English Vocabulary in Use - 5 At work: colleagues and routines

opposite number

has the same position /does the same job as me

working relationship

way of communicating and working together

collaboration

working together to achieve shared goals

counterpart

more formal equivalent of opposite number

rapport

communication/relationship

take the initiative

make decisions without being told what to do

hierarchical

has a structure with important and less important people

pecking order

a system where some people have the right to get benefits/promotions before others

job-share

an agreement where two people each share the same job

hot-desking

a policy go sharing desks in an office, so people sit at whichever desk is free on a particular day

workmates

colleagues you are friendly with (especially in non-professional occupations); informal

talk shop

talk about work; informal

mundane

ordinary, not interesting

meet a deadline

have something finished by a fixed day or time

volunteer

offer to do something without being asked or told to do it

rewarding

making you feel satisfied that you have done something important or useful, or done something well

stimulating

encouraging new ideas or thinking

workload

amount of work I have to do

mechanical

you don’t have to think about what you are doing

repetitive

the same thing is repeated every day

knocking off

finishing work; informal

monotonous

boring because it never changes

satisfying

(does not) make me feel pleased by providing what I need or want

challenging

that tests my ability or determination

glamorous

very exciting, which everyone admires

anti-social

do not enable one to have a normal social life

stuck behind a desk

sitting at a desk all day; informal

mind-numbing

extremely boring

tight schedules

very strict or severely limited timetables

stuck in a rut

stuck/trapped in a job they can’t escape from

dead-end

with no prospects of promotion

technician

person whose job involves practical work with scientific or electrical equipment

went in with

formed a business partnership with

start-up

a small business that has just started

freelance

or works freelance

programmer

someone who writes computer programs