Andrew Dickson is Chief Executive of the WOW FACTOR Consultancy helping companies do better with great customer service and marketing. In his latest blog he talks about management speak that makes no sense and detracts from what is really being said.
I used to attend lots of conferences and some of the speakers were not always the best or the most interesting. To retain interest a group of us used to play a kind of bingo but instead of numbers we listened for a list of overused jargon words and phrases that would be found in the speech.
I reckon every office or workplace has people that are just full of jargon-ridden management drivel.: "Before pushing the envelope we have to touch base and reach out to our key stakeholders so that we can drill down into the key issues that are not yet on our radar and catch the low-hanging fruits blah blah blah..."
Are your meetings buzzing with so much management lingo gobbledygook that you find it hard to get to the real meaning of what is being said?
I once sat in my first Bolton Chamber of Commerce meeting and hardly understood a word that was said it was so full of jargon BUT when I said something everyone else agreed with me but had been too shy to say so.
The problem I have with these phrases is that they can sound pretentious and often are counter-productive because they irritate people so much and deflect from the real meaning.
Below are some of the most irritating and overused phrases we hear at work.
Going forward,Drill-down,End of play,Touch base,It's on my radar,no brainer,Best of breed,Low hanging fruit,Reach out,Dive deeper,Think outside the box,Positive momentum,On my plate,At the end of the day,Run the numbers,Touch points,Keep your eye on the ball,Back to the Drawing board,Get the ball rolling,Bang for your buck,Close the deal,When the rubber hits the road,Shift paradigm,Move the needle,Game-changing,Move the goal posts,Value added,Win-win,Across the piece,All hands on DECk.
I've just realised I use several of these myself ! Ahhhhhhhh !!
