Procurement: How to Get from Jargon to Genuine

“At the end of the day,” “let’s run it up the flagpole” and “circle back to it” to “get our ducks in a row.” Or, in plainspeak, “let’s discuss this later.” It’s time for Procurement to ditch jargon once and for all and review its communication, says Gabrielle Dolan

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It was George Bernard Shaw who famously said, ‘The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place’.

No doubt you have experienced this when you believe you have communicated a message to only have people say, ‘you never told me that’ or ‘we have not had this conversation before’. While there is some expectation on the listener to pay attention, the real onus of communication falls at the feet of the communicator.

One of the ways we can increase the effectiveness of communication is to reduce the amount of jargon and unnecessary acronyms we use.

Let’s look at jargon first

Phrases like ‘Blue sky thinking’, ‘Think outside the box’ and ‘Low hanging fruit’ have people nodding their heads in agreement, with very little clarity on what they are agreeing to.

In March 2022 research UK communications company Enreach asked 1500 office workers about jargon.

The research showed that the three phrases above were categorised by the participants as the most annoying.

Other findings included:

·         36% of workers felt that business jargon was stuffy and outdated, potentially indicating an out-of-touch workplace.

·         20% said that if they went for a job interview where lots of business jargon was used, they would not accept the job.

·         90% believe that jargon is used to cover up a lack of knowledge.

I believe there are four reasons why we use jargon (and acronyms can easily fall into this as well) in the workplace. These include ignorance, acceptance, avoidance and importance.

Ignorance

Many of us use jargon because we are so familiar with it, that we don’t even realise we are using a buzzword. This is particularly common when using industry specific terminology. It is only when someone outside of the industry asks what it means that we realise how often the term is used, yet it can be a struggle to explain the definition.

Acceptance

One of our greatest desires as humans is to be connected to each other and be accepted, often at any cost. We act in a certain way to fit in, we dress in a certain way to fit in and we talk in a certain way to fit in.

All it takes is a senior person or an external consultant to start using a particular phrase and then, in most cases, gradually everyone else starts using it. This is understandable because we feel like we are part of the team if we are speaking the same language.

Avoidance

Sometimes people default to jargon when they have something to hide. We often see this when companies refer to cutting jobs (that is, making people unemployed) as ‘downsizing’ or ‘rightsizing’. When we overuse jargon in this situation, people trust us less and doubt our intentions.

Importance

Individuals may purposely use jargon, knowing that it is confusing for others. The result in business is that clients often feel overwhelmed by this unnecessary complexity. They may be more likely to engage these people because it just sounds too confusing to not have their help. Using jargon in this way can ultimately lead to distrust and clients going elsewhere.

Now let’s talk about acronyms

While jargon can disconnect and isolate people, the consequences of acronyms can be far worse.

Acronyms can be very efficient if everyone understands what they mean, but that’s not always the case. Not only does this lead to your communication becoming less efficient and effective, it can also result in a complete miscommunication.

For every acronym you use there will be multiple versions of that acronym. I recall a conversation I was having with a client about SME’s and was getting really frustrated with the conversation. At one point I thought, ‘I feel like we are talking about two different things’. Then I realised we were as he was asking about Small to Medium Enterprises, and I was talking about Subject Matter Experts.

A very awkward job interview question is to ask someone what STI’s they currently have. While you may think that means Short Term Incentives, they will most likely be thinking you are asking them if they have any Sexually Transmitted Infections.

DOB: WWII

The word ‘acronym’ only entered the English dictionary in 1946 after WWII. The reason is that during the war acronyms were used extensively for two reasons. The first was because they were using morse code and needed to be very efficient with the characters they used. The second reason was that when the enemy intercepted the message, they knew they would not be able to understand it.

Think about that for a moment.

Unless you are using morse code, you need to drop the unnecessary acronyms. In most cases, they are pointless and completely inefficient. And don’t think creating an acronym database (ADB) solves the problem: it doesn’t. Reducing unnecessary acronyms does.

Whether it is intentional or unintentional, using corporate jargon and acronyms can have some serious implications for the way we communicate. They can reduce understanding in the message, reduce trust in the messenger and, in some cases, lead to complete confusion and lack of understanding.

Gabrielle Dolan is a global expert on business storytelling and real communication. She is the author of seven best-selling books, the pioneer of Jargon-Free Fridays, and presenter at The Faculty’s Roundtable Masterclass From Jargon to Genuine, coming up on October 20.