B2 English Listening Practice: Leading Remote and Hybrid Teams

 

HYBRID TEAM [équipe hybride] = some employees work in the office, while others work remotely, or employees alternate between the office and home.

REMOTE TEAM [équipe entièrement à distance / équipe en télétravail] = employees work remotely, usually from home or another location, without regularly working in a central office.

 

Examples:

• Our company has a hybrid team, so employees work from home three days a week and come to the office twice a week.
• Our company has a remote team, so everyone works from different locations.

 

Discussion:

1. What kind of team do you manage or do you belong to? –

2. What are the challenges of being in a remote or hybrid team? –

 

Vocabulary 1
A. Leading (verb) [French: diriger]: Managing or guiding a person or group. Example: Leading a team requires good communication skills. (Diriger une équipe demande de bonnes compétences en communication.)
Q: How many teams are you leading now?

B. Distinguish (verb) [French: distinguer]: To recognize a difference between two things. Example: It is difficult to distinguish the twins. (Il est difficile de distinguer les jumeaux.)
Q: Can you easily distinguish between a Spanish person and an Italian person?

C. Notice (verb) [French: remarquer]: To see or become aware of something. Example: Did you notice the new painting in the hall? (As-tu remarqué le nouveau tableau dans le couloir ?)

D. Signs (noun) [French: signes / indices]: Things that show or suggest something is happening. Example: There were signs that the weather was going to change. (Il y avait des signes que le temps allait changer.)

E. Reliable (adjective) [French: fiable]: Able to be trusted or depended on. Example: My old car is still very reliable. (Ma vieille voiture est toujours très fiable.)

F. Vocal (adjective) [French: qui parle beaucoup / très expressif]: Speaking a lot or expressing opinions openly. Example: She is very vocal about her love of animals. (Elle parle beaucoup de son amour pour les animaux.)
Q: Are you very vocal about your opinions at work or in your personal life, or do you prefer to keep quiet?

G. Available (adjective) [French: disponible]: Free and ready to help or do something. Example: Is the doctor available this afternoon? (Le médecin est-il disponible cet après-midi ?)
Q: When are you usually available for a meeting?

Guide Questions
1. What should a manager do when leading remote and hybrid teams?
2. What does the speaker say about a traditional office and online work?
3. Talk about the speaker’s example about a remote developer and another colleague.
4. How can managers assess performance fairly?

TRANSCRIPT 1

Leading remote and hybrid teams requires managers to distinguish between being visible and making a real contribution. In a traditional office, a manager may notice who stays late, speaks often in meetings, or seems to be available all the time. Online, these signs are less reliable and can make people look busy without actually producing good results.

For example, a remote developer who rarely speaks during video calls may still solve important problems, while a vocal colleague may make very little progress. How can managers assess performance fairly? Instead of expecting employees to be constantly available on Teams or other platforms, managers should agree on clear targets with each team member. These can include deadlines, response times, and the quality of completed work. (123 words)

Vocabulary 2
A. Remote colleague (noun phrase) [French: collègue en télétravail]: A colleague who works away from the office. Example: I often have lunch with my remote colleague when she visits the office. (Je déjeune souvent avec ma collègue en télétravail lorsqu’elle vient au bureau.)

B. Redo (verb) [French: refaire]: To do something again, usually to improve it. Example: I made a mistake, so I had to redo the exercise. (J’ai fait une erreur, donc j’ai dû refaire l’exercice.)
Q: Talk about a task that you had to redo. Why?

C. Shared project channel (noun phrase) [French: canal partagé du projet]: An online space where a team shares project information. Example: Please post the meeting notes on our shared project channel (Teams or Google Chat). (Veuillez publier les notes de la réunion dans le canal partagé du projet.)
Q: What shared project channel do you use at work? Is it useful?

Guide Questions
1. What are the challenges of hybrid working? Talk about the speaker’s example.
2. How can this problem be avoided? How can we avoid this problem?

TRANSCRIPT 2

Hybrid working also creates another challenge: employees who are in the office can have informal conversations and learn about decisions that remote colleagues do not hear about. For example, three employees in the office discuss a client's changing requirements during lunch. They make an important decision before returning to work, but nobody tells their remote colleague. The next day, the remote colleague continues working with the old requirements, and when he learns that the client's requirements have changed, he later has to redo several hours of work.

To avoid this problem, the manager asks the team to record important decisions on a shared project channel. Even when a decision is made during an informal conversation in the office, everyone, including remote employees, can see what was decided and understand the reasons for the decision. (134 words)

DISCUSION
Managing remote and hybrid teams

1. What would you do if a remote employee often missed important information because decisions were made in the office?
2. Two team members are working on the same task without knowing it, and the project is losing time. How would you solve the problem?
3. A team member is finishing their work on time, but the quality is getting worse. How would you talk to them about the problem?
4. Your team has several urgent tasks, but two important employees work different hours. How would you divide the work and make sure everything is finished on time?
5. A remote employee rarely speaks during online meetings, so they may miss important decisions. How would you encourage them to take part?
6. One employee often sends messages outside working hours and expects quick answers. How would you deal with this situation?
7. Your project is late because team members often have to wait for answers from each other. What could you change to help the team work faster?
8. A new employee is having problems understanding how your hybrid team works and shares information. How would you help them?
9. Two team members disagree about how to complete an important task, and the project is being delayed. How would you help them solve the problem?
10. Your team receives too many messages and meeting invitations, and people are finding it difficult to concentrate. What could you change?

Being part of a remote or hybrid team

1. Your colleagues make an important decision during an office meeting that you cannot attend. What would you do to find out what happened and avoid this problem in the future?
2. A colleague often gives you incomplete information, which makes your work more difficult. How would you deal with the situation?
3. You have several important deadlines at the same time, and you cannot finish everything on time. How would you decide what to do first and explain the situation to your manager?
4. You are waiting for information from a colleague who is offline, but your deadline is getting closer. What would you do?
5. During an online meeting, two colleagues talk most of the time, and you cannot explain an important problem. How would you make sure you can speak?
6. You notice that remote employees often receive important information later than employees in the office. What would you do about this problem?
7. You receive project information by email, chat, and different online channels, and you are starting to miss important messages. How would you organize the information?
8. A colleague asks you to do an urgent task, but you already have a lot of work. How would you respond and find a solution?
9. A misunderstanding between two team members causes a mistake in a customer project. What would you do to fix the problem and stop it happening again?
10. Your team is preparing an important presentation, but remote and office-based employees have different information. How would you help the team create one correct version?

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