Before you organize Business English Training in your company, here are 10 questions that will ensure its success. There is no right and wrong in the answers, but what you identify will determine the kind of course you should look for.

1. What is the ideal scope of the Business English training?

Business English is a wide concept that includes a wide variety of topics and approaches.
Examples:
Learning industry-specific Business English vocabulary.
Improving communication skills in English for work-related situations.

2. What practical results do I expect from a Business English training?

This question is forcing you to think about what your team can’t do now (or not as well as you would like to) that you believe will be important for them to achieve.
Examples:
Developing a relationship with overseas clients through small talk.
Presenting the financial results to the board of directors next quarter.

3. How can I empower my workforce with a Business English training?

A company training is the perfect opportunity to empower some people in the company through knowledge and know-how.
Examples:
Developing leadership skills.
Encouraging team work.

4. How do I make sure the team doing the training is committed to the training?

The efficiency of the training depends on how committed the participants of the training will be. When presented as an opportunity for self-development and personal growth, a training can have a concrete impact on the training success.
Examples:
Selecting the most motivated employees.
Evaluating training needs and objectives in the yearly review.

5. How can the Business English training build my team?

The participants of a company training might be embarrassed to talk to each other in English. They might feel bad because of their accent or their level of fluency.
Examples:
Making the training experience an opportunity to make mistakes and learn.
Encouraging work in pairs or small groups.

6. What kind of flexibility does my company need for with Business English training?

Scheduling training for several people to be available on the same day at the same time can be quite a challenge!

Examples:
Having lessons in the evening.
Scheduling an intensive course over a short period of time.

7. How can I evaluate which learning format would benefit my company’s employees best?

Not every employee in a company has the same needs. For some, individual lessons are definitely the way to go while for others a group setting might be more suitable.
Examples:
Listing what is important for each employee.

Getting an assessment of needs before setting up training.

8. Should I choose online or on-site Business English training?

Learning online brings a lot of benefits, but it’s important to evaluate all the possibilities to make sure the training is a inspiring experience.

Examples:
The opportunities to use English come up more online/in the office.
People are in different locations, so online makes more sense.

9. How can I supervise and monitor the training?

What gets measured, gets managed. Some indicators are very useful to evaluate commitment and satisfaction in real-time. You don’t want to wait until the end of the course to realize the training was not up to expectations.

Examples:
Attendance rate is a great indicator to measure interest in the training.

Getting regular informal feedback from the participants.

10. What other questions should I think of?

There are many questions to ask ourselves before we organize a training. Every company has their own priorities and points that matter.
Examples:
Do the teachers have former professional experience in the Business English field they are training?

How long in advance can we cancel a lesson?