BE 427: How to Strengthen Bonds on a Team in English
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 427, How to Strengthen Bonds on a Team in English.

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 Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.

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Hi, Michelle. How are you today? I'm good, Lindsay. How are you? Good, good. What are we talking about? Are we talking about dreams today? I love talking about dreams. Not actual dreams, but dreams in a different way. Lindsay, when you are building the team for All Ears English, what are some types of things that you think about? Well, definitely, I try to think about strengths, right? We took the assessment StrengthsFinder a few times over the years, and

However, sometimes there's a tension between how we could all use all of our strengths perfectly and what needs to be done. Yeah. Yeah. Constant tension that I think managers and owners struggle with is how do we get people in their strengths for most of what they're doing, but then there are all these other things that we need to get done. Right? Yeah. But strength is what I think. How can people be using their unique abilities

to create something very unique for the company. Yeah, yeah, agreed. I mean, Lindsay, would you say that all is English? Would you say we're the dream team? I do. I mean, we're so lucky. I think we're very lucky. You know, we've all been on the team for a long time and we know each other well and we can count on each other. We just did an episode about, you know, filling in for someone or doing a solid, right? Helping someone out. And I think we have that on our team. I think we help each other out when we need it.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree. So that's great. So the dream team today, we're going to talk about different ways to positively describe teams, both at work or out of the office. So this is going to be fun. And this one, I love the dream team.

And yeah, this could be two or more people. I just like how it sounds. Let's see when you hear the dream team. What do you think? I actually think about basketball. And that's what I wonder. Are you watching a ton of basketball these days? Because I sure am. Oh, and your team won, right? The Denver Nuggets. Yes. The basketball has been crazy.

I don't even know if they won or not, but all I know is basketball is on in my house all the time these last couple of weeks. And I'm just done with it. Oh, no, it's, oh, I, well, I'm enjoying it. Like the Knicks just won a huge game. It was a shocker. Oh my gosh. It was great. The issue is my son. He stays up. It used to be when he started watching basketball that we would let him watch the first quarter. Yeah. And now,

And then it just he got more and more into it. And I can't tell him especially during the playoffs. I cannot tell him to go to sleep. No, and staying up way too late. And sports are so late when you live on the East Coast. So late. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So much fun. Okay. And there's a game tonight too. Anyway.

So I don't know why it makes me think of basketball. Maybe it comes back to like, I think it's the Olympic team. Okay. Okay. That was a term I feel like that they use. Right. Right. That's what I'm looking right now. Yeah. The Olympics, 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team. I don't know if it's, I don't know if it's every year, if it's called the dream team, but I think it's specific.

Specifically about 1992, apparently. Clearly, we're dating ourselves here, Michelle. But guys, the good news is you don't need to be a basketball player to call your team the dream team. We can take this out of basketball and sports and pop culture, bring it into our workplace and say we are the dream team.

Right. Yep. We're the dream team. All right. So yeah, you could say another person signed on. Oh yeah. We are definitely the dream team. I love it. Super interesting. Okay. So dream team is our first fun way of talking about our team. And it does matter how we talk about our team. It matters when we have a win on our team or someone's done something great or we've done something great to acknowledge that. Yeah.

- Yeah, exactly. That's true. And I love this next one. So you could say the dynamic duo. You could say as a joke, the dynamic trio, but this is usually for two people. What does this mean to you? The dynamic duo, same idea, right? - Yeah, the idea that when two people team up,

they have a really unique combination of skills and they succeed well together. They're like a pair. For example, I really feel like we're the dynamic duo when we go into sales pitches. We have such an impressive record. Yeah.

It's a cool way of if you really enjoy and do well working alongside a teammate, maybe it's a podcasting co-host or maybe it's like a sales team. Maybe it's a team of a salesperson and a technical professional making that sale. It's a complement to the skill set.

Okay. Right. So yeah, maybe, maybe, you know, that someone is usually, maybe someone is the closer, right? You hear that expression. Maybe, you know, okay, this one is good at this partner is good at introducing the idea. And then we have the closer when she gets, she's, she whips out the forms and the contracts and talks about the money. Right. So that could make a dynamic duo. Yeah.

Yeah, that's really interesting. A lot of SaaS companies will do also the pair of the like, like I said before, the person that does the sale like works on the psychology, aggravating the needs, right, really pushing the buttons of the potential client. And then the technical person comes in and explains the nuts and bolts of how it works. It also makes me think of good, good cop

bad cop type of dynamic. Yes. Yes. That's another, that's another really good one. That's, that's a good one. Just to get into that just for a second. It's always that someone is someone plays the good. So you know what? I think that deserves a whole episode. Actually, I'm going to guys,

hit follow that's probably going to be on all ears english but that definitely it's going to just yeah this is a good a good one for an episode okay guys open your search bar right now and search for all ears english podcast hit the follow button that is coming up that's an important phrase to know in our culture in our language in our tv that kind of thing so okay i'm excited where to now michelle all right well i think we should take a little break yeah good idea

This episode is brought to you by Amazon Business. How can you free up your team from time-consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams so they can focus on strategy and growth, free up your teams, and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights, and support available at amazonbusiness.com. All right, Michelle, there are two others that we want to teach here. What is the first one?

All right. So this is the A team. Yes. So I looked into this. So apparently this is a TV show in the eighties, but we use it now to talk about kind of the best group, right? Same idea. Dream team. I mean, all of this has like the same idea. Yes. Doing the best work, A plus work basically. So if we send Rick and Camilla in there, they will close the deal. They're our A team. Yes. Good. And just a little extension from this. So

sometimes when we think about individual players right individual people you might say you know they're an a player right so that's the idea is they come from the a team maybe I'm not sure if they're connected um but if you're just an individual contributor at work and you just provide a lot of value you're an a player okay right yeah and it kind of reminds me of like a list like a list celebrity right the top of the top right the Brad Pitt and the Tom Cruise well everyone knows

right exactly exactly um and then I love this next one this could this is also used very frequently outside of business um tell us about this one Lindsay yeah this is super fun Partners in crime so Michelle is this really does this mean that we're out on the street committing crimes I mean

no it doesn't um so I hope not um but yeah it means you do things well together you work well together or you or maybe you're just great friends you go on a lot of adventures together maybe you get in some trouble together kind of good fun trouble that kind of thing right yep totally so the crime quote unquote could be having those adventures as friends or could be

seating as a team at work. Again, you're making sales, you're making presentations together, you're going to conferences together and building networks for your company. Partners in crime. I think of this as like, oh, you got some kind of successful benchmark created with someone, you high five them, you say, hey, partners in crime. Nice work, right? That's the vibe. Exactly. So for example, I note

Taylor and Penelope are partners in crime, especially when it comes to making social media videos. I can see them opening a business together one day. Yeah. Nice. Wonderful. All right, Michelle, who's your partner in crime at work? Oh, Michelle, I was hoping you would say that, you know,

i would say we're all partners in crime what about you exactly feel the same way you know when you and i podcast something different comes out when aubrey and i podcast when you and aubrey podcast it's a different vibe it's very cool that different vibes different kinds of chemistry can come out in the conversation between different pairs okay that's true that's true really we've been we've been podcasting a long time so we'd really

We're the OG team here. That's true. That's true. Yep. So, yeah. And as we talked about already, teamwork is just so important to have that good team know your strength and know the best way to have everybody, you know, take their part.

So yes. Yes. Okay. So let's play time. Yeah, let's do a role play. So here we are managers and we're trying to decide which members of the team will be going on a business trip to close an important deal. This happens all of the time. Just a few weeks ago, my partner went to San Diego to try to close a deal with a company there. And it really matters who gets paired up to go into that room with the company. Right.

Yeah, so you have to make the best choice. Yeah. For sure. All right. All right. Here we go. So, okay. How about Jasmine and Lisa? That could work. I just want to make sure we're sending the A team though. Maybe let's add a couple more people. Okay. Dream team. Here we go. Who are you thinking? How about Trish and Marcus? They're kind of a dynamic duo with public speaking.

That's true. And we need that. And Luca, he's Marcus's partner in crime. They're kind of sinister, but works so well together. They could get this done. Perfect. All right. It looks like we're adding more people on the, on the flight. We're just have money to throw around. I guess. Nice. Oh, and we had a bone, another high, high level bonus words. They're like a little bit, they cause a little trouble.

Okay, nice. Yeah, we'll do another episode about that word one day too. There's a lot of ways that word could be used, right? Do they cause trouble? Do they like scheme in ways that, you know, cause problems? But really interesting. Yeah. So let's go through what we said, Michelle. All right, here we go. You said, I just want to make sure we're sending the A team. Mm-hmm.

so i'm kind of questioning your initial choice of jasmine and lisa i think we could do better right it looks like we're not sending them at all as like as i go down it yeah they're not going we're having a brainstorming session here a business decision at the highest level so you said okay dream team here we go who are you thinking and that means like start the brainstorming start the thinking start the ideas we're building the dream team yep yeah um

Um, and then you use that. How about Trish and Marcus? They're kind of the dynamic, kind of a dynamic duo. Yeah. I said the dynamic duo. Yeah. You could have said, I think the is better. You could say the, I mean, you could like, if it's, it's kind of elevating it though. Right. They're the dynamic duo. You could actually use the or branding them. Like if you say the dynamic duo, it's like you're branding them a little bit. Right. Yep. Yeah.

But both do work there. Yeah, exactly. And then here we go with Luca and Marcus. He's Marcus's partner in crime. They're kind of sinister, but work so well together. So I'm using, I mean, do you think when I say sinister here, though, do you think I'm saying it's like a good thing or a bad thing or just kind of...

I think you're saying they have like different methods of achieving goals. Yeah. So maybe they're sneaky or they're strategic in a different way. So, but you want to succeed. So I don't think it's a negative thing. I think it's a positive thing in this context. I'm saying like, oh, maybe they're kind of bad boys, but they'd get it done. So I'm happy. Right. Just to circle back to what we said earlier, maybe they play the good cop, bad cop.

cop in a sales environment. Maybe they do that. And you could say that might be a little bit of a sinister thing to do because most people just want to go in and build a relationship with a client. But Marcus and Luca, they play good cop, bad cop. Oh, I don't think we have any inventory left for this next year, Marcus, right? I think we have to put them on a waiting list and then you build the need. I mean...

You know, so funny. Yeah, yeah, exactly. There's Marcus and Luca. Anyway, um, so yeah, partner in crime. Um, speaking of dynamic, we have episode 404 of the business English podcast that was don't miss this dynamic episode. Nice. I love it. What's our takeaway for today talking about your team? Any thoughts, Michelle?

I mean, there's so much here. Being aware of your team, acknowledging that you're close to someone, right? Like saying, oh, Lindsay, you're my partner in crime with podcasting. I mean, that might make somebody feel good about themselves as well, like to kind of include them in that team feeling.

there's endless ways to use this at work really i think yeah on this show we come back to basic human needs human connection people need to feel connected this is a variation of it people need to feel like they're a part of a team they want that we don't want to just be individuals floating in the universe so it you know it really quickly builds that connection if you do pair up with someone and say hey that went great we're partners in crime here let's go for it next time let's let's do this let's go for this next account right yeah yeah i totally agree

All right. Oh, man. Well, this was fun. I'm glad we talked about this. And let's continue being the dream team. Sounds good to me. You have a good day. I'll see you next time. You too. Bye. Bye.

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