Office slang is great fodder for Internet memes, eye rolls, and coffee mugs, but for those suffering through corporate colloquialisms, that slang can be more annoying than entertaining, research suggests.
Communication Habits Can Irk
“Almost half of Americans have a colleague they find difficult to work with due to their communication habits, according to new research,” an article for Talker says. “The survey of 2,000 remote and hybrid workers revealed some of these feelings might result from their co-workers’ use of workplace jargon. The same percentage of respondents (45%) who have a co-worker they find difficult also dislike when colleagues use jargon, with terms like ‘give it 100%,’ ‘think outside the box’ and ‘team player’ ranking in the top 10 most overused phrases. Two-thirds of workers surveyed (63%) also said it’s off-putting when colleagues use workplace jargon in messages while communicating with them.”
Coworkers find these phrases annoying, outdated, and even cheesy. Those who use slang might appear lazy, and others might assume they haven’t made an effort to use more original or thoughtful language or that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Additionally, slang is vague and general and lacks real substance.
But Don’t Be Hypocritical
According to a study commissioned by Slack and conducted by OnePoll, employees who complain about colleagues’ office slang are often hypocritical. “Eighty-nine percent admit they use workplace jargon, and the top reason they do so is to sound more professional or intelligent — tied with trying to maintain office norms (both 43%),” says the Talker article. Breaking this down, the research says that:
- 55% have caught themselves using the same trite phrases they’re personally tired of hearing.
- 78% have actually stopped themselves from talking or sending a message because it included workplace jargon.
- 83% have edited their own messages to avoid this common pitfall.
The data suggests that while workers largely dislike using workplace jargon, they find it a hard habit to break.
Breaking the Habit
One of the reasons breaking this habit is difficult is that workplace jargon is well understood. People know what “thinking outside the box” and “being a team player mean,” and using slang saves time for busy professionals firing off an e-mail before they focus on something else.
Although workplace jargon is widely panned by workers, many of them use the same jargon themselves because it’s easy and widely understood. Therefore, it’s likely that, despite its bad reputation, office slang isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.