EDITOR’S NOTE: Speaking English in meetings can be inefficient if employees lack confidence. For example, in Agile sprints, shyness leads to poor communication in stand-up meetings. This article looks at how ECSC’s Onsite English Consultant helps Thai teams speak up and succeed.
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Don’t be shy! This is especially important for companies that have daily stand-up meetings as part of their Agile sprints for project management.
As you know, the point of your sprints is to ensure employees stay aligned with project goals and timelines. And your daily stand-up meetings are key to keeping sprints on target and on time.
So it can be a big problem if participants in stand-ups are shy and don’t give necessary updates. It works against the point of breaking work down into sprints in the first place.
- Does your company have daily stand-up meetings?
- Are the meetings in English (because you employ both Thai and non-Thai staff)?
- Are Thai staff sometimes shy about speaking in these meetings, and doesn’t this slow down progress on a project?
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How Shyness Impacts Stand-Up Meetings
Agile sprints aren’t just for software developers and tech startups.
Even large companies, across many industries, have realized that they can improve efficiency by breaking projects down in to manageable phases – but so much depends on the communication between the project’s participants.
If your daily stand-up meetings are meant to improve collaboration, transparency, and quick problem-solving, people need to be speaking!
- In so many companies in Thailand, these meetings often fall short of their potential due to certain employees not feeling comfortable speaking English.
- If employees are not speaking – or they’re speaking quickly to “just get through it” – then they probably aren’t sharing all the information that they should be.
- They also may be sharing partial or unclear information, which can also make things harder for other team members.
The Ideal Outcome of Stand-Up Meetings
Stand-up meetings are designed to be short, focused discussions where your team members share their progress, highlight roadblocks, and set goals for the day.
These meetings are supposed to be quick and have lots of communication. But all it takes is for one team member to lack confidence in their English and then meetings take longer or have less communication.
In an ideal situation, every participant should actively contribute, speaking confidently about their tasks, raising concerns about targets and timelines, and collaborating to solve issues.
- Open communication is critical not just for software development teams, but in any organization that uses Agile sprints & stand-ups.
- It could be in marketing & advertising, real estate development, Fintech – any industry where there are projects and/or project managers.
- In Thailand, these meetings often don’t work as effectively as they should, especially when English is the chosen language for communication in their industry.
What English Should Employees Learn to Improve Stand-Ups?
The key to overcoming these challenges is building English language confidence within teams, so they feel comfortable participating in Agile stand-up meetings.
This is where ECSC Thailand’s Onsite English Consultant (OEC) service can help your company. It is an immersive, hands-on solution that trains employees in the context of the the English they need to learn.
- The OEC is embedded within the company, becoming part of the daily workflow.
- This consultant isn’t just there to correct emails or hold occasional workshops – they are present during stand-up meetings and other real-life situations where English is required.
- They will be there to teach employees and give them confidence until it’s time for the training wheels to come off.
What Does the OEC Do?
- Real-Time Coaching in Stand-Ups: The OEC actively participates in daily stand-ups, providing live coaching and feedback. They encourage shy team members to speak up, help them express ideas clearly, and coach them through difficult moments.
- Building Confidence in Speaking English: Over time, team members gain confidence in using English, knowing that they have support in a non-judgmental environment. The more comfortable employees become, the more they’ll actively participate in Agile sprints.
- Customized Language Support: The OEC tailors training to the specific needs of the team, focusing on the vocabulary and communication styles relevant to the projects at hand. This means that employees aren’t just learning English in theory – they’re applying it in practice every day.
- Cultural Sensitivity: The OEC also understands the cultural dynamics at play in Thai companies and works to address those as well, ensuring that employees feel supported without feeling pressured or embarrassed.
Final Thoughts
Agile sprints are only as effective as the communication within the team.
For Thai companies that rely on English for their stand-up meetings, ECSC Thailand’s Onsite English Consultant service offers a practical, real-world solution to overcome language barriers.
By empowering employees to communicate confidently in English, teams can unlock the full potential of Agile, resulting in more productive meetings, quicker problem-solving, and ultimately, better project outcomes.
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Visit our Contact Us page to inquire about English communication skills training for professionals in Thailand. Or, schedule a discovery call with our Founder, Don Gorr.
Don Gorr
I'm the Founder & Managing Director of ECSC Thailand. We help companies 'activate the English in their employees' so they can speak English confidently.
