Are we overdosing on corporate speak?

In one of our previous articles, we sampled the not-too-tasty alphabet soup of e.g., i.e., etc., A.S.A.P., and other overused abbreviations. But that’s not the only phenomenon that has us wondering what’s happened to ordinary English.

Corporate English jargon is now so engrained in our everyday conversations that we often forget to put on the brakes when we want to write clear, accessible text.

Do we suggest eliminating business jargon altogether? Certainly not. There are plenty of corporate gems that work for us all. Our recommendation is quite simple: Feel free to sprinkle your language with MBA phrases, but make sure you can flip the switch to a more universal language when circumstances require it.

Keep this in mind when you: a) speak to a foreign audience, b) find yourself unable say anything other than the highlighted phrases below, or c) unwittingly refer to your family members as resources in a genetics-based relationship structure.


Facilitating reader comprehension

All of us in the business world would do well to remember that what sounds perfectly commonplace to us might be complete gibberish to people from other fields. So before we begin a corporate lingo parade to illustrate our point, here’s our golden rule of good international communication:

If you want people across the geographic and professional spectrum to understand what you’re all about, use words and phrases that translate well into other languages. In other words, use corporate buzzwords and idiomatic expressions sparingly.

(Note: If you speak another language, try doing a direct translation of some of the corporate favorites below, and you’ll get an idea of why these expressions can be a bit baffling.)


A taste of corporate lingo

These days, what business planning meeting is complete without a review of best practices, a debate on ways that the company can add value or maximize efficiencies, and a discussion of possible integrated solutions? In a merger situation, if you can’t find ways to leverage potential, and synergies are nowhere to be found, you might as well kill the deal.

But if intensifying competitive market conditions in the form of downward price pressure are forcing your business to find new ways to facilitate the customer adoption rate, why not form a win-win partnership? Establishing a strategic alliance puts everyone on the same page.

If someone asks what’s in the pipeline, a corporate jargon expert never, ever admits uncertainty. Instead, he pairs a wave of the hand with a dismissive I’m not even gonna try to crystal-ball that. Or if he really doesn’t know, he can dramatize the complexity of the task with I just can’t wrap my head around this one – and save face with a promise to keep everyone in the loop about future developments.

And when it’s time to seal the deal, why not pool your resources (get your whole team together, that is – assuming they all have something to bring to the table). Hopefully – if everyone can think outside the box – you can cover all the bases and, if you’re lucky, put your company on the fast track.

Now, who’s ready to take a stab at translating all that into the ordinary English we were all once so good at?

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