Does Your Office Have a Jargon Problem?
Curated from: hbr.org
Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:
4 ideas
·2.05K reads
7
Explore the World's Best Ideas
Join today and uncover 100+ curated journeys from 50+ topics. Unlock access to our mobile app with extensive features.
Workplace jargon
Jargon refers to terms, expressions, or acronyms specific to a particular industry or professional group.
People enjoy complaining about jargon, saying it is hard to understand, pretentious, and unnecessary. Many industries and government leaders criticize it, but jargon continues to thrive in most professions despite these complaints.
56
998 reads
Why jargon is so common
Jargon fulfils a number of fundamental needs.
- It produces efficient and precise communication in some contexts.
- It encourages social bonding by reinforcing a shared identity.
- Jargon can also be used consciously or unconsciously to signal membership in a professional community.
- It is used out of the desire for status in one's profession or because of insecurity.
Jargon is used in place of more easily understood, less professional alternatives.
54
391 reads
Potential negative effects of jargon
- Jargon can make communication more difficult for outsiders and cause them to disengage.
- Jargon can make people feel excluded.
- It can sound meaningless.
- It can hurt the impressions of a speaker. Audiences may view these speakers as manipulative or less likeable.
56
356 reads
Concerned about potential negative effects
- Identify when jargon is proper. When credibility is important, jargon may be useful. When understanding and engagement of a varied audience are necessary, excessive jargon can be costly.
- Ask yourself if you can communicate the same idea in a simpler way.
- If you want to reduce excessive jargon use in your company, start from the top.
- Letting others know why you want to refrain from excessive jargon sends a message that you're confident in your abilities and more interested in being understood.
53
310 reads
IDEAS CURATED BY
Oscar 's ideas are part of this journey:
Learn more about communication with this collection
Practicing empathy in relationships and communication
Understanding the importance of balance in personal and professional life
Defining your path in life
Related collections
Similar ideas
3 ideas
The Boomerang Effect
ethos3.com
2 ideas
Have a History Test? How to Memorize Dates
thoughtco.com
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
â
100+ Learning Journeys
â
Access to 200,000+ ideas
â
Access to the mobile app
â
Unlimited idea saving
â
â
Unlimited history
â
â
Unlimited listening to ideas
â
â
Downloading & offline access
â
â
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates