Ever thought of overused jargon and how it might be perceived by others? Besides being annoying, it could be costing your organisation more than you might realise. And, as an EA, the tone from the top sets the scene for the communications culture in general.
Asana labels it as follows: “Jargon is supposed to be shorthand for people in the know (like people of a certain profession or social group), but jargon can also act as a Shibboleth; when you don’t understand what’s being said, it can make you feel like an outsider, or like you’re uninformed.”
According to a Kickresume report, it was recently found that small companies (approx 100 workers), could be losing half a million dollars annually due to miscommunication as a result of office jargon. Bigger businesses could face bigger losses, with mid-sized firms of 1,000 employees risking losing $6 million per year.
Impacts of office jargon
The findings underscore previous research into office jargon and resulting barriers for organisations. A study by the American Journal of Industrial and Business Management revealed that the use of jargon can be “worthless when it gets in the way of communicating ideas or information. As a result, it tends to negatively impact the effective and efficient communication in the organisation,” the paper read.
Current culprits
According to an HCA Mag article and research by Kickresume, employees in entry-level jobs are the biggest haters, with 85% of them rating office jargon as “highly negative.” On X (previously Twitter), the most debated and highly criticised term is “circle back”. Other (annoying) office lingo, include:
- Synergy
- Touch base
- Low-hanging fruit
- Bandwidth
- Take offline
- Ping me
- Move the needle
- Pivot
- Per my last email
- Think outside the box
- On my radar
- Empower
- Game changer
- Deliverables
How to stop
Blue Beetle People Solutions CEO, Graham David recently shared several ways to avoid falling for the jargon trap on LinkedIn:
- Ask yourself if a simple word would do the trick
- Prioritise the who you are speaking to
- Ensure your language use is in line with your audience
- Say it out loud – if it sounds strange or overly complicated, it’s not the best choice.
“If you want to be understood, there’s no shame in using clear and direct language. In fact, it’s an entirely sensible goal,” David said on LinkedIn.
Let us know if you know of others your company loves to use!
