Chapter Six: Buzzword Bingo: A Game of Professional Jargon

"Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession" - Kingman Brewster Jr.

Jargon is present in all facet of our life from the local words and phrases in the areas we live into family euphemisms and phrases they are hard to escape. Particularly in industry and in organizations we can find ourselves learning an entirely different language. What I can appreciate about the former US Ambassador and President of Yale's quote is that jargon is indicative of a shared knowledge, skill and area of expertise. But I'm also one to be a bit cautious when jargon is more pervasive and prevalent that common and simple language.

In the July Edition of TechTarget Eye On Tech post, Senior Editor Sarah Amsler share 58 corporate jargon phrases that are challenging to escape. While lingo can be an indication of belonging to a certain industry or specialty, I often find it being used in place of actually having a deep knowledge or credibility in a given topic. Words like "deliverables", abbreviations like "KPIs", and phrases like "core competencies" and, "optimizing flow", sound significant but it's important to pay attention to how they are being used, by whom, and when otherwise you are simply setting yourself up to play a game of buzzword bingo. In this chapter we'll explore the positives of corporate and industry jargon, the limitations of lingo, and when to be curious, and cautious of corporate catchphrases

Lesson One: Spare the Jargon.

I was very fortunate to start my professional #careerintech with a prominent Minnesota-based retail organization. The level of investment the company had in training and development for their employees is an experience continues to be unapparelled. One essential tool for success that was provided to me as part of my new hire experience was a corporate dictionary. Being able to have a place to reference and comprehend the corporate lingo was tremendously helpful especially since the the use of abbreviations tended to be the most prevalent unique linguistic characteristic of the company. My husband also became an employee and we would often joke that we could have entire conversations about our work and workplace without using any "real words" which was effective for discussing work, but to the outside person, we might seem like we were speaking an alien dialect. In addition to this reference guide I had the opportunity to go through a training the organization required for roles where creating and presenting reports and updates was an essential function. The outcomes of the learning session was to ensure that presentations and reports were clear, candid and concise and followed the companies standards. It's bee years since that training but I can still remember this simple and profound guidance from the instructor, "If the general concept of a PowerPoint slide or the components of a report can't be understood in less than 15 seconds than the information isn't being effectively shared". This crucial lesson is something I'm passing along to you because it has helped me spare the jargon and get to the gist. So as you're putting together those infamous "one-pagers" (eek corporate jargon), validate that the content is able to be understood, choose less words, and use direct language.

Lesson Two: Is There a Secret Handshake?

While industry lingo can help you demonstrate you knowledge and comprehension, there can also be challenges and limitations of lingo. If you have every traveled abroad to a different country or region of your own nation, you've had the lived experience of being in a place where the language, mannerism and customs can be very different than your own. In many Spanish-speaking like country of origin Costa Rica, kisses are a common form of greeting among friends, family and close colleagues, but here in the US or in a country like Japan - not so much and so often times going to a different place where there are unique customs can take some getting used to. In the corporate world, jargon can be a similar challenge. If you're apart of supporting someone who is new to an organization or industry, or coming from a different one make sure you are helping them be successful by sharing resources that are helpful to acclimating and taking the time to explain or translate commons words, phrases, and abbreviations. Take the an opportunity to examine the frequency and use of company or profession specific terms and challenge. If words and terminology are not deliberate and direct, and they instead deter and detract from the true meaning or intent then don't use them. Because much like getting a kiss when you least is expect it, ambiguous jargon can leave the speaker and the respondent both in a place of feeling like they just missed a secret handshake.

Lesson Three: If You Could Use a Dobber...

Even the game Bingo has it own's lingo. Yes that was rhythm, so does any one want an orange? Okay back to the lesson! Dobbers are the sponge-tipped markers bingo players use to mark a called bingo square on their board. B I N G O are called in combination with a number. Winning Bingo is most commonly done by the first person in a game to have a five consecutive squares horizontal, vertical or diagonal on a bingo card. You can use the concept of bingo to help raise awareness and healthy caution when reading a report, reviewing a presentation or listening in a meeting by paying attention to the frequency and use of jargon.

All B's and O's If you hear and see certain words are phrases too often it's like getting nothing but B's O's when playing Bingo. Words that are repeated too often indicate that the presenter may not actually have an extensive knowledge or expertise in the subject and it using common words or phrases to try and convey or adjust for this lack of expertise. Similarly, using a variety of words for the that have the same meaning is something note. Let's take "deliverables" as an example; if its used in closed conjunction with "tasks, outcomes, objectives, and milestones without specifics - this could be an indicator of a lack of definitive outputs, or an indication of a need to review the scope and quantity".

B11! From the previous lessons - Take notice when a word or term being used because of necessity and specificity. The terms "proximal and distal" are used commonly in healthcare to indicate a location on the body that closer (proximal) or distal (further away); these terms make sense in the context and setting but if they were used outside of medicine they might cause more confusion. So are you hearing and seeing jargon that doesn't seem to quite fit, or does it help the information remain distinct and particular?

No Free Space. After reading or listening to a report, could you honestly fill an entire bingo board with the the words and phrases? Jargon is hard to get away from but and while tempting to use, you don't want your audience to feel like they are playing a game of Bingo with your presentation and filling a whole bingo card with corporate speak and catchphrases. So as a double check use features like "Find" in Word to review the use of terms and check to make certain it's not being overly, under or misused. Do a word count to help you reduce and simplify messaging, and read the information aloud to check for clarity and consistency. Especially if you are seeking to convey important information that will require approval and decision-making you don't want the significance of your request to get lost in a game of BINGO!

Finally if you are client reading through a suppliers, provider, vendor, contractors reports, contracts, agreements, presentations, please use the Bingo mindset to keep your partnership accountable. And you are the provider, make sure you are leading with integrity and transparency, skip the jargon and be willing to be open, direct, and honest; it's better pathway to longevity and a continued working relationship that creates successes for all involved and that sounds so much better than a win-win ... (did you see what I did there?)

Thanks again for reading along. Tune in next month for more insights and shares!