Buzzwords: to Battle or Befriend?

Teamwork and synergy — annoying buzzwords or serious focus points? Not so long ago, we came across this piece on Statista, linking to a GetResponse survey of 1000 employees in the US. The situation has changed over the past couple of years. Go back two years and the most hated words were “Synergy” and “Think outside the box.”

You might have noticed that, at Collabio Spaces, we hardly agree with all these stats — we are real fans of teamwork! So, we are here to prove that not every business buzzword needs send a shiver down your spine. ;)

What Are the Most Hated Buzzwords?

So, these are phrases or words that have become popular due to their professional sound. They are usually used to impress people, to seem more expert and modern.

Every person on Earth who is engaged in some kind of business hears “touch base”, “raise the bar”, “work harder” and similar phrases on a daily basis.

We imagine the world may nod in agreement with GetResponse’s findings. The survey quizzed US employees about what phrases drive them crazy, Here is the rating of what you can hear at the workplace:

Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/24102/share-who-hate-business-phrases/

Are They Really That Bad?

Anyone who works in a team can’t live without teamwork. True for us at Collabio! If we didn’t work in a team, you’d never use our cloudless collaboration feature. This is where the synergy of our ideas, skills and knowledge led us.

Without team thinking, our successful feature might have been lost as an idea and we would now be using cloud solutions!

Nevertheless, some office jargon just drives people crazy and seems almost impolite!. How would you feel if someone told you ‘Come on, work harder and you’ll get your promotion!’Such a phrase implies that you don’t do enough to move through your career and that others do not realise that you’ve already given 110% (another popular buzzword) of yourself to the work.

Sounds quite offensive, right?

So, let’s distinguish really useful words from cliche phrases that can lead to the worsening of your relationships.

Here are some tips of what to do if you’ve noticed that someone, or even yourself, is using buzzwords too often:

If you want to use these words at the workplace:

1. Understand the reason why a person does something before suggesting they “Work harder.” If you see that they lack expertise or motivation, share relevant knowledge or inspirational posts with them. You should realise that the phrase “Leave the comfort zone” won’t lead to anything except for unwillingness to do something at all.
   A person might be doing their best before they hear “Think outside the box”, so better tell them in detail what you would do to achieve more. Be specific. Outline real actions that can be taken to come up with better results.
   For example: “Try to think outside the box, I mean, could this design be more colorful? I notice that we are now so alike our competitors. Maybe we should try yellow instead of green — what do you think?”
2. Use these words only when you mean them. Sometimes, people use buzzwords just to fill in the silence between them. If someone asks for advice, and you don’t know what to recommend, you might say “Keep up the good work”, however, will this be valuable for your interlocutor? We doubt that. So, this point is similar to the first one, but there is a difference. If you really do mean that one has done a good job and should continue as they are, point out exactly what you liked and offer praise.
   For example: “Keep up the good work! You held a brilliant speech today, and the audience was impressed by the way you blended humour into serious content.” Sounds much better, don’t you think?
3. Try to control your speech and don’t overdo it. Some people are just fond of finding common motivational quotes full of buzzwords and for some reason, they think they sound modern and inspiring. Keep in mind that you’re not a motivational speaker — even they don’t use such phrases a lot. If you notice that your speech is starting to sound cliche, stop and find other words to express your mind.
   For example, swap “Thanks to our teamwork, we created the app in synergy, which allowed us to raise the bar for the future achievements, and all we can do to meet our objectives is to think outside the box!” with “We have all done great work to release the app, yet, to make the market love it, we need to come up with innovative features and creative marketing campaigns.”
4. Enlarge your vocabulary and use synonyms. It may be hard if you’re already used to such phrases. Not every situation should sound serious. All in all, the goal of every business is to accurately transmit information within the office or to customers. Do a ‘grandma test’ to see whether others understand you and won’t be bothered by buzzwords. If your grandma can clearly see what you are talking about, then everything is great! Translate every such word into common English (or the language you speak).
   For example, instead of the popular “touch base” or “circle back” use simple words like “discuss”, “talk about it later”.

https://collabio.onelink.me/qA4Y/5610adc6

If you hear such words and become crazy about them:

1. Ask your interlocutor what they mean. We know how frustrating it may be when someone pours a waterfall of buzzwords, which, in sum, mean nothing to you. Ask for clarification. Maybe the interlocutor just wants to support the discussion and is trying to share valuable thoughts.
   For example: “What do you mean when you are talking about a paradigm shift? I didn’t get the point, sorry”.
2. If you hate the word used, ask them to use a synonym and propose your option. Unlike asking for clarification, you can propose several options yourself. This technique is useful both for the listener and the speaker, as the latter might see how incorrectly others can understand their speech.
   For example: “When you are saying “work harder”, do you mean that I’m doing less than others or that my results are very poor?”
3. Try not to focus on them, as people often use them due to the lack of idea how to name things. In case you’re just tired of modern office buzzwords, don’t pay attention to them. Slang phrases come and go, soon there will be more of them, it’s natural and you can’t focus on everything. Better spend your time doing something truly valuable rather than discussing office jargon. ;)

To sum it up, we’d like to once more highlight that some buzzwords are not offensive and often hold positive meaning. That said, you don’t need to hide your negative emotions deep within your mind when you hear senseless phrases — this may demotivate you more and more.

Instead, try to lead others by your own example. Use simple synonyms that even your grandma would be able to understand. Ask for clarification when you hear them and suggest your options. Finally, you can start a new trend — a modern office work without buzzwords but full of meaningful and honest phrases.