#4 Buying a Train Ticket｜Useful English Phrases for Shopping
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#50 Reporting Results to Your Manager｜English Business Phrases
Izumi
When reporting progress or results to your manager, it is important to communicate the facts concisely and clearly explain the contributing factors and next steps.
Being able to report results smoothly in English helps improve the flow of communication and contributes to building trust in the workplace.
In this article, I introduce useful English expressions for presenting results, responding to questions, and explaining future plans in business situations.
Contents
Dialogue
Do you have a moment? I’d like to give you an update on the project.
Sure, go ahead. How is everything going so far?
We reached our monthly target last week, and customer feedback has been very positive.
That’s great news. What led to this outcome?
The new marketing campaign performed well, and we streamlined our follow-up process.
Good work. What’s your plan moving forward?
We plan to expand the campaign next month and aim for a 15% increase in sales.
1. Opening a Progress Report
When beginning a progress report, it is important to make sure the other person has time to listen. The following phrases are useful:
- Do you have a moment?
Rather than beginning abruptly, opening with a soft request allows the manager to prepare to listen. After this, continue with the purpose of your report:
- I’d like to give you an update.
This phrasing helps signal your intention clearly while giving the listener time to focus.
2. Reporting Results Clearly
When delivering results, it is effective to state “what happened” in clear and direct terms.
- We reached our monthly target last week.
The verb “reach” is commonly used to express that a target has been met. You may also use “achieve,” but reach sounds more natural in spoken business English.
You can then follow with additional achievements:
- Customer feedback has been very positive.
The word “positive” is frequently used to describe favorable reactions.
If possible, adding numbers increases the persuasiveness of your report:
- We increased sales by 12%.
- We received 40% more inquiries compared to last month.
Specific figures are highly valued in business reporting.
3. Explaining the Factors Behind the Results
Managers often want to know why the results turned out as they did. For this reason, expressions for explaining contributing factors are essential.
- What led to this outcome?
The expression “lead to ～” means “to result in” or “to bring about,” and is very common in business contexts.
To explain the factors, you can say:
- The new marketing campaign performed well.
- We streamlined our follow-up process.
“Performed well” means “produced good results” and can be used for campaigns, systems, products, and more.
“Streamline” is useful when explaining improvements that contributed to performance.
4. Presenting Future Plans
When concluding your report, sharing your next steps makes your explanation more complete and forward-looking.
- We plan to expand the campaign next month.
The phrase “plan to” is widely used to express scheduled future actions in business.
- We aim for a 15% increase in sales.
“Aim for” is effective when describing numerical goals or targets.
Presenting your future direction helps your manager understand the overall picture and gives the report a clear conclusion.
Summary
- I’d like to give you an update.
→ A basic phrase for beginning a progress or results report. - We reached our monthly target.
→ A concise way to present key results; adding figures enhances clarity. - What led to this outcome?
→ A common question from managers when asking for the reasons behind the results. - We plan to / We aim to ～
→ Useful structures for describing future plans and goals.
