Business Phrases!

Now we all know that English at work, can be very different from English in real life as a lot of commonly used business phrases don’t make sense! The text below is about management speak. Several business management phrases are highlighted and explained below.

We all know people who use ‘management speak’ and many of us even use it ourselves. It has become part of everyday business life here in the UK. Nevertheless, there are some phrases that really annoy members of staff. Let’s take a look at some of the main offenders:

Let’s touch base at the end of the week

This sounds like it’s to do with a sport, but actually it’s an invitation to have a catch-up conversation or meeting. Modern managers even say “let’s touch base offline” which refers to a F2F meeting as opposed to a virtual meeting.

Idea showers

When managers and staff need some new ideas they now take showers together. These ‘idea showers’ are what we used to refer to as brainstorming and don’t actually involve any water. They are an opportunity to come up with and toss around quick ideas about a specific issue or problem.

360-degree thinking
This used to be ‘think outside the box’, now we utilise ‘360-degree thinking’. It doesn’t actually refer to turning round in a circle but to taking a wider perspective into consideration. For instance, looking at customers past, present and future behaviour.

110%
We used to get asked to give 100% but now it has increased by 10. Although this is numerically impossible it implies that we should give an extra something or ‘go the extra mile’ as some managers say. This has also led to 120%, 200% and so on. If only our pay would increase with the extra effort required!!!!!!!!

The strategic staircase
Even if you take the lift to your office you can’t avoid the strategic staircase. In fact, if you want a pay raise, a promotion or just want to work your way up, this is how you do it. The strategic part refers to your own method whether it be by hard work or making contacts.

Conversate

 According to management gurus we no longer talk or converse with each other in companies now. Instead we conversate and so you may hear people say that they have been “conversating all day”.

PHRASES:

Everyday business life	Average working days in companies
Main Offenders	The prime culprits
A catch-up conversation	When someone needs to find out what has been happening while they were away
F2F Meeting	A physical meeting (face-to-face)
A virtual meeting	A meeting online using web cameras (Skype)
Think outside the box	To solve a problem in a creative way
Go the extra mile	To do more than is required
To work your way up	To advance in your career
Management Gurus	Famous management leaders/teachers (Alan Sugar)
To come up with something	To create something e.g. an idea
To toss something around	To share and discuss

If you can think of any other business phrases or ‘daft, silly’ things your bosses say please write them in the comment box below!