ESL CONNECT

Project Management

A B1 ESL CONNECT lesson on project management, helping learners discuss tasks, deadlines, progress and problems in team contexts.

Section 1
Stage 1 — Warm-up
Managing projects at work
5 minutes · Discussion and context
Stock image of a team discussing a project around a table with laptops and notes
Lesson preview

Give updates, discuss risks, and manage deadlines clearly

This lesson helps learners practise project status updates, professional problem-solving language, and realistic deadline conversations. The page 1 preview gives the lesson a clearer, more modern business feel.

B1CEFR level
40 minInteractive lesson
6 stagesProject practice

Discuss with your partner:

1. What are the most common reasons projects fall behind schedule? Have you experienced any of these?

2. What is the difference between a project manager's job and a team member's job?

3. What do you do when you discover a problem mid-project? Who do you tell, and when?

Teacher note: At B1, students manage a realistic project scenario: giving and receiving status updates, escalating risks, negotiating scope changes, and handling a slipping deadline. Focus on present perfect for progress reports, second conditional for risk planning, and indirect questions for professional communication.

Today's project — Website Relaunch for Orbis Solutions:

Student A — Project Manager

You are managing a website relaunch. Deadline: end of month. The design team has finished. Dev is 2 weeks behind due to a key developer going on sick leave. You need to decide: request more resource, reduce scope, or push the deadline.

Student B — Developer

You have taken over from the sick developer. You have reviewed the work and estimate you need 3 more weeks — not 2. You are worried about quality if the deadline is kept. You need the PM to make a decision.

Website relaunchRisk escalationScope change
5 min
Stage 2 — Vocabulary
Project management vocabulary
10 minutes · Gap-fill exercise
Click a word from the box, then click a blank. Hover for definitions.
milestone
scope creep
stakeholder
contingency
bandwidth
sign-off
bottleneck
handover

Complete the sentences with the correct word from the box.

We need to hit the next by the end of this sprint, or the whole timeline will slip.

The client keeps adding small changes — this is classic and it needs to be managed.

We should update all the key s before the end of the week — they need to know about the delay.

I had built in a two-week for exactly this kind of situation, so we still have some flexibility.

The team simply does not have the to take on any more work before the end of the month.

We cannot start the next phase until we have from the client on the current designs.

The testing phase has become a — everything else is waiting on those results.

The was not well-documented, so it took me three days just to understand where things stood.

10 min
Stage 3 — Functional language
Project management phrases
8 minutes · Study and practise

Giving a project status update

The design phase has been completed and signed off.
We are currently about two weeks behind the original schedule.
Development is progressing, but we've hit a resource issue.
I'm pleased to report that testing has started ahead of schedule.

Flagging a risk or problem

I want to flag a risk at this stage — we may not meet the current deadline.
The handover documentation was incomplete, which has caused a significant delay.
If we don't get sign-off by Wednesday, the whole timeline will shift.
There's a bottleneck in testing that is holding up everything downstream.

Proposing solutions and trade-offs

We have three options: extend the deadline, reduce the scope, or bring in extra resource.
I'd recommend we drop the lower-priority features from this release and deliver a clean MVP.
If we extend by two weeks, I can guarantee the quality will be where it needs to be.
Could we get a contractor in to cover the gap? That might be the most practical solution.

Escalating and seeking decisions

I need a decision from you today — the team is waiting before they can proceed.
This is above my authority to decide — I need to escalate this to the director.
I'd rather flag this now than wait until it becomes a bigger problem.
What's your preference? I can model out the cost of each option if that helps.

Confirming next steps

So to confirm: we're extending by two weeks, and dropping features 4 and 5 from scope.
I'll send a revised timeline to the team and stakeholders by end of day.
Can you give me an updated estimate by tomorrow morning so I can brief the client?
Let's check in again on Friday to review progress against the new plan.
The golden rule of project risk: flag it early. A problem reported on day 3 is far easier to solve than the same problem reported on day 30. Good project managers create a culture where bad news travels fast.
8 min
Stage 4 — Question forms
Project management grammar drill
10 minutes · Multiple choice
10 min
Stage 5 — Role play
The deadline crisis conversation
12 minutes · Pair work
How to use: Student A (PM) must get a clear picture of the problem and make a decision. Student B (developer) must explain the risk clearly and professionally. Together, reach a realistic plan.
Student A — Project Manager
[Start the conversation. Say you wanted to catch up urgently about the website relaunch. Say you know the project is behind. Ask Student B to give you an honest status update.]
Student B — Developer
Thanks for making time. To be direct: the handover documentation was incomplete, and once I had a full picture of what remained, I realised we are looking at three weeks, not two. I know that's not what you want to hear.
Student A — Project Manager
[Stay calm. Ask Student B to break it down: what exactly is not done, and what is the biggest bottleneck right now?]
Student B — Developer
The core functionality is 80% done. The remaining 20% includes payment integration and mobile testing — both are complex. The bottleneck is the payment API. If that slips, everything else waits.
Student A — Project Manager
[Flag that the client deadline cannot move without significant impact. Say you need to consider three options and ask Student B for their professional view on each: 1. Push the deadline 2 weeks. 2. Reduce scope — drop mobile testing from this release. 3. Bring in a contractor for payment integration.]
Student B — Developer
Honestly, my recommendation is option 3. A good contractor could handle the payment API in a week. That keeps most of the scope intact and only adds a small cost. Dropping mobile testing worries me — it's a major client requirement.
Student A — Project Manager
[Agree with the analysis. Say you need sign-off from your director before hiring a contractor. Ask Student B: if you can confirm the contractor route by tomorrow, can the original deadline be met?]
Student B — Developer
If the contractor starts Monday, I'd say yes — with a small buffer. But I need that decision today if we're going to keep the current deadline. After today, we'll have to ask the client for an extension.
Student A — Project Manager
[Confirm you will escalate to the director this afternoon. Assign Student B one action: prepare a one-page scope document showing exactly what the contractor needs to do. Ask for it by 4pm. Close with a clear next-steps summary.]

Swap roles — scope creep scenario

Swap roles. The client has just asked for three major new features mid-project. Student A is now the developer who has analysed the impact: +4 weeks, +8,000 euros. Student B is the PM who must decide whether to accept, reject, or renegotiate. Practice the trade-off conversation.

12 min
Stage 6 — Summary
Lesson complete!
5 minutes · Review

Today's lesson

B1 — Intermediate

Project Management

~40 minutes

What you practised:

8 PM vocabulary words: milestone, scope creep, contingency, bottleneck, handover, bandwidth
Phrases for 5 PM functions: status update, flagging risk, proposing solutions, escalating, confirming next steps
6 grammar drills: present perfect passive, conditional urgency, professional listing of options
A realistic deadline-crisis role play requiring problem analysis, option evaluation, and a clear decision

Homework ideas:

1. Write a project status update email (80-100 words) for the Orbis website relaunch, explaining the delay and proposing the contractor solution.
2. Create a simple risk register for a project of your choice. List 3 risks, their likelihood, impact, and your contingency plan for each.
3. Practise explaining a project problem to someone senior. Use: "I want to flag a risk...", "We have three options...", "I need a decision by..."
Great work! Project management requires clear thinking and clear language. You now have the vocabulary and structures to navigate a delayed project professionally in English.