation, I think I said, you know, bear with me while I figure out sharing my slides. Because you can't really just have there be this awkward silence while you're trying to do it. Everyone's on the call. So you need something to say to show that you have it under control. You're

doing something. So they're not like, what's happening? Why is she not talking? Right. Because then they'll start to feel awkward. You'll feel awkward. Oh, it's not good. So you want to stop that downward spiral and bear with me is a great one. We're going to get to that phrase in just a minute. But what are some other tools where you might be flailing? I also love the word flailing.

by the way. That's a bonus. This is a great verb because you imagine someone in a swimming pool that's first learning to swim and they're kind of moving all their arms and legs. That's flailing. Also, we do this at work, right? Anytime when we don't know exactly what we're doing, we're just trying to figure it out. We're flailing sometimes. It is such a good analogy. That's the exact analogy that I imagine too. Someone in a swimming pool who can't swim and their arms and legs are going up and they're just going underwater. And it's a perfect analogy.

right? So for example, Slack, you know, if you haven't used it, it's a really common tool that a lot of teams do. We don't use it right now, but a lot of teams do. And if you just enter a new workplace, it's your first week,

You might be fumbling and flailing around. There would definitely be a learning curve for me. I haven't used Slack. I know a lot of people do. So it would probably be surprising to some of my coworkers if I'm like asking questions. Yeah, or Microsoft Teams. I mean, there's lots of them. Do you remember the first time you used Google Documents, Aubrey? Do you even know when that was?

I think I do. I was working for this nonprofit and we switched over from Dropbox to Google Docs and it was such a breath of fresh air because I had always had to like check versions and make sure the one was saved and it was such a pain. So then to realize it was automatically updated, I was like, ah.

It's a true miracle. I never knew that that could happen either, but it's amazing. So this is what we're getting into today. This feeling, this moment when you're flailing, you're fumbling, but you have to say something, right? You may be new at work and you're building a reputation every second that you're at that workplace, right? So go ahead and hit follow listeners to make sure you get business English three days a week.

Aubrey, can we go ahead and read the listener question from YouTube? Yes. This is from Louis, Louis Zambrano Waldrop, 2437. I love some of these YouTube names. It's like a long handle. Yeah, I know. The question is, hello, guys. You're amazing. I love your podcast. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. I would like to know if there is any expression or word for conveying the idea of using anything for the first time. What a great question.

It's such a good question. And we've already talked a little bit about why this matters at work. You know, there could be a different set of vocabulary for everyday life, for sure. But today, obviously, we're focusing on business English and why it matters at the workplace. And it really does matter because people take their cues from you, especially if you're a leader. It matters how you compose yourself when something goes wrong. Right, Aubrey? Yes.

Exactly. And if you're starting at a new position, people will have different expectations about your experience level with modern tools. So you need to be honest, of course, right? And I think there's this expectation that we may need to help people train and learn new tools. And most of your co-workers and your employer are going to be okay with that, but you need the way to express that.

And the truth is, these tools are changing all the time. I mean, I feel like chat GPT just came out, but it came out two years ago already. And I haven't really adapted to it yet at all. Most people are saying now, oh, yeah, I'm training my chat GPT. I'm thinking, what? What are you doing?

I don't know if I've told you my partner is using his like a therapist. Should I tell you about that? Because the more you talk to it, it really learns a lot about you. And he'll now ask questions like, what's something I don't realize about myself? And it will give such profound answers. That's fascinating. I love that. So there's always going to be a new tool, right? And you're either going to be behind the curve or ahead of the curve, but you're always learning something new. Maybe a

maybe we're learning something else that came out two or three years ago and whoever else learned that two years ago is on to the next thing there's always new things we're always going to have a moment of beginner like a beginner's moment and you want to be able to express this honestly without seeming too incompetent right yes you want to show that you're a quick learner you're going to pick it up quickly but i think it would be a huge mistake

to try to kind of cover not knowing something. It sort of is seen as dishonesty and you could get in trouble if you're expected in the middle of a meeting to know how to do something that you don't. Right. Or people will just find out, right? They'll find out. Exactly. So today we have three or four or five great phrases and some of them are casual, some are formal. Let's go through the first one, which is what you said at the top of the show, Aubrey. What is it?

Yeah, it's bear with me. I use this a lot. Bear with me. I'm new to Microsoft Teams. In my previous job, we used Zoom. So it means basically be patient with me, you know, give me a little grace here. Give me a little grace. I love this one because it does feel quite professional and quite articulate, I think.

Don't you think? Yeah. And it's spelled B-E-A-R. There are a few versions of bear in English. So if you ever want to write it, make sure to spell it correctly because there are homonyms. No, you're right. It's the bear like the grizzly bear, right? So bear with me. I love that. So that is our most formal option for today. But then we could also say still getting the hang of it. I'm still getting the hang of Asana. Asana is a task management tool like monday.com.

So I'm still getting the hang of a sauna. So this is casual, but it's not revealing too much or too little. Right. I love this because it's showing that you do know some about it. I love this for saving face a little bit. You're not saying, I don't know anything about this. I'm so dumb. We don't want to at work emphasize a lack of knowledge or skills. We can be honest about that without undermining ourselves.

Yeah, you almost want to imply that you realize there's a gap, but you're on top of it. You're on top of that gap. You're taking care of that on your own. Right. And you've already started, right? Yes. What else, Aubrey? This is a good one. Yes. The next one is there is a learning curve. So for example, I've noticed there's a real learning curve when it comes to chat GPT. You have to write your question correctly to get a good answer. So this is a great way to admit that maybe in the middle of a meeting, something's going wrong.

wrong. And to say, oh, there is a bit of a learning curve with this software. You're bringing everyone into the situation with you, sort of reminding them that they've had issues too. We've all got to go through this learning curve. I love that. Yeah, exactly. It's bringing everyone in. There is a learning curve. It's not I have a learning curve. It's there is a learning curve. I love that. It makes it much less personal. Take the spotlight off you. Put the spotlight on the tool.

- Exactly. - The learning that needs to be done, another unique, just a different way of framing it. Or you could say that you're in the early stages or the very early stages of something. For example, I'm in the very early stages of learning Python. I'd like to be a coder when I finish college.

Okay. Nice. So this is just admitting that you're not an expert yet. You've got a journey here, but you have been learning, you have been trying, right? So I really love this as an option just to share that sort of your experience level with something in a very positive, you're framing it very positively. Yeah. And I like it as an option too, if you're in a job interview and you know you're not talking about the core skill that you'll need in that job, but you know maybe your employer's curious about expanding into some area,

You could kind of line up with them mentally, right? This is very strategic. I'm in the early stages of learning Python or C++.

and I'm thinking about going into coding, right? And so these are ways you could plant that idea in your employer's mind. Oh, maybe they could help us with that. Yes, I love that. You're interested. You have been looking into it, but definitely not an expert yet. Yes, exactly. And then we go casual. Aubrey, what's our next one? Yeah, this is very casual, informal to say, I'm a newbie. I'm a newbie at this, right? So this does emphasize more inexperience. So you do want to be careful with this.

Exactly. I may not say this in a meeting when everyone's there or to my boss. I may say it just to my coworker. Oh, I'm a Dropbox newbie. Would you give me a couple tips? Right. Just kind of whispering to the side. Yes. Yeah. Because it's more informal. It depends a lot on the relationship, right? Coworkers definitely in daily life. Absolutely. With friends. But depending on the situation, you may want to avoid this one at work. Yeah, exactly. Would you wear the same shoes for every occasion or rock the same outfit seven days a week?

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Okay, Aubrey, we are back. Now, here's a hot take question. Do you think that you should couple these phrases by saying, I'm sorry, like apologizing in a way? What are your thoughts on that? That's a really good question. I think the trend at work is to avoid apologizing if you can help it, especially where if you haven't made a mistake, you haven't made an error. It's not something you need to apologize about, but sometimes it's hard to avoid, right? Yeah, I agree with you. I think...

try to stay away from it unless you've really affected someone in a negative way. You've deleted a bunch of files, God forbid. Right. Then an apology is in order. Yeah, of course. Please apologize in that case. But if you haven't done anything yet, don't apologize for your lack of skills.

Right. Initially. Instead, you're going to spend that time learning, catching up at night in the evenings and the weekends. You're taking courses. You're beefing up on that to close the gap. Right. I think apologizing in some situations is how you're emphasizing a lack of experience or

What you don't want to emphasize, the incompetency. You don't want to emphasize that. And if you're apologizing for something that isn't your fault, it's just something you haven't perfected yet, then you may be creating this mental image, this idea about you being incompetent. That's not accurate. And you don't want your coworkers to think. No, you're right. That's a good point, Aubrey. There's something about saying you're sorry or apologizing that kind of makes you smaller sometimes.

And again, we're not talking about in the scenario where you hurt someone, of course, we apologize. Yeah, that's very different. But don't make yourself smaller because you're already kind of at a disadvantage because you don't know the tool, right? Exactly. Yeah. Right. Okay. Role play time. So Aubrey, you are new at a company where I work and you are joining for the first online team sync. Awesome. Let's do it.

Hi, Aubrey. We're so glad you made the meeting. Welcome to the team. Thank you. Oh, can you hear me? Bear with me. I'm new to Google Meet. In my last position, I used Microsoft Teams. Oh, no problem. There's a learning curve when it comes to setting it up, but you'll get the hang of it. Yes, I'm sure I will. So Aubrey, tell us about your experience in AI development.

Well, I'm at the very early stages of learning Java and C++. That's great. We're going to do great things on this team. I'm still a total newbie when it comes to AI, so I can't wait to learn from you. Nice. Awesome. Yeah, yeah. And I left out something in our role play. It should be, I'm in the very early stages, right? I'm in...

the very early stages. Yes, right. It is interesting, the prepositions that are needed, right? Would we say I'm at the very early stage? I think just in, right? I'm in the very early stages of this, I think is how I would say it.

That feels right to me. I'm in the early stages. Yeah, exactly. So you started by, actually, this scenario ended up being a lot of what you encountered with our work. Totally. Very similar, right? When I was trying to teach that class, bear with me. I'm new to Google Meet. Very accurate. Yep, exactly. And then I said, oh, no problem. There's a learning curve when it comes to setting it up, but you'll get the hang of it. So you're in a

supportive work environment people are kind of empathizing with you a little bit right and i love this use of it because you can say i'm still getting the hang of this but also you can respond as a way to support a colleague who's new to something this way i love this in the role play you'll get the hang of it it's true that's true it's not just all about what you say if you're lacking the skills your co-workers might have a responsibility to say a few things too

right right and these are all all of today's phrases are great ways to support and let someone know like there's a learning curve right you can say no problem there's a learning curve with this exactly and then you said i'm in the very early stages of learning java and c plus plus

And then what did I say, Aubrey? And then you said, oh yeah, we're going to do great things on this team. I'm still a total newbie when it comes to AI. So yeah, this even in a meeting like this, it's not so formal that you couldn't say this. You're just admitting like, I'm pretty new to this software. And again, depends on your team, depends on how big that meeting is, depends on the size of your company. But you may hear something like this being said from a manager even, right? They're interested in getting into it more.

or a coworker. Love it. All right. Any other episode to check out?

Yes. If you guys missed episode 353, scroll up and check it out. Four ways to say I don't know in English. This is where you need variety in your vocabulary. If you need to say I don't know, and this is definitely related, you're going to admit sometimes that you don't know how to do something. You need the vocabulary to do that. Exactly. And I mean, just to leave our listeners with this idea, guys, we can't all be experts at everything all the time. There's going to be a new tool next year. It's going to be something else in AI or in coding or...

It's time task management. I mean, it took us a few months to learn monday.com, right, Aubrey? And there's going to be a new one next year. We're going to switch to something else, maybe. Who knows? So we're always learning. So what do we say in those moments? It really matters. And we all are going through this. It's a very human experience, right? So to admit that you're new at something, it builds this, you know, it's this opportunity to admit vulnerability, which builds connection.

It definitely builds connection. So it's also that chance to get to know your coworkers by being honest about what you can and can't do. Just be careful about who's around and what you've already said you can do. Obviously there's a line there we want to watch out for. All right. Good stuff. Aubrey, thanks for being on the show today. I'll see you next time. Awesome. See you next time. Take care. Bye.

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