Speak your mind in the workplace.
A report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment this week reviewed the operation of the Financial Advisors Act 2008 and the Financial Service providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act of the same year.
Its aim was to take a look at ways of providing fairly-priced advice that people can better understand. So it was ironic to see that its introduction included an A4 sheet of paper listing 26 acronyms for all the organisations it had to mention.
From the Ministry’s own MBIE, to CPD (continuing professional development), QFE (qualifying financial entity) and the unfortunately acronymed DIMS (discretionary investment management service), it’s no wonder that ordinary, intelligent readers can feel as though they are wading through treacle.
At least the glossary of terms was included in this case, and all industries have their own jargon. But for many people within industry and the workforce, it can be both a glue that sticks people together in a sort of chummy club ’’in the know’’, but also a mechanism of division and exclusion.
From acronyms to buzzwords, the working world is full of jargon and verbal shortcuts that can make life easier in some circumstances, but it is rarely needed in quite so many situations.
Office meetings are peppered with phrases such as ‘‘the 800 pound gorilla’’ which means an overpowering force or company. This can be doubly confusing if, like in NZ, you have little understanding of imperial measures.
Another one is ‘‘bleeding edge technology’’ - so new it’s painful and the ‘‘30,000 feet view,’’ again a metric challenge used by managers who want to avoid the rather overused ‘‘big picture,’’ but still want to appear visionary.
If people can’t understand what you are talking about, then how on earth can you expect to communicate the purpose of a business to those who don’t know anything about it?
Inspiring people is one thing, bamboozling them is counterproductive for employees, consumers or corporate culture.
Don’t use jargon in earshot of an 800 pound gorilla.