1. Getting on well with colleagues, as anyone who works in an office knows, is a vital element in our working lives. Many office jobs involve a great deal of time spent talking. One British study of 160 managers, for example, found that they spent between one third and 90 per cent of their time with other people. ‘Working relationships’, write social psychologists Michael Argyle and Monica Menderson, ‘are first brought about by the formal system of work, but are elaborated in several ways by informal contacts of different kinds’. And good relationships at work, research shows, are one of the main sources of job satisfaction and well-being.
2. Are there any ‘rules of relationships’ that might be useful as general markers of what to do and what not to do in your dealings with others? Michael Argyle and his colleagues have found that there’re such rules. Through interviews with people they operated a number of possible rules. Then they asked others to rate how important those rules were in 22 different kinds of relationships. These included relationships with spouses, close friends, siblings, and work colleagues as well as relationships between work subordinates and their superiors.
3. The researchers discovered five ‘universal’ rules that applied to over half of all these relationships. 1. Respect of other’s privacy. 2. Look the other person in the eye during conversation. 3. Do not discuss what has been said in confidence with the other person. 4. Do not criticize the other person publicly. 5. Repay debts, favours or compliments no matter how small.
4. This doesn’t mean that nobody breaks these rules, as we all know; – it just means that they are seen as important. The ‘looking in the eye’ rule, for example, is a crucial aspect of good social skill. It’s very uncomfortable to have to talk to someone who never, or hardly ever, looks at you during the conversation. One needs to look at the person one is talking to see if they’re still attending and to monitor their reactions. To signal interest, the listener has to look quite frequently at the person who is speaking. Trying to get to know the other person a bit more, if you can manage it, is really quite a good approach.
Определите, является ли утверждение:
People spend a lot of their time interacting with their workmates.
1) в тексте нет информации
2) истинным
3) ложным
ЗАДАНИЕ28 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
The communication rules are used to establish good working relationships.
1) истинным
2) в тексте нет информации
3) ложным
ЗАДАНИЕ29 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
Being in a team means that everyone is in the same place.
1) в тексте нет информации
2) ложным
3) истинным
ЗАДАНИЕ30 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
The ‘looking in the eye’ rule isn’t considered to be important for social interaction.
1) в тексте нет информации
2) ложным
3) истинным
ЗАДАНИЕ31 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:
It’s necessary to make a good eye contact with a person while talking.
1) 4 2) 1
3) 2 4) 3
ЗАДАНИЕ32 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:
To maintain good relationships one should avoid public criticism.
1) 4 2) 3
3) 1 4) 2
ЗАДАНИЕ33 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Ответьте на вопрос:
Why are good relationships important for people’s working lives?
1) Getting on well with colleagues people spend less time together.
2) Getting on well with colleagues is an important element of financial success.
3) Good relationships afford people to feel pleased with their job.
4) Good relationships help people to relax.
ЗАДАНИЕ34 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите основную идею текста
1) Good relationships in the workplace means job satisfaction and more productive, happy lives.
2) Some sorts of problems can arise in relationships between people who work together.
3) It’s important to be a good listener.
4) There’re rules and regulations that can be applied to different kinds of relationships.