Business English | 14 English Phrases for Giving Progress Updates at Work [598]

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Learn how to give a clear progress update in English during meetings, project calls and everyday workplace conversations. This business English lesson teaches practical phrases for saying that work is on track, nearly finished, delayed, waiting for another team or affected by changing priorities.

The episode is designed for non-native English speakers who work in international companies and already understand their job well, but need more accurate and natural English to explain progress, deadlines and problems. You will hear useful workplace English phrases with clear explanations and examples, so you can give project updates with more confidence in meetings.

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:10

Hi there. This is Harry and welcome back Harry, where I try to help you the English language. So in this advanced English lesson, we're looking at how to give a progress update in English. So this is when your boss or a work is going. Is it on time? How much have you done? And I'm sure this is something at work, somebody asks you, Or where are we with that? And you have to give them an Most of the time you probably The difficult part here is phrase, the one that sounds really use in a meeting. So that's what I'm going to give Uh, the real phrases. And I've put them into groups, so it's easy for you to find the one you need when the work is progressing well, when you're nearly finished, when there's a delay, when you're waiting for some information from someone else, and when the priorities suddenly change. I'll explain each one and give when and how to use it. Okay. Let's go. So let's start with the good The work is going fine and you want to say so clearly and simply. Number one, we're on track. Well, when something is on you'll finish it on time. Everything is going the way it So you use this when the boss asks about the report and everything's fine. We're on track to finish the Or don't worry, the project's on as a question, too. So when somebody asks, are we And they want to know if you'll finish the project on time and you can answer, yes, we're on track. We should have it ready by So on track means everything's going as planned, finishing on time. It's one of the most common phrases you'll hear in a meeting. We're on track number two. We're on schedule. And there are two more that go Ahead of schedule and behind Now these are all about time. On schedule means on time So for example, if your deadline is the tenth of August and you think you're going to finish on the tenth of August, this is when you're on schedule, ahead of schedule means earlier than planned, so that's usually good news. You're doing better than You're going to finish the So when you're giving a progress say the team's done really well. We're actually ahead of schedule and behind schedule means later than planned. And that's the bad news. This means you're running late. You're not going to finish the presentation, or whatever it So you can say, I'm afraid we're we've fallen a bit behind Or if it's really bad news, the project's now two weeks behind schedule. So here, one small word ahead or behind changes the meaning of the message. Completely ahead of schedule is Behind schedule is the bad news, so just make sure you choose the right one on schedule, ahead of schedule. Behind schedule. Number three. Everything's gone to plan. Or you can also say everything's Well, this means it's all happening the way you expected with no surprises and no problems. So you use it to reassure nothing to worry about. So let's say you're in the weekly meeting and your boss turns to you and asks, so how are we getting on with the launch? Is everything okay? And you say, yes, don't worry, So straight away your boss can There's nothing to worry about. Don't worry. Everything's gone to plan. Or you can say, so far it's all And this means we haven't hit Every step has gone the way we We're keeping to our dates and So it's a calm, confident thing to say when the work is going well. Going to plan. And for those of you who use together a short quiz called It has eight common meeting what you're already doing well little more help. You can take the quiz at use the link in the description Now that's the work going well. So let's move on to the moment The main job is done and you're just coming to the end with one or two small things left to tidy up. So how do you tell people you're Well, here's what you can say. We're in the final stages. The final stages means the last The end part of a piece of work. The big work is finished and So you use this when you're completely done yet. So, for example, your manager or report coming along? Are we close? And you say, yes, we're in the Just a few small things left and Or the client rings up and asks a similar question and you say the report is nearly finished, so I'll send it to you very soon. So it tells people we're almost Nearly finished. Just the last part left to do in And then number five, we have. I'm just putting the finishing Now this is a really natural well worth learning. The finishing touches of the make to something. Not the big work because that's Just the small final details So think of a painter who's adds a few last small marks. Those are the finishing touches You can use it when the main job is done and you're just checking it, tidying it, making it look right. I'm just putting the finishing touches to the presentation, or we're adding the finishing touches now and then it's ready to send. And we usually say. Put the finishing touches to The finishing touches to the touches to the report. So the finishing touches are those last small details that you add right at the end, just before something is completely finished. The finishing touches. Number six. To wrap up or I should be Well, when we say wrap something way to say to finish it. You can hear people use it all So, for example, your boss stops you with the report? And you can reply, I'm just wrapping up the last section now. Or perhaps a colleague asks you in the canteen, how are we getting on with the presentation? And you can say, don't worry. We should wrap this up by the So it's a bit more informal and wrap something up. Now, of course, not every progress update is going to be good news. Sometimes the work is running a So how do you explain it clearly sound worse than it is? Well, here are a few ways you The first expression is we've When you fall behind, this means much work as you had planned to So perhaps you expected to report this week, but you've In this case, you can say We've fallen behind because the testing took longer than expected or we've fallen a few days behind. We fell behind at the beginning of the month, but we're catching up now. And notice the verb. The present perfect is we've Simple is we fell behind. For fall fell, fallen. Now we've fallen behind is a useful phrase because it clearly tells people that the current progress is not where it should be. And then, of course, explain why Usually you should explain why to get back on track. We've fallen behind because we had to repeat some of the tests, but we should catch up next week. So the update your giving has First, you explain the reason and finally you say what We fallen behind and the next expression is it's taking longer than expected. It's taking longer than You use this when the work needs more time than you originally thought. Perhaps the task is more Perhaps there is more Or perhaps you've found something that needs to be corrected. So you might say the review is because there are more documents the testing is taking longer finish it tomorrow. It's taking longer than So sometimes the work simply you first expected, But on other specific reason for the delay. Perhaps something has gone wrong And in that situation you can Everything was going well up to And then you discovered that So you can say we've run into a problem with the figures in the final section. Or perhaps a colleague asks, why And you say, oh, we've run into we're trying to sort it out. So this expression tells people happened and it is affecting the We've run into a problem now. A very informal way to say the same thing is we've hit a snag, a snag. Well, that's an informal little word for a small, unexpected problem. The kind of problem that slows you down but doesn't stop you completely. So we've hit a snag is quite informal, and it's something you'd normally use with your own team or with colleagues you know well. But if you're speaking to a update in a more formal meeting probably the better expression. We've run into a problem with checking them now. And then, of course, you'll want recover from the delay. You can say we'll catch up by track next week. So catch up means complete the work that you should already have finished and get back on track means return to the original plan after a delay or a problem. Okay, this next situation is to get right. So you've done your part. You can't go any further because you're waiting for something from another person, your colleague, your boss, or another team. So the important thing here is the delay is not your fault. So here are the phrases we've Now, if you've been held up, delayed your work. And usually this delay is caused by something outside your control. So perhaps your manager asks, And you say, we've been held up the final figures from finance. Or perhaps a customer asks why and you explain the delivery has So you're explaining that the work hasn't stopped because you forgot about it or failed to do it. Something else has caused the We've been held up or something The next expression is we're And sign off means the final approval you need before you can move forward. Publish something or send it to It's the point where the work is essentially complete, but it still needs someone in authority to officially say, yes, this is approved. So perhaps you finished the has to approve it before it can In that case, you can say the We're just waiting for sign off or we're waiting for final sign off from the client before we can begin. You might also hear this in technically done, but it can't finance or senior management For example, the design is sign off from legal. And notice that when we use it as a noun, we normally say sign off. We're waiting for sign off, but when we use it as a verb to sign off, we say to sign off on something, meaning to approve it. The director needs to sign off Or you could also say, once the we can proceed. So if the work is ready but you before moving ahead. This is a very natural and commonly used expression in business English. And finally, a situation that You were working on one thing, important came along and you had So here's how you explain that Or you can say our priorities Well, this simply means what's The order of the jobs has So you use it to explain why you did one thing instead of another. Priorities shifted this week. So I did the client work first. Or perhaps your manager asks you why the report hasn't been completed and you say our priorities changed when the client brought the deadline forward. So we had to focus on that And you could also say priorities have shifted and the product launch is now our main focus. Priorities have shifted. Or you can say simply, we've put When we put something on hold, it means we haven't cancelled it or decided not to continue with it. We've simply stopped working on back to it later. So perhaps a colleague asks you, the new project? And you say, we've put the new month, meaning we'll stop come back to it next month. Perhaps the recruitment plan was due to start this month, but the company is still reviewing the budget. So when a colleague asks are you still working on the recruitment plan, you can say no. We've put it on hold until the new budget is approved or, for example, the company was considering a move to a new office, but management hasn't made the final decision yet. So you can say the office move final decision from management. So on hold, pause stopped for And now finally, the last priorities have changed as it's Now this is a very natural slightly different from on hold. So when something is on the back down your list of priorities. It's still there and you still plan to do it, but not right now because more urgent things have come first. So here's the difference between When you say something's on hold, it means you've stopped it completely for the moment, but on the back burner means it's still going quietly in the background. It's just not important right This phrase comes from cooking The pots at the front. You watch closely because they at the back is still warm, still watching it right now. So on the back burner means Still there, still going. Slowly, but not your main focus. We've put the marketing work on the back burner while we finish the launch, or the website redesign is on the back burner for now. So on the back burner, something's moved down your list of priorities. It's still there, but not urgent So let me give you all the phrases one more time in their groups. So when the work is going fine, you can say, we're on track, we're on or we're ahead of schedule, or everything's going to plan. When you're nearly finished, you can say, we're in the final stages. I'm putting the finishing touches to it, or I'm wrapping it up. When there's a delay, you can We've run into a problem. Or more informally, we've hit a And when you want to explain how delay, you can say will catch up When you're waiting for somebody else, you can say, we've been held up or something has been held up. And if you're waiting for the we're waiting for sign off. And then when something more can say priorities have shifted If the work has stopped for the on hold and if it's no longer it's on the back burner. So all the real phrases you need update in English. Now, what I'd like you to do is Choose a few phrases and practice them two or three times. And then once you're comfortable a few more. Okay, so as always, if you need any help or you'd like some more examples, you know where to find me. www.englishlessonviaskype.com and always happy to help. So this is Harry thanking you And as always, join me again for