Business English Phrases for Starting the Year Strong at Work

Dec 25, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Feb 14

Business English phrases explained with a real-life workplace quiz, helping professionals use natural English for planning, priorities, and clear communication in meetings and everyday work situations.

At the start of the year, work conversations often shift. Teams talk more about priorities, planning, and what needs to change. Many professionals know what they want to say, but choosing the right wording in these moments isn’t always easy. Some expressions sound too casual, others too strong, and some simply don’t sound natural. This article focuses on Business English phrases that help you speak clearly and professionally when these conversations come up. There’s also a short challenge to help you notice what sounds right in real workplace English.

Today’s Challenge

It’s early January.

A colleague asks for your advice.

She says everything feels urgent already, and the year has barely started.

She explains that last year her team tried to do too much at once. Deadlines slipped, and people were constantly reacting instead of planning.

You listen and think for a moment. You’ve seen this pattern before, and you know what usually helps.

You say:

If you want to start the year _____, set clear priorities.

A) on the wrong elbow

B) on the right foot

C) on one knee

D) headfirst

Choose the option that sounds most natural in this situation.

Now let’s check the answer and explore some useful examples.

ON THE WRONG ELBOW

not a real expression in English

ON THE RIGHT FOOT

idiom

to start something in a good way, with a clear plan:

You start something on the right foot or start something off on the right foot.

ON ONE KNEE

expression; it’s usually literal, with no hidden idiom meaning

HEADFIRST

adverb

in a fast, rushed way, without thinking carefully first

That’s right! The correct answer is B) on the right foot.

Practical Business English Phrases for Direction, Priorities, and Focus at Work

Business English phrases for planning, focus, and priorities, helping professionals use clear, natural language in real workplace situations.

Below are a few more Business English phrases that professionals often use when talking about direction, priorities, and focus at work. You’ll hear these in meetings, planning discussions, and everyday team conversations. They help you sound clear and professional without sounding too direct or informal.

Talking about direction & focus

BE CLEAR FROM THE OUTSET

expression

to explain your plan or expectations clearly from the very beginning

Let’s be clear from the outset about what this project includes and what it doesn’t.

DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

expression

to explain clearly what a good result means before starting the work

Before we move forward, we need to define what success looks like for this quarter.

DECIDE WHAT COMES FIRST

expression

to choose which task or goal is the most important and should be done before others.

We can’t do everything at once, so we need to decide what comes first.

Talking about priorities

NARROW OUR FOCUS

expression

to reduce the number of tasks or goals and concentrate on the most important ones

If we want better results, we need to narrow our focus and stop chasing every request.

AVOID OVERCOMMITTING

expression

to avoid agreeing to too much work and creating unnecessary pressure

I’m happy to help, but I also want to avoid overcommitting.

MAKE TRADE-OFFS

expression

to accept that you cannot have everything at the same time, and that choosing one option means giving up another

With the current budget, we’ll have to make trade-offs if we want to meet the deadline.

"Reset" language

TAKE A FRESH LOOK

expression

to review a situation again to see it more clearly and possibly make better decisions

Let’s take a fresh look at the plan and see what still makes sense.

START WITH A CLEAN SLATE

idiom

to forget past problems and begin again

It’s a new year — let’s start with a clean slate.

TAKE A STEP BACK

expression

to pause and look at a situation calmly before deciding what to do next

I know this feels urgent, but let’s take a step back before we commit to anything.

Practice Business English Phrases for Direction, Priorities, and Focus

Now that you’ve seen how these Business English phrases are used, it’s time to practice them in real work situations.

Choose the correct option, listen to the sentences.

We’re already juggling a few deadlines this month. We should avoid _____.

A) committed

B) committing

C) overcommitting

D) overcommit

CHECK HERE

The correct answer is C) overcommitting.

We’re already juggling a few deadlines this month. We should avoid overcommitting.

Review the definition.

Woman in green sweater holds coffee, sits by a laptop displaying a scatter plot. Blue background with "Start Learning Data Science" text.

Look, we’re already planning the next move, and we’re not done with this one yet. Let’s take _____ for a second — I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

A) step back B) a step back

C) stepping back

D) to step back

CHECK HERE

The correct answer is B) a step back.

Look, we’re already planning the next move, and we’re not done with this one yet. Let’s take a step back for a second — I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Review the definition.

We’ve had some confusion on similar projects before. I’d like to be clear _____ about expectations on both sides.

A) ahead

B) in front

C) early D) from the outset

CHECK HERE

The correct answer is D) from the outset.

We’ve had some confusion on similar projects before. I’d like to be clear from the outset about expectations on both sides.

Review the definition.

Person at computer desk, analyzing graphs on screen. Blue background with text: "Monitor. Filter. Control." Button: "GET STARTED."

We’re trying to fix too many things at once, and nothing is really moving. So let’s _____ our focus and deal with the biggest issue first.

A) narrow

B) split

C) widen

D) stretch

CHECK HERE

The correct answer is A) narrow.

We’re trying to fix too many things at once, and nothing is really moving. So let’s narrow our focus and deal with the biggest issue first.

Review the definition.

We don’t have enough time or people to do everything the way we planned, so we’ll have to make some _____.

A) exchanges B) backlogs

C) trade-offs

D) trade-ins

CHECK HERE

The correct answer is C) trade-offs.

We don’t have enough time or people to do everything the way we planned, so we’ll have to make some trade-offs.

Review the definition.

Subscribe to unlock exclusive online quizzes. ➜ Try more quizzes.

The next time work starts to feel messy or rushed, try using one of these expressions. They help you slow the conversation down and talk about priorities without creating tension.

Ready for more practice? Try this collocations challenge.

Erin West is a Business English educator, writer, and founder of RealBusinessEnglish.com. She creates practical lessons, quizzes, and learning materials that help professionals use clear, natural, and confident English at work — with just the right amount of fun.