Joke - I'm the Boss

The boss was concerned that his employees weren’t giving him enough respect, so he tried and old fashioned method of persuasion: He brought in a sign that said “I’m the Boss” and taped it to his door. After lunch, he noticed someone had taped another note under his. “Your wife called. She wants her sign back!”

Quote - Fools...

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

~ Douglas Adams 

Buzzwords: Adminisphere

The upper levels of management where big, impractical, and

counterproductive decisions are made.

Quote- Up and Down...

Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down.
~ Jimmy Durante

Grammar- ‘much’, ‘many’, ‘a lot’ & ‘too’, ‘too much’, ‘too many’

Many times people come across problems when they have to use the above words in the correct way. Take a look at the uses below, and see if you can finally get rid of these ‘silly mistakes’:

‘much’, ‘many’, ‘a lot’

• We usually use ‘a lot of’ in positive and negative sentences and questions. ‘A lot of’ is used with uncountable and plural countable nouns
• They’ve bought a lot of things for the reception.
• We will need a lot of people to give us a hand.
•  Did you really earn a lot of money from that deal?
• We usually use ‘much’ in negative sentences
• I don’t have much time for you today.
• NOTE:  ‘much’ can also be used in positive and questions, but in these cases the sentences become formal. For informal use, we normally prefer ‘a lot of’ in positives and questions.
• We usually use ‘many’ in negative sentences and questions
• I haven’t got many emails to write today.
• Have you taken many days off in the summer?
• NOTE:  ‘many’ can be used also in positive sentences, but in these cases the sentences become formal. For informal use, we normally use ‘a lot of’ in positive sentences.

 ‘too’, ‘too much’, ‘too many’

Remember – ‘too’ has a negative meaning. It does not have the same meaning as ‘really’

Example : NOT ‘the assistant was too kind’ BUT ‘the assistant was really kind’

TOO + adjective	It is too noisy in here to concentrate NOT – it’s too much noisy in here
TOO + adverb	They speak too quickly – I can never catch what they say NOT – they speak too much quickly
TOO MUCH + uncountable noun	Don’t drink too much wine else you won’t be able to stand up
Verb + TOO MUCH	I am working too much lately and need to take a few days off
TOO MANY + plural countable noun	We received too many complaints last week. We really need to find where the problem lies

Grammar- Some Rules of Gerunds and Infinitives

1. After verbs of feeling and opinion > Gerunds Verbs: admit, avoid, consider, deny, dislike, enjoy, fancy, feel like, finish, can’t help, involve, keep, mean, mind, miss, practise, risk, can’t stand, suggest e.g: A healthy life involves taking exercises.	1. After some verbs > Infinitives Verbs: aim, fail, intend, learn how, long, Manage, need, offer, plan, prefer, refuse, try, want e.g: You need to fill in the blanks.        Do you want to help us?
2. Expressions with “spend “> Gerunds Expressions: spend (one’s) time, spend (quantity) time. e.g: I spent my time reading English        books.	2. After adjective that describe how someone feel about something >Infinitives Adjectives: afraid, anxious, ashamed, careful, determined, free, frightened, happy, keen, quick, ready, sorry, willing e.g: We are happy to celebrate our fifth         anniversary.
3. After prepositions that follow a verb or an adjective > Gerunds Prepositions: be interested in, apologize for, be used to, accuse (someone) of, specialize in, succeed in, insist on e.g: Are you interested in taking photograps?	3. After adjectives to give an opinion about something > Infinitives Adjectives: agreeable, amusing, boring, difficult, easy, hard, impossible, nice, good, important, necessary e.g: It’s necessary to understand grammar.
	4. After verbs followed by an object > Infinitives VERBS: advise, allow, dare, encourage, forbid, force, instruct, order, permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell e.g: My English teacher advised me to listen to              English music. ­­
	5. After some adjectives which can be used in phrases with “be” > Infinitives Phrases: be supposed to, be expected to, be allowed to, be prepared to e.g:  You are not supposed to do every         question correct.

Some verbs can be followed by -ing or to-infinitive  with different meanings.

                                                                                                      Which means:

Stop	I’ve stopped watching cartoons.	= Stop an activity
	We stopped to go to the toilets at the petrol station.	= Stop in order to
Try	I ‘ve tried to understand his English, but I was unsuccessful.	= Make an effort
	Let’s try restarting the computer.	= See if it works
Remember	Remember to bring your portfolio to the class tomorrow.	= Don’t forget
	I remember collecting marbles in our old neighbourhood.	= Past memory
Regret	I regret to tell you that your application has been rejected.	=To apologise for something bad. =To inform something bad. This is    used in more formal situations.
	I regret not saying goodbye before leaving.	= To be sorry now for something we did in the past.

How to ... Learn to be more diplomatic!

Let's face it when we are up against serious issues that we need to take care of quickly and efficiently we don't worry so much about possibly ignoring other people's feelings and/or opinions. However, there is a way of getting things done in a hurry and properly without having to  be labeled an egocentric tyrant.   Here are some suggestions and set phrases.

Avoid expressions like:

“You have to…”,

“Always...,”

 “Never…”

"I need it done this way!"

"No ifs or buts!"

"I said so!"

Use indirect language like:

 “You might consider,...”

 “I think it might be stronger if…,”

“It looks like you are saying....”

Give your feedback in the form of a question:

 “Have you thought of changing…”

“Would you consider doing this…”

" Have you considered the issue from another angle...."

When you don't agree, start by giving positive feedback  before disagreeing, like:

"I see your point, however,....."

"I hadn't considered that aspect, but...."

"Your suggestion is valid, nonetheless......"