SURVEY SAYS: What's the Most Annoying/Cliched Workplace Buzzword?
This week I asked readers to vote for the one they found most annoying – but the best part of this week’s survey was the additions they provided to that list. More on that in a minute.
With regard to the list provided, the following drew a handful of votes:
Customer centric
Incremental
Full disclosure
Alignment
Uber (in front of pretty much anything)
The next tier of responses included the following:
Core competency
On the same page/get on the same page
Solution
Redeployed people
Going forward
Transparency
And then, to my eyes/ears anyway, things really began to resonate:
Value-added
Metrics
Synergy
Take it offline
And then, we had the top five, starting with
Win-win
Paradigm
In all honesty
Before we get to the top two, there were some REALLY good choices that weren’t on the “official” list, but bear mentioning:
Reach out
Throw him/her under the bus
Low-hanging fruit
Irregardless (it happens to not be a word)
Good to go
It is what it is
High level overview
30,000 foot level
Six of one, half dozen of another
That being said
And there were some really interesting observations, to boot:
You forgot my favorite, "not a problem". Every time someone one tells me that something is "not a problem", it is.
"It's all good". That phrase is like fingernails on a chalk board to me anymore. Every time I hear it from one of the First Vice President's in the area where I work, it means that something is usually on the verge of going wrong.
"Literally" - Used very frequently by people (in and out of the workplace) who have absolutely no idea what "literally" actually means. Ex. "Money is literally flying out the window." Really? Are dollar bills and coins actually flying out of the window? I don't think so. I literally don't think so!
But as for the formal list, the top two vote getters were…
#2 was “thinking outside the box”
And the top vote getter as most obnoxious/annoying/clichéd workplace buzzword was…
“At the end of the day” Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey! By the way, one reader reminded me that “There's a fun game to play during a boring meeting called "B.S. Bingo" where you write down all of the office cliches on a board and check them off as they are said during the meeting. Once you get a full line you yell out "bingo"! Consider yourself now armed with a suitable list! And enjoy the rest of the “contributions” on the pages that follow!
What I am saying to you is . . . .
I hear what you're saying, but....
on the ground
robust
"Nimble
Granular"
"Silos" (or "de-silo"), "creative abrasion"
Reach out for
perfect storm
One I have been hearing lately is "reach out" as in, "Once we have the information, we will reach out to the client . . . " What was wrong with the word "contact"?
absolutely, basically, onboarding, human capital, metrics
Any word in front of unique - i.e. most unique, very unique, somewhat unique
Annoying use of "reach out" instead of contact, "opportunity for improvement" instead of problem, and "presentation deck" instead of slides.
"That said
That being said"
"Actually...
Human Capital (just started hearing this one again)
Robust
Leveraging"
Robuts, cutting edge
"right-sized
total margin management
siloed"
reengineering, partner
"""Around"", meaning ""about""
You have so many good ones here it was hard to pick just one."
"Thought Capital
Empowerment - better yet the ""lack of"" because that would mean the micromanagers would no longer have anything to do!!!"
"downsize
rightsize"
24/7 - no one goes 24/7 and lives to tell about it. In fact even automated call centers or websites don't go 24/7 because on occasion everything "goes down". So quit telling me you're 24/7.
Here's the thing....
I think the absolute worst is: "people are our most important asset." Riiiiiigggggt.
"huddle" as in Let's have a quick team huddle. Hearing that word or phrase is like the sound of fingernails on a chalk board.
develop symbiotic relationships -
"Reach out (instead of call or contact)
Engage"
the 80/20 rule
"Now more than ever
20/30/40/50,000 foot level"
Why would anyone have to tell you 'in all honesty', or 'to tell you the truth'. It implies the person wouldn't be honest or truthful in the first place.
throw me/him/her under the bus
Take-away
"Where do I start? How about:
""Low-hanging fruit""
people now ""reach out to"" other people... whatever happened to just a gd phone call
""half-life""
but maybe the worst..... because I'll bet people who constantly use it don't even know what it really means..... having the ""bandwidth"" to accomplish something....what went wrong with the word ""resources"""
"My #1 pet peeve: irregardless - is not a word people, use regardless or irrespective, please!
Another annoyance: and also to - could you be more redundant?"
we must break down silos
How about "push back"...I hear it constantly and it annoys me to no end. There's a fun game to play during a boring meeting called "B.S. Bingo" where you write down all of the office cliches on a board and check them off as they are said during the meeting. Once you get a full line you yell out "bingo"!
When a person says "literally" when he or she means "figuratively!" UGH!
"right-sizing"
"I have a quick question..." (which of course never has a quick answer!)
Open door policy (Do they really think we will complain to them without fear of retaliation?)
"Most annoying: ""Good to go""
Why? Because it never is......"
I'll have someone "Reach out to you" - makes me want to retch!
they tell us to think outside of the box...or "innovate", yet the org does not truly want us to innovate. They want us to BILL BILL BILL.
"Solution" wins although, being a reality TV watcher, "at the end of the day" is right up there. So are "outside the box" and "Impactful." And "throwing me under the bus."
monies
It is what it is.
Six of one half dozen of the other.
"It is what it is"....arghhhh
You forgot my favorite, "not a problem". Every time someone one tells me that something is "not a problem", it is.
"You know?
No I don't know, if I did, you would have to say it."
Actually
"It is what it is"
I'm just saying....
"We really want to hear from you.
We really value your opinion.
We want you to be honest with your comments."
on the flip side.....
keeping it real
It is, what it is.
"Tee one up
Low hanging fruit
Budget dust"
organized chaos
"Proactive
Giving it 110%"
Add some color around that
Circle back
You're limiting me to one?? I find most of these annoying and clichéd.
Over Qualified
Really? That has been overused and annoying lately.
"net-net
Get the facts and circle back to me
What is competitive?"
I tend to discount cliche users. Look at it this way - auditors make a living retrospectively telling you the problem was that the barn door was open. Consultants make a living suggesting a way to prevent the barn door from ever opening by itself again. Neither one of them caught the missing horse. Therefore, two necessary evils; the former sucks and the latter makes it sound like a compliment.
High level overview
It is what it is.
"In all honesty..."
That is the way we have always done it.
"24/7
get to the bottom line
paradigm shift"
adding the word "uber" to anything
"launch
skill set"
give you a heads up
"These are retirement plan specific:
Transparency (when used in connection with mandated disclosure of bogus information)
Unsustainable (when used to explain that a DB plan will go belly up if contributions are not made)"