29 January 2008
Concerned about “boss-spasming” at your organization?
Chances are you might be too busy “blamestorming” to notice it.
The Hub has a favorite new term: “boss-spasming”. It describes the moment when employees suddenly look busy at work as soon as their boss enters the room.
New jargon to communicate with
According to Office Angels, a new set of work-based phrases is setting offices chattering, and possibly baffling some communicators in the process.
I think someone needs a bite of the reality sandwich.
The UK-based recruitment consultancy asked users of social networking site Facebook to dish the dirt about current popular office jargon at their organizations.
Use jargon for bonding
In addition to "boss-spasming", another expression mentioned in the survey was “blamestorming”, a term that younger workers might not have heard before, which means to determine with colleagues why a deadline was missed and who was responsible.
David Clubb, managing director of Office Angels, said: "Jargon is an inevitable part of office life and whilst it can often be regarded as baffling and frustrating, there are advantages to speaking the office lingo. These can range from bonding with a team to understanding mind-boggling conference calls.”
Office jargon gone mad
The Guardian newspaper followed up the Office Angels story asking its blog readers for suggestions about office lingo that drives them wild with rage. Here’s a selection:
- "There's a lot of impressive synergy in this room".
- "I don't have the bandwith" (IT company).
- "Architecting innovation" and "leveraging synergies".
- "By close of play today" has now become an even more horrifying "by COPT" in e-mails.
- "I'm going to meet and interface with" – meaning talk to someone.
- "Going forward". Or what? Downward? Sideward?
- I personally find the phrase "Human Resources" itself to be repellent, as it just conjures up images of spare parts and detritus.
- "Bleeding edge" (state-of-the-art).
- "Best of breed" (market leader).
- "Cascade it out" (inform people).
- "Blue Sky/Green Field" (unconstrained thinking).
Have your say
Reveal your company's excruciating terminology to your communication peers in the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
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