How to Talk to Your Boss in English

Most people wish to create a decent impression with our boss or project manager. Creating a great relationship with a line manager can make a promotion or pay rise more likely. But it's one thing to try to this with a boss who speaks your own language - and quite another issue to try to do it in another language. So if your boss is a degree English speaker, here are some tips for using right English.

Remember to be polite

Ask for things or build suggestions instead of creating orders.
(So "Could I" or "Do you think that we tend to should" rather than "You should" or "You must".)

Remember to use polite modals as well: would, could, may and so on.

Here are some examples of how you can use these modals in polite words and expressions.

• Sir
• Ma’am (short for madam)
• Please
• Thank you
• Excuse me
• Of course.
• It’s not a problem.
• I’ll do that right away.
• May I speak with you for a moment?
• Can I confirm that with you tomorrow?
• Could you go over that with me, please?
• Could you repeat that for me, please?
• Would you mind if I took my lunch break?
• Would you mind if I left the office early today?
• Would you mind if I borrowed the report?
• Would it be possible to reschedule the meeting?
• I need a bit more time with the report.
• I’m afraid the meeting has been postponed.
• How can I help?
• What would you like me to do?
• Would you like me to work on this project?
• Is there anything I can do?
• I will keep that in mind.
• I’ll make sure to remember that next time.
• I will correct the error right away.
• I agree with you.

Be enthusiastic

Don't be that one that perpetually complains or tries to urge out of a task. Instead, show your boss that you are happy to be working at the job and happy to be told new things. If a boss sees that you are excited, you're more likely to get interesting projects to do, and you'll also become known as a good worker.

Offer to do things in the office and to get involved. Here are some great phrases for this.

• “I’d be happy to do that”, or “I’d love to work on that”
• “Can I help with that?”, or “Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”.
• “My pleasure”, or “No problem, I enjoyed working on it”
•  “Can we do it this way, instead?”.
• “I’ll get right on it” if you’re going to start immediately, or “I’ll have it done by… (time/day)”
• “Why don’t we… ?” or “It would be great if we could…” 
• If we use motorbikes instead of cars, we will be able to deliver packages much faster.”

Be open to feedback

It's important for your boss to know that you are keen to progress in the job. One way to do this is to check in with your boss and to ask for feedback. You need to know if you're doing something right, or if you need to make improvements in how you're doing your work.
Check out these feedback phrases that you simply will use together with your boss.

If you are doing a project and you want your manager to review it before submitting it, then you can ask the manager in several ways.

• "Did you want to review my project?"
• "I just completed the assignment. Did you want to review it?"
• "This is my first project and I was wondering if you could review it real quick?"
• "I think I covered all the bases, but could you do a quick check."

If you are new at your job, then it is good to ask for feedback. This can be done when you complete a project or after several months on the job. Some companies have a process in place where you have a weekly one on one meeting with your manager. You can use this time to talk about your work and anything else on your mind. If you don't have a weekly meeting, then you might have to set up a time with your manager to discuss your progress.

• "Hi Roger, can we set up a time to discuss my progress so far?"
• "I was wondering if we can meet to discuss how I am doing."

If you are doing work that doesn't include projects or assignments, then you can't ask for feedback on the work you completed. But you can ask how you have been doing in the last several months.

• "Can I get some feedback on my performance?"
• "Where do you think I need to improve?"
• "What areas do you think I should work on?"

If you have a project you completed, you can ask for feedback on the project. But make sure you give your manager enough time to review the work before asking for feedback.

• "Did you finish reviewing my project I completed?"
• "Hi Mark, this was my first project, and I wanted to know how I did so I can improve."
• "Where do you think I could have done better?"
• "Is there any areas that I could have done better?"
• "What should I do better for next time?"
• "What areas did I do well, and what areas did I do poorly."