Aren’t there just some words that you wish you never had to hear in the office again?
We’ve all come across at least one person who sounds like they’re straight from a corporate sitcom. With words like ‘unpack’ and ‘please advise’ constantly being thrown around, it can be enough to make you want to repeatedly bang your head against a table.
The Atlantic recently asked its readers to vote on the most hated corporate buzzwords according to employees. The results stirred a mix of responses:
“What else are people supposed to say? ‘Let me dial your phone number so we can converse about a relevant work-related topic’?” one reader replied.
Another, however, wasn’t so concerned about a words ease of use, but rather, their sleep. As they responded, “I have nightmares because of ‘low-hanging fruit.”
Which side do you fall on? Are corporate buzzwords an easy way to communicate a meaning quickly and smoothly. Or, are they simply an unnecessary evil that evokes more stress and headaches than they’re worth?
Gretchen McCulloch, the author of Because Internet argued, “If you find corporate buzzwords annoying, it’s probably because you find work annoying.”
Although without any further ado, here are the most hated corporate buzzwords according to employees:
- Holistic approach
- Pivot
- Unpack
- Circle back
- Buy in
- Change agent
- Lean in
- Bandwidth
- Think outside the box
- Align
- Ping
- Double click
- Deep Dive
- Close the loop
- Touch base
- Liaise
- Value proposition
- Hop on a call
- Loop in
- Debrief
- Pain points
- Win-win
- Silo
- Disruption
- Optics
- Huddle
- Robust
- At capacity
- Pushback
- Move the needle
- Stakeholder
- Value added