Member Article

Thumbs down for office jargon

‘Blue sky thinking’, ‘brain dumps’, ‘heads up’ and other office jargon confuses and irritates half of all employees, according to a poll of almost 3,000 workers.

The research, published by Investors in People, reveals that over a third of employees think using office jargon betrays a lack of confidence, and one in five workers think people who use it are untrustworthy or trying to cover something up. 42% of employees believe jargon creates misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities, and 37% say it results in mistrust in the workplace and makes people feel inadequate. However, 55% of senior managers think jargon is harmless.

Nicola Clark, Director at Investors in People (UK) said: “Whilst [office jargon] can be a useful shorthand at times, managers need to be more alert to when and how they use it. Cutting jargon out of everyday communication is clearly a challenge, with almost half of employees that use jargon admitting to using it without thinking. However, as our research shows, if used inappropriately, jargon can be an obstacle to understanding, which ultimately can impact on an individual’s performance and an organisation’s productivity. “Bosses need to lead by example, ditch needless jargon, and concentrate on communicating clearly with their employees.”

Management jargon is most frequently used in larger organisations, and it is higher than average in local government.

Over-used jargon commonly includes: ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’, ‘the helicopter view’, ‘touch base’, ‘get our ducks in a row’, ‘joined up thinking’, ‘on the runway’ ‘pushing the envelope’ and ‘will you action that?’. IIP suggest playing office jargon Bingo against your colleagues, with the person who hears the most jargon phrases in a day winning the game.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .