When we speak of taking conversations “offline,” “aligning” and pleasing “stakeholders,” and use other corporate speak catchwords, are we communicating less meaningfully?
I was in a meeting years ago when one of the big corporate catchwords was “cascading,” as in “we will be cascading those initiatives through the organization.”
I think of the corporate catchwords du jour as a way of speaking in approved code. When you speak in this code, you are signaling that you and the people you are communicating with are in the same approved club.
It can be comforting for that reason to speak in corporate code, but it also can feel like propaganda speech rather than a meaningful exchange. A recently published study in the International Journal of Business Communication found that corporate-speak jargon reduces people’s ability to process information, according to a synthesis of the report by Eric Hamilton that was published on Phys.Org.
Less Meaning and an Opportunity to Dramatize
“You need people to be willing to collaborate, share ideas, and look for more information if they don’t understand something at work…And jargon might actually be impeding that information flow across teams,” Hamilton quotes one of the co-authors of the report, Olivia Bullock, Ph.D., as saying.
“Missed opportunities” is a catchphrase I have noticed popping up more. It’s become a vehicle to allow the speaker or writer to communicate a larger, big-picture message about something that might otherwise have been considered a minor point.
For example, say a sentence in a draft of a marketing piece could have been written differently or with additional information included. Instead of directly contacting the person who created the draft with a simple note to alter the sentence, a person could send out a group e-mail proclaiming “missed opportunities” and then connect a minor omission to a larger point.
In other words, sometimes corporate speak can give those communicating a way to dramatize, or even weaponize, what otherwise would be a simple exchange of information between two people.
Age May Be a Factor in Jargon Processing
“Older workers had a harder time processing jargon but were more likely to intend to ask for more information to clarify the message. Younger employees were less likely to seek and share information when confused by jargon,” Hamilton writes of one of the study’s findings.
It’s always seemed to me that one goal of corporate speak is to shut down further conversation. If use of these catchwords and catchphrases confuses people, with young people—the biggest segment in the workplace—too insecure to ask for further explanation, that goal has been achieved.
I was once in a meeting where one executive must have judged I was making too many points. He shouted me down, speaking over me, saying repeatedly, “take it offline,” “take it offline.” It worked; I shut up about whatever it was that I was saying and did not bring the points up again at all.
Modeling Meaningful Conversation
One of the dangers of corporate jargon/corporate speak is that it is often vague and open to interpretation.
A manager who is the leading communicator in their work group should be skilled at weeding out these catchwords and catchphrases from their own speech. Instead of ending a meeting with, “Yes, I think we’re all aligned now,” the manager could say something like: “So, it seems to me we all agree on what needs to be done. Tom will compile the list of names of people we need to contact to alert them to the change in our policy. Michelle will put together the supplemental information about our new policy that we will send to all those people. And Sam will manage the follow-up communications that arise from the policy change in the coming weeks, fielding questions and managing complaints.”
Specificity in communication helps alleviate confusion and avoid employees leaving the meeting thinking to themselves: I’m embarrassed to ask, but what is it exactly that we’re ‘aligned’ about?”
A training segment or two for new managers, with refresher modules for seasoned managers, on meaningful communication may be just what your organization needs to avoid confusion and a demoralized workforce.
Does your organization encourage specific, meaningful messaging and conversation rather than ambiguous, vague corporate speak jargon? If so, how do you do that?