Joy of jargon - how to speak business
Jargon - it’s just a fact of life if you work in business. For some of us it’s a bit of a joke. But others take it really seriously. So which is it? It’s both. It can be seriously funny (when the phrase sounds very silly and pretentious). But seriously unfunny when you realise you are the only one that’s laughing and you feel old/excluded/stupid (ie “out of the loop” and “not on the same page”). We wrote a post about this six months ago. But, hey, the language is constantly changing and you need to stay up to speed with the latest buzzwords.
Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash
Why do people use jargon?
Most of us do it unconsciously. We just become so familiar with certain phrases that we constantly hear in meetings, or read in emails, that we adopt them ourselves. Plus we want to fit in with colleagues and be accepted. But then we use the expression at home, or down the pub, and realise it’s a buzzword that only makes sense in the office.
Jargon, it must be said, can be useful as a kind of shorthand. When everyone understands the phrase “let’s not boil the ocean on this one” it’s a very quick and graphic way of saying “I think this task is too big and pointless to undertake”.
Having said that, some people use jargon in a way that’s more intentional and purposeful. For example, it’s a very useful way to disguise the true meaning of a statement. “Let’s not boil the ocean on this one” is actually an oblique way of saying “that’s a stupid suggestion because it would be a complete waste of time and resources”. So when the subject of making redundancies comes up it’s much less painful to talk in terms of “downsizing” or “rightsizing” than “job cuts” or “laying off workers”. In December 2018, General Motors took this to a whole new level when they referred to the closure of five plants in the US and Canada, with a loss of up to 14,000 jobs, as “resources being unallocated”. Taken to extremes the use of jargon comes pretty close to lying and some employ it to hide the truth.
Other people use jargon with the intention of confusing their colleagues or clients. It’s a way of suggesting “I’m smarter than you are”. Someone who uses phrases like “congruent synergies”, “holistic solutions” or “paradigm shift” tends to come across as sophisticated, knowledgeable and intelligent. Listeners who struggle to understand these terms feel correspondingly inadequate. If you are a client it’ll probably make you think “Woa, this is way more complicated than I thought, and they sound like they understand it, so I’d better hire them!” If you are a colleague it will likely have a similar effect and you’ll look up to that person as some kind of authority. In reality, however, the speaker may be using jargon to cover for the fact that the opposite is true - they’re actually the least smart person in the room and talking complete BS!
Pick of the bunch
“Peanut butter approach”. This means applying the same strategy to all aspects of a business. For instance, your business might need to cut 10% of its workforce. Under the peanut butter approach concept, you’d reduce your workforce evenly across all the different departments.
Photo by Saher Suthriwala on Unsplash
“Let’s circle back on this”. We have been talking about this for way too long and we’re not getting anywhere. Let’s put it on the agenda for another meeting and get the hell out of here….
“In my wheelhouse”. This refers to someone’s area of expertise or comfort zone. So, “public speaking is well within my wheelhouse”.
“Let’s double-click on this”. Don’t take this literally – it has nothing to do with your mouse. It means “let’s explore this topic/issue/problem in greater depth and more detail”.
“Drink from a firehose”. To take on more than one can handle or be inundated with too much information. As in “my first day was like drinking from a fire hose—they threw so much at me that I can barely remember a thing!”
“Throw it over the wall”. This refers to completing your part of a project and then passing it on to the next group. It is usually used where the two teams have little or no communication! It can also be used in the context of sharing information with clients.
“Jumping the shark”. Refers to a company, product or idea that is struggling to stay relevant to its consumers and is resorting to desperate measures to disguise the fact it is well beyond its sell by date. For example "I can’t see how that new feature is useful. It feels the company has really jumped the shark."
“It is what it is”. Refers to a situation which is not ideal but which we’ll just have to live with. A polite way of saying something is bad, but not so bad we have to fix it.
“Thought shower”. Group discussion or meeting to generate lots of fresh ideas. Basically the same as 'brainstorming' or ‘ideation session’.
“Tiger team”. A group of individuals who share a set of core competencies, assembled by a business or organization to develop an action plan for a specific problem or challenge.
"Core competency". Refers to a company's or individual's main skill or area of expertise. As in “software development is not one of our core competencies and is way outside our wheelhouse”.
“Out of pocket”. Nothing to do with expenses or finance. It means I will be unavailable at that time or out of the office that day.
“Trim the fat”. The act of removing unnecessary details, resources or individuals from a company or project. As in "We need to trim the fat. Can we combine the research and marketing departments for this project?"
Hospitality is in our wheelhouse
Hopefully you are now on the same page as your colleagues after this deep dive into the jargon topic, in the loop and ready to move the needle on your mission critical KPIs…. Joking aside, good communication is essential to business and jargon has a part to play in that – so we hope you found this article useful. Our core competency is event management so next time you need to arrange a conference, training session, office party or off-site meeting we’d love to hear from you. The team here are always happy to share their knowledge and expertise – without using jargon for all the wrong reasons!