Ban the bull: jargon

We’ve been paddling down various creeks for Ban the bull in the past few editions of Write Away, trying to clean up and make sense out of what we’ve found there. From online terms and conditions to action plans; and tenancy agreements to the water cooler: unnecessary jargon can crop up anywhere. But if we ever needed reassurance about the importance of our mission, we have it now.

New research has revealed that overuse of office jargon is in the top three of our biggest irritations at work. A recent survey by Opinium Research has revealed that, after ill-tempered colleagues and computer problems, management speak is what miffs us most. (It’s followed closely by people speaking too loudly on the phone and not tidying up in the kitchen – especially at the same time, presumably.)

Almost two-thirds of those interviewed blamed such office irritations for rising stress levels; one in ten people had at some point even quit their job over them. One can only imagine the effect of finally fixing a problem with your computer only to discover an email from your grumpy boss asking you to ‘touch base’.

The top ten most annoying jargon words and phrases are:

1. Thinking outside the box
2. Let’s touch base
3. Blue sky thinking
4. Blamestorming (getting together to decide whose fault something is)
5. Drill down to a more granular level (examining in more detail)
6. Let’s not throw pies in the dark (we need a plan rather than a slapdash approach)
7. I’ve got that on my radar
8. Push the envelope
9. Bring your A-game
10. Get all of your ducks in a row.

It’s one thing when these are said in the office and then forgotten; quite another when they turn up in the much more permanent form of the written word.

Stuffing your documents full of management-speak can seriously harm your personal ‘brand’. A YouGov survey (in 2006) found that four in ten workers felt jargon caused misunderstandings, alienation and betrayed a lack of confidence, while one in five thought those who used it were untrustworthy or trying to cover something up. Almost two-thirds of employees (60 per cent) would prefer no jargon at work.

Sometimes though, you want the sentiment without the colleague-alienating bells and whistles. While the list above may be best avoided altogether, here are some simple alternatives to other potentially irritating phrasings:

• add value to – improve
• adjacent – next
• as to – about, on, of (often redundant)
• at an early date – soon
• at this moment in time – now (often redundant)
• bottom line – most important thing, main point
• engage with – talk to, contact
• in the case of – with
• in the field of – in
• is able to – can
• leverage (verb, other than in a financial or engineering context) – make the most of
• on an ongoing basis – regularly, periodically, continually
• prior to – before
• with respect to – about

As reasonable human beings, we know there are occasional exceptions to rules. But in these still troubled times, let’s encourage a more harmonious workplace: crack a smile, put the milk back in the fridge and call a spade a spade.

As ever, we are offering a copy of our very own style guide, The Write Stuff, to anyone who sends in any item of baffling business-speak for us to pull apart.