Many employees use buzzwords at work. While they may think using these phrases will make them seem smarter, it is actually the opposite. These phrases are often annoying and meaningless. Also, they may hurt your credibility at work. If you want to move up the career ladder, you should be careful about how you speak and the words you choose. Therefore, think twice before using the following phrases at work.
- Think Outside the Box: This is a phrase especially consultants like to use. Let’s forget about the box and just say ‘Think differently’ or ‘Think from a different perspective’. Nobody needs a box to look at things from a different angle.
- Take it to the Next Level: Well, everybody understands that it means to make something better than it is now. However, unless that next level is defined, how are you supposed to know what to do? This isn’t a video game where you collect points and reach to different levels. Therefore, next time when you hear this phrase, ask that person ‘how?’
- Low Hanging Fruit: This phrase is one of the most annoying ones. Why don’t you just say ‘this is easy’. Why do you need to express this with a buzz-phrase?
- Circle Back: Instead of saying ‘let’s circle back’, just say we need to meet again or discuss this again in the future.
- Take it Offline: This phrase has nothing to do with the internet or being online/offline, unless you are working in the IT industry and you are really trying to take a web page offline. It means discussing the issue later because it has nothing to do with the current issue or discussing the issue separately because other people in the meeting don’t need to be involved in this discussion. Therefore, just say ‘let’s discuss this later, after the meeting’. This will be much clear for the other person.
- Open the Kimono: If there are Japanese people working in your office, don’t get surprised if they get offended the first time they hear this phrase. Why don’t you just tell ‘reveal all the information’ or ‘share everything you know’. It is much easier to understand what you are actually trying to say when you don’t use buzz-phrases.
- Boil the Ocean: This phrase has nothing to do with global warming. It means whatever you are trying to do is not possible. Therefore, as an alternative to this phrase, you can use ‘this is not reasonable’ or ‘we cannot do this in this short period of time’.
