If you’ve ever worked in an office, there’s a good chance you’ve both listened to and spouted out that particular brand of corporate jargon that has become commonplace in our workplaces, the corporate cliché.

Maybe you began an email with the overused phrase ‘just circling back’ or maybe you heard yourself with horror saying words like ‘sidebar’ and ‘top-down’ in the middle of a meeting.

Hearing (and speaking) these clichéd corporate turns of phrase each and every day can leave you feeling numb and uninspired, while your job itself can begin to feel robotic and monotonous.

In fact, overusing corporate jargon can be a means of masking what you really want to say to your colleagues under a veil of passive aggression. In other words, not only is corporate jargon uninspired, it can even hinder effective communication. 

We spoke to Nicola Kemp, editorial director at Creativebrief and lead facilitator of Good Shout, an organisation that offers workshops on corporate communication, about why ditching corporate phrases can help you find a more authentic voice and transform the way you work.

The rise of the corporate cliché

Corporate jargon is everywhere these days – every meeting room, Zoom call and email seems to be full of it. But why?

According to Kemp, it can actually be traced to our anxiety about coming across professionally.

“In the drive to prove themselves as ‘professional’, employees have swallowed the corporate cliché dictionary and speak in endless jargon,” she tells us. “According to research from Columbia and the University of Southern California, jargon isn’t a sign of competence or intelligence, it’s simply a sign of self-doubt.” 

In the study Kemp cites, researchers discovered that the more jargon used, the more anxious the participant about their status in the workplace.

Kemp also notes that management consultancies have made the trend even worse. 

“First it was the ‘low hanging fruit’ then came the endless promises to ‘circle-back’,” she says. “Before you knew it, no presentation was complete without a reference to ‘customer-centricity’ whatever that does or doesn’t mean!” 

According to Kemp, we’ve learned to “mirror” the people around us to fit in and gain approval. “In the workplace, this manifests as ‘group think’; in practice, this means people are adopting language that they would never use in real life, and that they often don’t even understand,” she says.

She adds, “It’s a phenomenon that explains why we all get so many emails starting with ‘I hope this email finds you well’. Has anyone in the history of time ever been ‘found well’ by an email?”

What is the effect of using and hearing clichés in the workplace all the time?

So, thanks to a mixture of anxiety, group think and the natural tendency to mirror others, we’re all speaking in and listening to corporate jargon all of the time. What is it doing to us? 

For one thing, it can make our conversations at work harder to understand. “The truth is what constitutes ‘corporate’ communication not only contributes to an environment in which people can’t bring their whole selves to work, but no one really knows what anyone is talking about anymore,” says Kemp. 

It also serves to quash creative thinking.

“At a simple level, corporate clichés stop people from communicating on a human level, which in turn stifles their creativity,” she says. “We have to ‘circle back’ to the honest truth that corporate clichés are killing our creativity and ability to communicate with authenticity and clarity.”

Plus, clichés can actually have a more insidious affect on us, too. According to Kemp, jargon can be used as a form of gaslighting.

“Corporate clichés can be a toxic form of corporate gaslighting, in which talking about change becomes a proxy for meaningful change,” she says. “Consider how quickly businesses adopted the corporate cliché of ‘women’s empowerment’ and how slowly they are closing the gender pay gap, particularly for Black women. Black women are the least likely to be among the UK’s top earners compared to any other racial or gender group, according to the London School of Economics.”

“Corporate clichés serve to dehumanise or over-complicate unnecessarily,” she adds. “Or worse still, create a framework which perpetuates inequality and stereotypes.” 

Rediscovering your authentic voice at work

It’s all well and good to recognise the impact of corporate clichés – but how do we actually go about nipping them in the bud?

Kemp works with many women at Good Shout to help them rediscover a voice with its own authenticity and creativity.

Simplicity

“I often think of the words of Mark Twain when it comes to avoiding clichés at work,” she says. “As he explained: ‘If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.’”

The key to strong communication is simplicity. While many people have formed a habit of peppering their communication with bits of jargon, it’s more effective to simply state what you mean. Remove any filler.

“Always edit an email before you send it, be really clear and instructional about what you want people to do after hearing from you,” she says.

Who are you speaking to?

Jargon and clichés are non-specific. Churning out the same phrases to everyone you come across in the office will make your communication impersonal and, ultimately, purposeless.

“Focus on how you will be heard,” she says. “Who is the audience? What is their level of knowledge? Are you using words or jargon that they wouldn’t understand? Would your mum understand you?”

Don’t be complacent

You also shouldn’t have to put up with listening to endless clichés either.

“Never be afraid to challenge a cliché if you don’t understand what someone is saying, regardless of how senior they are,” says Kemp. “One of the most under-utilised questions in the workplace is: ‘What do you mean by that?’ Never be afraid to ask for clarity up front.”

Ultimately, corporate clichés may make you feel like you’re making an impact in a business-y sort of way, but, chances are, you aren’t. It’s more likely that you’re simply adding noise.

“Clichés are the ‘beige food’ of business communications,” Kemp sums up. “Everyone has their own unique style in the workplace. There is an innate generosity in showing up as you are, because in turn you are making space for others to do the same. So don’t be afraid to wave goodbye to the bland nothingness of the corporate cliché.”

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Images: Getty