1. Read the dialogue, translate the Russian remarks into English and act it out.

- Can you give me some ground rules about the dressing code in your company. I've always worked in an office with men only. I've always had a feeling of defencelessness about dresses when all men in the room wear jackets. I know that a woman who hopes to manage affairs and exert authority must avoid any kind of dresses which portray her as weak or indecisive. Do you agree with me?

- В нашей компании принято носить то, что вам удобно. Одежда должна быть простой, элегантной и безупречной. Нужно всегда помнить: если вы одеты неопрятно, обращают внимание на ваше платье, если же ваша одежда безупречна, в вас видят женщину.

- Are accessories acceptable? In the company I worked for there was one cardinal rule: don't wear anything that jingles, wiggles, clanks or glitters. They said accessories should be silent, understated and unobtrusive — never sexy.

- Да, мы тоже придерживаемся этого правила. Вот вы, например, выглядите превосходно. Но может быть, вам стоит подумать о своих украшениях? Вы простите, что я говорю вам об этом.

- I understand that these dangling earrings, bracelets, chain collections and garish, attention-getting items I am wearing dilute any woman's authority image. But I can do nothing about it.

- Если вы хотите сделать карьеру в нашей компании, вам придется изменить свой облик. Вы меня понимаете?

- Yes.

2. Make up the dialogue according to the situation

Many companies believe that creating good working conditions for their employees and building up employee-manager relationships is very important. They arrange The Open Door programmes which allow them to have close contacts with staff. Staff often bring their problem first to their branch managers, but if they feel that they are being unfairly treated, they can appeal to a higher level of management.

Role 1

You have just been appointed a supervisor. Though you are young, 20 old women work under you. From the very beginning you had problems. Women made jokes about you to your face, saying that you were trying to impress the management by working so hard. One day you criticized one of the women for taking an unofficial fifteen-minute tea break. The woman said that she was stopping work for the day and wasn't putting up with this kind of treatment. After this incident relations between you and the women became worse. The women said they wouldn't work with you any longer. You are not satisfied with the business image you project. You arrange a meeting with your manager to discuss the problem.

Use your target vocabulary and these communication strategies:

- complain and express a wish

- express moral remorse

- swear that you are telling the truth

- think what to say next

- speak about the possibility beneficial to you

Role 2

You are a middle manager. Your supervisor says that she isn't doing her job well. You understand that she is young and inexperienced, and she can't persuade her workers to increase their work-rate. You fear that as a result of such an attitude the productivity may fall. Besides you heard that the supervisor was a 'liberated woman', wanting to get the most out of life and that was one of the reasons why the workers didn't take her seriously. You don't like her principle 'You only live once'.

Give her a sympathetic hearing and decide whether she is to blame for the problems that arose in the department.