I am sick of buzz words. Every time I search the net, look at career boards a new phrase of the week seems to pop up. Here are some of my least favorites
Best Practices
Why do you need this? Does anyone go into a meeting or schedule time with their supervisor to go over worst practices? I actually think this may be more worthwhile. Most people know what they SHOULD be doing – it is actually more effective to give people a list of things you should NOT be doing. For instance,
Thou shalt not Facebook for more than 15 min per workday.
Thou shalt not print flyers for your child’s school play in color.
Thou shalt not wait until 5 min before a presentation to senior management to disclose that you don’t know how to transition slides in ppt.
Action Plan
These are usually created for employees that are struggling. It is the equivalent of receiving 3 demerits in one semester. Let’s call an Action Plan what it actually is – a save your job plan. Everyone rushes home to tell their spouse about a promotion or recognition – no one rushes home to tell their spouse they had a great day developing an action plan. Action plans are usually created for someone that didn’t actually take action.
Outside the Box
This is my absolute favorite. When all else fails, call a meeting where everyone can “think outside the box”. I guess this is a nice way to say – your original ideas were pretty vanilla. Can anyone give us a new idea? Can anyone bring us something that expands beyond the 4 walls that are holding us in this conference room? Let’s brainstorm or white board it! Maybe Hallmark should make a card line specifically based around corporate buzz words. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to come to work and provide a co-worker with an Outside the Box card?
