If you’re familiar with the glazed stare that spreads across your face when your manager asks you to “action” the “quick and dirty” by “EOP” then you may be one of the 70 per cent of workers who admit they completely switch off if their boss starts talking in business-speak.
A new study by working animal charity SPANA polling 2,000 office workers has found that many can’t stand to hear cheesy phrases such as ‘it’s on my radar’, ‘peel the onion’ and ‘reach out’. Other ‘management speak’ guaranteed to confuse employees includes references to ‘low hanging fruit’, ‘a thought shower’ or the ‘helicopter view’.
But despite being confused most of the time when the boss is spouting jargon, 15 per cent of workers admit they sometime throw in phrases like ‘it’s not rocket science’ and ‘run this up the flagpole’ just to sound like they know what they’re talking about.
Jeremy Hulme, chief executive of SPANA, which provides free veterinary treatment to working animals in developing countries throughout the world, said: “We conducted this tongue-in-cheek survey to find out what bothers British workers and it’s clear that office jargon is a source of annoyance and confusion in workplaces up and down the country.
“If you’ve ever sat in a meeting wondering what on earth colleagues are talking about, it seems you’re not the only one. However, although office language can be an irritating part of working life, these sorts of problems seem minor compared to the tough working conditions endured by working animals in developing countries. These animals often doing back-breaking, dangerous work with little rest and no holidays or retirement at the end of it. That’s why they desperately need our support.”
The study shows a quarter of office workers have been guilty of trying to weave as many office-speak phrases into a business meeting as possible, just to pass the time. Which means that in offices up and down the country workers are shouting out sayings such as ‘cracking the whip!’, ‘win win!’ and ‘no brainer!’
Common confusing jargon includes ‘hot desking’ which means sharing desks with other colleagues, ‘action that’ which means put into practice and ‘look under the bonnet’ which essentially requires an analysis of the situation. A fifth of Brits have sat through an entire meeting without knowing what the leaders were talking about, and the same percentage are often party to telephone conversations where clients are using so much lingo they completely lose the meaning of the conversation.
TOP 50 MOST ANNOYING ‘OFFICE LINGO’
1. Blue sky thinking – empty thinking without influence
2. Think outside the box – think creatively
3. Touch base offline – lets meet and talk
4. Close of play – end of the day
5. Going forward – look ahead
6. No brainer – so obvious
7. Action that – put into practice
8. Drill down – investigate thoroughly
9. Thought shower – brainstorm
10. Flogging a dead horse – waste your efforts
11. Hot desking – sharing several desks with colleagues
12. Heads up – notification
13. It’s on my radar – I’m considering it
14. Joined up thinking – thinking about all the facts
15. Bring to the table – contribution to the group
16. Punch a puppy – do something detestable but good for the business
17. Run this up the flagpole – try it out
18. Cracking the whip – use your authority to make someone work better
19. Moving the goalposts – change criteria
20. EOP – end of play
21. Working fingers to the bone – working very hard
22. Game changer – fundamental shift
23. It’s not rocket science – it’s not difficult
24. Hit the ground running – start work quickly
25. Ping – get back to
26. Low hanging fruit – easy win business
27. Singing from the same hymn sheet – all on the same page
28. Strategic staircase – business plan
29. Park something – hold an idea
30. Benchmark – point of reference
31. COB – close of business
32. Reach out – contact
33. Re-inventing the wheel – steal the idea from someone else
34. Dot the I’s and cross the t’s – pay attention
35. Best practice – most effective way
36. Al Desko – lunch at the desk
37. Backburner – de-prioritise
38. Pick it up and run with it – move ahead with an idea
39. Play hardball – act forcefully
40. This idea has legs – good idea
41. Synergy – two things work together
42. I’m swamped – busy
43. It’s a win / win – good for both sides
44. Look under the bonnet – analyse the situation
45. Quick and dirty – quick solution
46. Peel the onion – examine the problem
47. Out of the loop – not involved in the decision
48. Wow factor – amazing
49. Helicopter view – broad view of the business
50. Elevator pitch – brief presentation