The Most Hated Business Phrases - The Results are In!
Caution: If business-speak makes you squeamish grab a sick-bag before reading any further.
The results of the Business Gibberish survey are in.
AND THE WINNER IS: “Our people are our greatest asset” with 48% of the barfo vote.
Runner Up: “Think outside the box” with 36% of the vote.
3rd Place: “At the end of the day” - 14%
Some great suggestions were made for other gag-reflex phrases including:
- Service is our specialty.
- Your call is important to us.
- These job cuts are necessary as we right-size the company.
- Let’s touch base about that later.
- Meet performance goals…
- Let’s run it up the flagpole and see which way the wind blows.
- Anything revolving around being a “team player”, especially when management does nothing to foster a team environment.
So what’s the point you ask? Well here it is.
If you need to work in a group, the quickest way to get “barfed on” is to use one of these phrases. You and your ideas will start to make people cringe, even if you’re a nice person with good ideas.
These cliches are a form of business shinfo. They clutter conversation and decision-making through their meaninglessness, ambiguity and de-humanization.
If someone uses one, challenge the meaning of the phrase. What specifically does that person REALLY mean to say that they are obscuring through one of these trite forms. Several of these are “conversation stoppers”. Don’t let it happen. Be tactful but press on to the true message.
Comments?
1 comment May 29th, 2007
