Most of the trends we cover here are ideas for you to contemplate and/or implement. This one is a bit different. Glassdoor recently posted a short article on its website about the words and phrases—business buzzwords—that employees are tired of hearing.
Structured like a sports bracket, the company conducted a series of polls to identify the phrases workers don’t want to hear again. I must admit that I’d never heard of the winning (losing?) phrase, but thankfully, I’ve been out of the corporate world for over 15 years now (though I hear from plenty of corporations daily).
Countdown to the “Worst”
Quarterfinalists 1
- Loop me in on that.
- I’d like to flesh this out.
- I don’t want to reinvent the wheel.
- Let’s double click on that.
Worst: Let’s double click on that.
It hurts my head that businesspeople actually say that phrase out loud to other people. And while I don’t use “don’t reinvent the wheel” in the way Glassdoor presented it, I think it’s good advice for entrepreneurs.
Quarterfinals 2
- We’re building the plane as we fly it.
- That won’t move the needle.
- Let’s do a deep dive.
- Can we take this offline?
Worst: We’re building the plane as we fly it.
Again, I’ve never heard that phrase, and it strikes me as something no company would ever want to do. In fact, the lack of planning this phrase suggests indicates that no one bothered to put a plan together, and most small business owners know planning is a must.
Quarterfinals 3
- That’s low-hanging fruit.
- Let me circle back with you.
- Can we put a pin in this?
- My bandwidth is tight.
Worst: Let me circle back with you.
I’ll admit that I’ve used some phrases in this category. And I still occasionally say, “I don’t have the bandwidth,” so I guess I’m guilty of using corporate speak.
Semifinals
The three semifinalists were pitted against one another:
- Let’s double click on that.
- We’re building the plane as we fly it.
- Let me circle back with you.
And We Have a “Winner”
The “Worst Workplace Jargon” award goes to: We’re building the plane as we fly it.
I agree with this conclusion; this is a truly awful thing to say or do. If you have time, check out the comments on the Glassdoor website. This one makes me feel seen (and shamed): “One person asked, ‘Why would you have bandwidth? Are you a person or a network?’” I’ll try to eliminate that word from my vocabulary.
Employees not listening stock image pathdoc/Shutterstock