Tuesday 6 January 2009

Workplace jargon: harmless or damaging?



First things first, a belated Happy New Year to the readers of this blog. Hopefully the festive break was a relaxing one - already it feels like a distant memory!

The Friday-Ad Small Business blog will continue as a resource for Sussex businesses in 2009, with more exclusive articles from local business personalities, together with the latest news from the economic world.

Today's post is based on a feature in the January issue of Sussex Enterprise's Business Edge magazine concerning workplace jargon. Their top ten cringeworthy office phrases are as follows:

  • Going forward
  • Blue sky thinking
  • Web 2.0
  • Ideas shower
  • Pushing the envelope
  • Low hanging fruit (?!)
  • Knowledge base
  • Restructuring
  • Fully integrated
  • Upskill


Research shows that 98% of staff from larger companies use buzzwords every day, compared to just 25% of workers from small businesses; whilst women (36%) are more guilty of spouting jargon compared to men (26%).

So why does office jargon exist? What's wrong with good old fashioned coherent speech? Is it a matter of laziness, or does it genuinely save time?

Answers to our comments form please! Feel free to add any classic office speak that we may have missed...

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