Have you ever noticed how coworkers will pick up on the newest catchphrase and find a way to use it in every sentence? Doesn’t it make you want to scream?
Bernard Marr compiled the following list of 50 phrases and words that we think should be permanently banned from the workplace vernacular:
- Reach out: Just say call, speak, email etc. Unless you’re physically going to touch someone.
- Take off line: Talk about this later.
- Shift the goal post: This is just a sports metaphor for saying your goal was out of reach.
- Utilize: Use!
- Elephant in the room: Unless it’s an actual elephant, this is pretty cliche.
- World-class: Has little to no actual meaning.
- Let’s run this up the flagpole: Get feedback.
- Socialize documents: Are you taking them to a cocktail party?
- Seamless: Unless you’re a clothing manufacturer, no.
- Get our ducks in a row: Organize.
- Monetize: Frankly, everything in business is “monetized,” so why do we need to talk about it?
- Workable solution: As opposed to the non-workable ones.
- Engage: Be more specific here: show up, pay attention, comment, like, etc.
- Value-add: Everything you do should have value. Period.
- Transformational change: What other kind of change is there?
- Circle back around: Follow up.
- Leverage: Usually has to do with making more money with less work.
- To be fair: Usually means you’re not going to be.
- Let’s re-group: Start over.
- OMG, LOL: Never appropriate for business.
- It is what it is: So why are we talking about it?
- All hands on deck: Not unless you work on a ship.
- Apples-to-apples: Direct comparison.
- Actionable: Usually redundant. Do we want anything that isn’t actionable?
- Bad guy: Usually from a boss who actually is the bad guy.
- Game changer: Almost never actually is.
- Low hanging fruit: It’s much easier to say ‘easy.’
- Accelerate: Hurry up.
- Crystallize: Make something clear.
- Bandwidth: Attention, time, etc.
- Beat the Street: If you’ve got a nickname for Wall Street, we don’t really want to talk to you.
- Thought-leadership: An example of, “If you are one, you don’t have to talk about it.”
- Bring to the table: Show up and contribute.
- All-in effort: As opposed to the half-butt effort?
- Synergy: Something CEO types LOVE to say.
- Bull by the horns: Only relevant to cowboys.
- Button-up: Finish.
- Sustainable: So often used as to be practically meaningless.
- Capabilities: What we do.
- Customer-centric: When you actually are, you don’t have to talk about it much.
- Downsize: Let’s just call a duck a duck, shall we?
- Elevator pitch: Have you ever had the opportunity to pitch something in an elevator? I’m just curious.
- Face Time: This is an Apple product, not a management strategy.
- Incentivize: If you have to incentivize something, it’s probably incredibly boring and awful.
- Ninja: Unless you carry a sword, you’re not one.
- Par for the course: Just makes me think of people in funny golf hats.
- Paradigm shift: Change
- Strategic partner: Hopefully all your partners are strategic. You’re not just choosing partners willy-nilly, are you?
- Proactive: Take action.
- Outside the box: Should be outside your vocabulary.
Source: Bernard Marr