The 7 Steps December
1. CONTEXT
Mindmap
anything you
know about thetopic, including
vocabulary. Do
some research
online to help.

Workplace Innovation
Listening Questions 1
1. According to the OECD, what percentage of workers in Japan worked longhours?

2. QUESTIONS.
2. What was the OECD average for “time devoted to leisure and personal care”?
.

Read the listening
questions tocheck yourunderstanding.
Look up any new
vocabulary.

3. When was Telework Day and how many companies were expected toparticipate?
.
4. In what year did Cool Biz debut and what was Yuriko Koike’s position at thetime?
.
5. What’s one reason Premium Fridays were introduced?
.

3. LISTEN

Listening Questions 2
1. What are open office designs supposed to achieve?

Listen and answer
the questions
using full
sentences. Circle
the number oftimes and % you
understood.

.
2. What kind of mix are some companies now aiming for when designing theiroffices?
.
3. What are “coworking spaces”?
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4. When was WeWork established and how many members do they have?
.

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Listening 1
2 3 4

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Listening 2
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5. Name 2 large companies that are WeWork customers.
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Discussion Questions
1. How has the work culture in Japan changed since you started working?
2. What do you think your company will look like 10 years from now?
3. What are some other workplace initiatives you would like to see introduced?

TRANSCRIPT 1

4. CHECK ANSWERS

Read through thetranscript andunderline theanswers. Checkthem against yourown answers.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s latest
figures in 2017, roughly 22% of employees in Japan worked long hours, which is defined asover 50 hours per week. Of the 38 countries included in the list, Japan was ranked 35th with only
workers in South Korea, Mexico and Turkey putting in longer days. However, in the “timedevoted to leisure and personal care” category, Japan came in at 22nd place with just under 15hours per day, which was the average for all 38 countries.
July 24th 2017 was “Telework Day” in Japan, a government-backed initiative promoting
telecommuting, and according to a Reuters article at the time over 900 companies were going totake part. Reuters also reported that July 24th will be designated as Telework Day until the startof the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

5. CHECK VOCABULARY
Read thetranscript andcircle any new
vocabulary youfind. Look themup and add themto your list.

Another example of an initiative introduced by the Japanese government was “Cool Biz”. In
2005 Yuriko Koike, then Environment minister and now Governor of Tokyo in 2017, introduced
Cool Biz where office workers were encouraged to dress more comfortably. Cool Biz has takenroot and it’s now common not to have to wear a tie or jacket during the summer.
In February 2017 “Premium Friday” debuted. The idea of this is to get companies to encourage
employees to leave work a few hours earlier on the last Friday of every month. According to theMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), one goal is to improve the lifestyles of workingpeople. It is hoped that this extra time off will also boost consumer spending.
MATCH THE SYNONYMS BY DRAWING LINES BELOW:

6. READ ALOUD

Read thetranscript aloudat least 5 times,focusing on
intonation andpronunciation.

Put inIncrease

DesignatedChange over time

Take root

Assigned

BoostApart fromEvolve

WorkSeparate

Become firmly established

TRANSCRIPT 21122334455

Say the transcript
aloud at the sametime as the audio
without reading
it. Circle how
many times
below.

22

3
3

4
4

The “open office” or “open floor” design is an example of how some companies have tried tocreate an atmosphere intended to inspire creativity, collaboration and productivity.
In October 2017, a New York Times article explained how the concept has evolved over theyears. Companies are currently choosing designs that are a mix of both open and more quiet orprivate areas where employees can either work alone or meet in groups separate from
whatever else may be happening in the same shared space.

7. SHADOWING1
1

How efficiently we work can be influenced by many factors including the layout of our offices.

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Another interesting trend is “coworking spaces,” where individuals or companies can rent spacein the same facility and often interact with each other in common areas or during scheduledevents. WeWork is one company that offers this type of service. They were established in 2010
and according to their website they have in excess of 100,000 “members” around the world andoffice space in more than 50 cities. They offer different plans designed to accommodate fromone person all the way up to large companies, and membership includes access to a wide rangeof services. Some of the very well-known companies WeWork lists as customers include
General Motors, Microsoft and HSBC. It will be very interesting to see how this concept
develops in the years to come.