I've been on a high number of calls and Zoom meetings over the last year and have grown to hate certain corporate terms and phrases.
My biggest two offenders.
"at the end of the day" . Okaaaaay....what about now? :ded:
"Circle back" . I'm not sure about that but I'll circle back with you.
What are some of your least favorites?
"Getting our ducks in a row" - you don't have to line up the ducklings, they do that themselves following Mom. Maybe not a straight line, but they all follow.
"Paradigms" (isn't that 20 cents?)
"Synergy"
And any of the silly names they come up with for the inspiration-du-jour programs. Because you know next year it will be something else.
We had one a while back called "Do It Right The First Time". One wag said no, it should be "Do It Right the Next Time". It got acroynmed as DIRTFT, pronounced "dirt-foot". So my boss, who had to present the concept to us, dressed up as an Old Testament prophet, with robe and staff, named Dirt Foot who was going to lead his people out of the mire and into the promised land of business efficiency. That was the only business inspiration presentation I ever liked.
There's a "managementspeak" thread around here somewhere.
Several phrases drive me nuts, but top of the list is "quick question." It's never quick, and just ask the damn question!
"Put this to bed" - in the context of resolving agency comments so a project can be approved/permitted. It became a running joke amongst my colleagues that there was one individual we all dealt with who, above all others, absolutely loved this phrase :banghead:
'It is what it is.'
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 12, 2021, 10:36:54 AM
"quick question." It's never quick
Related, "to make a long story short". That line is usually delivered far too late.
Quote from: GaryV on March 12, 2021, 10:51:33 AM
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 12, 2021, 10:36:54 AM
"quick question." It's never quick
Related, "to make a long story short". That line is usually delivered far too late.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpPQE56Zezk
"Big deal"...well, isn't everything one?
Leverage
Workflow
Actionable
Guru
Pain point
Deliverables
Take it offline
Bespoke
In a meaningful way
Chris
Transparency
(usually said by the least transparent organizations or people ever)
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 11:21:43 AM
Quote from: jayhawkco on March 12, 2021, 11:11:50 AM
Guru
Is "wizard" better or worse?
Wizard is something else entirely: it's an automated tool as part of a complicated program.
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
Yes. If several of your employees cooperate on a project, then they make a team and one of them might be the team leader. But that's different.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
I am not a fan of "associates", but I don't have any problem with the use of "team leader/member". It sounds less hierarchical, which is a positive IMO.
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 11:34:56 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
I am not a fan of "associates", but I don't have any problem with the use of "team leader/member". It sounds less hierarchical, which is a positive IMO.
Not in my opinion. My boss is my boss, not my buddy.
JOANN Fabrics seems to distinguish between employees and team members, at least according to their signage: vendors are employees but not team members. The doors leading to the back rooms say "employees only", but signs around the store tell you to ask a team member if you need help.
Quote from: 1 on March 12, 2021, 11:45:56 AM
... but signs around the store tell you to ask a team member if you need help.
Maybe they mean to ask someone on
your own team for help. :crazy:
"Touch base"
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 11:44:20 AM
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 11:34:56 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
I am not a fan of "associates", but I don't have any problem with the use of "team leader/member". It sounds less hierarchical, which is a positive IMO.
Not in my opinion. My boss is my boss, not my buddy.
Less hierarchical in the sense of encouraging teamwork, collaboration, and two-way communication.
Leadership is one of the most important characteristics a boss should possess, and working well together as a group is one of the most important characteristics a group of employees should possess.
Actually had a boss' boss that would say this about our work:
"This is a bottom up, top down, iterative process."
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 12:16:12 PM
Less hierarchical in the sense of encouraging teamwork, collaboration, and two-way communication.
Leadership is one of the most important characteristics a boss should possess, and working well together as a group is one of the most important characteristics a group of employees should possess.
I know what you meant. I have a meeting on Monday morning with my boss, along with several other employees, to discuss how we're going to tackle an upcoming project, how the work is going to be divided up between us, schedules, etc. We
employees will need to work well together, I'm sure. But our boss isn't the one who's going to be doing that. She's the one who tells us what she expects, tells us what to do. Her expectations will be the ones we need to meet. She's the boss.
Two-way communication is great, but directives only flow in one direction. It's similar to how I feel about students calling their teachers by first name, or children doing the same to their parents. My wife and I teach our children to refer to teachers as 'Mr ___' or 'Mrs ___', and to answer with 'yes sir' or 'yes ma'am' as a sign of respect and to reinforce the distinction in role between teacher and student. That principle, in my opinion, should carry over into the workplace: my boss is not merely a co-worker, but rather she
is hierarchically above me. That's a good thing, and a distinction that should not be erased by semantics.
Reaching out. No one used to ever say it and now it's extremely overused. Can't I just contact someone?
Touch base and referring to customers as "guests" are two more
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 12:39:26 PM
Reaching out. No one used to ever say it ...
(https://realestatetomato.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/reach-out.jpg)
I've noticed in online video games, companies often like to use the word "hotfix" for any small fix/update to a game. The definition of hotfix is supposed to be an update that is able to be done with either no or very minimal downtime, the word "hot" referring to the fact that a server is still running when the update is done on it. But instead, a lot of the times I see them call something a "hotfix" the downtime is just as long as a normal update for that game, which sometimes can be a couple hours.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 11:44:20 AM
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 11:34:56 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 11:27:29 AM
I have employees not "associates" or "team members." I am their manager and not their "team leader."
I am not a fan of "associates", but I don't have any problem with the use of "team leader/member". It sounds less hierarchical, which is a positive IMO.
Not in my opinion. My boss is my boss, not my buddy.
I can be someone's friend or I can be their boss, I can't be both. There is a clear hierarchy in what I do, so why use diminishing terminology? A "team leader" or "team member" doesn't imply a professional relationship. It might imply a sports relationship, but not definitely not a Manager/Employee relation.
Edit: Just noticed that there was a lot more banter from the other posters regarding these phrases on Page 1. Yes, working well in a group is important for a manager but I don't think that I need a buzzword to make me seem more friendly/approachable to employees after twenty years of experience.
A team leader, to me, is someone who leads a group of people working on a project. The leader may be the boss of the other workers on the team. Or the leader may simply be a more senior employee, and the whole team reports to another person.
Quote from: GaryV on March 12, 2021, 01:32:51 PM
A team leader, to me, is someone who leads a group of people working on a project. The leader may be the boss of the other workers on the team. Or the leader may simply be a more senior employee, and the whole team reports to another person.
I don't feel that it implies the actual employee-manager relationship that is the reality. Conversely I make sure myself to call people who work for me either "my employee" or by their actual job title, I feel like I'm disrespecting them otherwise. I don't see what the point of using neutered terminology is, does it actually change anything or make people somehow feel more valued? I suspect that is probably what a lot of Human Resources people or even Union Representatives probably think. To me, it is just plain silly and I refuse to engage in it.
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Even at a restaurant?
Quote from: jayhawkco on March 12, 2021, 11:11:50 AM
Guru
I have tried too often to work "tathāgata" into conversation and it doesn't work. :D
Clarity seems to count for leadership but using buzzwords and simple words just doesn't impress me as much as a seasoned vocabulary might catch my attention.
I do like the idea of "thought leader", but it really sounds like someone who masterminds a cult.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 01:12:54 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 12:39:26 PM
Reaching out. No one used to ever say it ...
(https://realestatetomato.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/reach-out.jpg)
yet no one else ever said it.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 01:45:02 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Even at a restaurant?
On the surface it seems more fitting but I would ask this; would a guest anywhere else pay for their meal?
Also, come to think of it I don't recall ever hearing someone call themselves a "paying guest" when lodging a complaint.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Quote from: GaryV on March 12, 2021, 01:32:51 PM
A team leader, to me, is someone who leads a group of people working on a project. The leader may be the boss of the other workers on the team. Or the leader may simply be a more senior employee, and the whole team reports to another person.
I don't feel that it implies the actual employee-manager relationship that is the reality. Conversely I make sure myself to call people who work for me either "my employee" or by their actual job title, I feel like I'm disrespecting them otherwise. I don't see what the point of using neutered terminology is, does it actually change anything or make people somehow feel more valued? I suspect that is probably what a lot of Human Resources people or even Union Representatives probably think. To me, it is just plain silly and I refuse to engage in it.
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
E.g. when you drive Uber. If someone is paying you, they are your customer. if you let them ride for free they are a guest.
I guess those people who sit around in bookstores and reading and never buy anything could be guests.
Customers at Rudys BBQ, Target, In and Out, NOT guests
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:55:39 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 01:45:02 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Also, a customer is not a “guest.” I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Even at a restaurant?
On the surface it seems more fitting but I would ask this; would a guest anywhere else pay for their meal?
Exactly. In hotels you pay but at least there you're sleeping over, etc, and that is always what they were called, it wasn't some business trying to be more than they really are.
Customer is not a bad work, nor is employee. I remember the days of personnel before it became "Human Resources" and now at my wife's work it's "The People Team" LOLOLOLOL
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 01:59:16 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:55:39 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 01:45:02 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Even at a restaurant?
On the surface it seems more fitting but I would ask this; would a guest anywhere else pay for their meal?
Exactly. In hotels you pay but at least there you're sleeping over, etc, and that is always what they were called, it wasn't some business trying to be more than they really are.
Customer is not a bad work, nor is employee. I remember the days of personnel before it became "Human Resources" and now at my wife's work it's "The People Team" LOLOLOLOL
Heh, the term "Chief People Operator" or something like that came up in one of the road chats that I'm in. My new screen there now is Chief Operating Cantaloupe Emperor.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:55:39 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 01:45:02 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:44:07 PM
Also, a customer is not a "guest." I guest is someone you invite over to dinner and not over to buy something from your place of business.
Even at a restaurant?
On the surface it seems more fitting but I would ask this; would a guest anywhere else pay for their meal?
Also, come to think of it I don't recall ever hearing someone call themselves a "paying guest" when lodging a complaint.
Devil's advocate... Where else besides a restaurant does a customer get to sit down in a chair, tell an employee what he wants, wait for it to be brought to him, completely destroy the item with the manager looking on,
and then pay for it?
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:27:34 PM
I can be someone's friend or I can be their boss, I can't be both. There is a clear hierarchy in what I do, so why use diminishing terminology? A "team leader" or "team member" doesn't imply a professional relationship. It might imply a sports relationship, but not definitely not a Manager/Employee relation.
Exactly. You see a lot of these sorts of things where they want to trick you into thinking it's not a hierarchy because they think that'll help morale, but they sure do want to keep all the perks of there being a hierarchy in place. That just makes things confusing because, well, are you the boss or not?
One example from the casino I used to work at was when they changed "chain of command" to "line of support". That was them feeding us a line of something, and it wasn't support. Not one of the people above me ever did anything supportive, but they sure did do a lot of commanding. With a chain you can chain someone up and you can beat them with it, both of which felt like more accurate depictions of what they did with the chain of command.
QuoteDevil's advocate... Where else besides a restaurant does a customer get to sit down in a chair, tell an employee what he wants, wait for it to be brought to him, completely destroy the item with the manager looking on, and then pay for it?
Blackjack table. You sit down, tell the employee you want a hand by putting money in the betting circle, they give you the hand, you bust it, the dealer takes your money. :P
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 02:15:53 PM
One example from the casino I used to work at was when they changed "chain of command" to "line of support". That was them feeding us a line of something, and it wasn't support.
So your managers were the "support staff"? :-D What a crock of... ummm... margarine!
Once I verbally walked my direct manager into a corner over why she didn't ever seem to take the employees' side, or try to explain to those above her why the policies they wanted to implement would make it harder to do our jobs, and she dropped the absolute gem of a line "Well, it's my job to support upper management." Who supports frontline, then?
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 02:33:00 PM
Once I verbally walked my direct manager into a corner over why she didn't ever seem to take the employees' side, or try to explain to those above her why the policies they wanted to implement would make it harder to do our jobs, and she dropped the absolute gem of a line "Well, it's my job to support upper management." Who supports frontline, then?
Sounds like Communism in a nutshell.
"Not quite". Wtf is "quite" then? Just say it's wrong or something else :-|.
Ryan's VP stint during Season 4 of The Office is a great microcosm of business buzzwords - I distinctly remember him using "hit the ground running" in one episode.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 02:25:29 PM
What a crock of... ummm... margarine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e33SNyaXNsk
I mean, I've done it plenty of times when I visit friends where we plan to cook something at their place but we split the costs of the ingredients at the grocery store. I agree the fake humanization with "team member" is stupid, but restaurant "guests" makes sense - especially for the regular customers.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 12:32:04 PM
That principle, in my opinion, should carry over into the workplace: my boss is not merely a co-worker, but rather she is hierarchically above me. That's a good thing, and a distinction that should not be erased by semantics.
I don't think we're really disagreeing, then, because
leader is distinct from
member, and therefore, the distinction isn't erased by semantics.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 02:15:53 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:27:34 PM
I can be someone's friend or I can be their boss, I can't be both. There is a clear hierarchy in what I do, so why use diminishing terminology? A "team leader" or "team member" doesn't imply a professional relationship. It might imply a sports relationship, but not definitely not a Manager/Employee relation.
Exactly. You see a lot of these sorts of things where they want to trick you into thinking it's not a hierarchy because they think that'll help morale, but they sure do want to keep all the perks of there being a hierarchy in place. That just makes things confusing because, well, are you the boss or not?
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture, it's not really a "trick" - everyone really is in it together. There can still be elements of a hierarchy and a clear chain of command without it being rigid and inflexible.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 12, 2021, 02:47:24 PM
I agree the fake humanization with "team member" is stupid
Well, I guess this gets at the point here: if "fake humanization" really is accurate, that's a problem with the company, not a problem with the term.
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 03:11:11 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 12:32:04 PM
That principle, in my opinion, should carry over into the workplace: my boss is not merely a co-worker, but rather she is hierarchically above me. That's a good thing, and a distinction that should not be erased by semantics.
I don't think we're really disagreeing, then, because leader is distinct from member, and therefore, the distinction isn't erased by semantics.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 02:15:53 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:27:34 PM
I can be someone's friend or I can be their boss, I can't be both. There is a clear hierarchy in what I do, so why use diminishing terminology? A "team leader" or "team member" doesn't imply a professional relationship. It might imply a sports relationship, but not definitely not a Manager/Employee relation.
Exactly. You see a lot of these sorts of things where they want to trick you into thinking it's not a hierarchy because they think that'll help morale, but they sure do want to keep all the perks of there being a hierarchy in place. That just makes things confusing because, well, are you the boss or not?
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture, it's not really a "trick" - everyone really is in it together. There can still be elements of a hierarchy and a clear chain of command without it being rigid and inflexible.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 12, 2021, 02:47:24 PM
I agree the fake humanization with "team member" is stupid
Well, I guess this gets at the point here: if "fake humanization" really is accurate, that's a problem with the company, not a problem with the term.
What value is there in "business culture?" Does it actually enhance anything nor change the fact that work is in fact work? Why not just stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems? Most of these buzzword names for employees are just a facade anyways.
Here is one that came to mind just now; Sandwich Artist.
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 03:11:11 PM
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture
If there's good ownership, they're more likely to
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems
The problem is when you get a boss who wants to lord it over everyone else, so everyone is miserable. So to "fix" the problem they use euphemisms like "team member" and "line of support" instead of addressing the underlying issues that take actual work to solve, or at least a change of behavior from management, like favoritism or punishments that are out of proportion with the purported crimes. So it just feels extremely gross to the employees, who generally aren't as stupid as managers assume they are and can see right through it.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 03:46:42 PM
Someone needs to go outside and just breathe for a minute...
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:33:10 PM
Here is one that came to mind just now; Sandwich Artist.
that's just funny
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 03:59:18 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:33:10 PM
Here is one that came to mind just now; Sandwich Artist.
that's just funny
I'm okay with calling the folks at Jersey Mike's or Publix Deli that title.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-11-24-1993328142-story.html
Funny, this is from 1993 but I don't think it got out of control until the last few years.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 03:11:11 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 12:32:04 PM
That principle, in my opinion, should carry over into the workplace: my boss is not merely a co-worker, but rather she is hierarchically above me. That's a good thing, and a distinction that should not be erased by semantics.
I don't think we're really disagreeing, then, because leader is distinct from member, and therefore, the distinction isn't erased by semantics.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 02:15:53 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 01:27:34 PM
I can be someone’s friend or I can be their boss, I can’t be both. There is a clear hierarchy in what I do, so why use diminishing terminology? A “team leader” or “team member” doesn’t imply a professional relationship. It might imply a sports relationship, but not definitely not a Manager/Employee relation.
Exactly. You see a lot of these sorts of things where they want to trick you into thinking it's not a hierarchy because they think that'll help morale, but they sure do want to keep all the perks of there being a hierarchy in place. That just makes things confusing because, well, are you the boss or not?
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture, it's not really a "trick" - everyone really is in it together. There can still be elements of a hierarchy and a clear chain of command without it being rigid and inflexible.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 12, 2021, 02:47:24 PM
I agree the fake humanization with "team member" is stupid
Well, I guess this gets at the point here: if "fake humanization" really is accurate, that's a problem with the company, not a problem with the term.
What value is there in “business culture?” Does it actually enhance anything nor change the fact that work is in fact work? Why not just stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems? Most of these buzzword names for employees are just a facade anyways.
Let's take this offline, and have a dialogue
Quote from: formulanone on March 12, 2021, 04:11:05 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 03:59:18 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:33:10 PM
Here is one that came to mind just now; Sandwich Artist.
that's just funny
I'm okay with calling the folks at Jersey Mike's or Publix Deli that title.
Unless they're allowed free reign to make the sandwiches however they want, I'm not calling them artists.
Quote from: kphoger on March 12, 2021, 04:14:01 PM
Quote from: formulanone on March 12, 2021, 04:11:05 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on March 12, 2021, 03:59:18 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:33:10 PM
Here is one that came to mind just now; Sandwich Artist.
that's just funny
I'm okay with calling the folks at Jersey Mike's or Publix Deli that title.
Unless they're allowed free reign to make the sandwiches however they want, I'm not calling them artists.
Hard pass on the R. Mutt fountain sandwich.
– What would you like on that, sir?
– You're the artist. You decide what it needs.
– Uuuhhhhhhhhh........
– No, don't put onions on it. Onions give me gas.
– Trust me. I'm an artist.
So could someone be a "Sandwich Sculptor?" Can they be commissioned to build you a sandwich?
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 03:46:42 PM
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 03:11:11 PM
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture
If there's good ownership, they're more likely to
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems
The problem is when you get a boss who wants to lord it over everyone else, so everyone is miserable. So to "fix" the problem they use euphemisms like "team member" and "line of support" instead of addressing the underlying issues that take actual work to solve, or at least a change of behavior from management, like favoritism or punishments that are out of proportion with the purported crimes. So it just feels extremely gross to the employees, who generally aren't as stupid as managers assume they are and can see right through it.
Which is why I refuse to take our satisfaction index every year. They clearly don't give a damn about what anyone has to say because there is some draconian person at the top who won't retire. But we do shit like that but call people in a government office "associates" because it "supposedly" makes them feel valued according to an HR person who doesn't work in field. Basically it's just the same farce I've seen repeated during other employment and I don't pay much mind to anymore. All I can really do for myself is treat my employees like adults and not children.
"Grab some time on my calendar."
"Shoot me an email" . Emails aren't shot, they're sent.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
What value is there in "business culture?" Does it actually enhance anything nor change the fact that work is in fact work? Why not just stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems?
"Culture" has itself become a buzzword of sorts, so it doesn't mean much as a talking point unless the business owner/leader/boss is actually prepared to create a good culture (and not just the appearance of one). A good overview of what culture is and why it's important can be found here (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/understandinganddevelopingorganizationalculture.aspx).
In terms of "work being work", of course the culture of the company doesn't change that fact, but it is worth thinking about whether some of the more important issues are in fact
caused by the culture, and whether handling them differently or taking a different approach could lead to better results. Of course, actions are much more important than words in this regard.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
Most of these buzzword names for employees are just a facade anyways.
Back to my earlier point - if they really are a facade, that might be a problem with the company, rather than the term.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 03:46:42 PM
The problem is when you get a boss who wants to lord it over everyone else, so everyone is miserable. So to "fix" the problem they use euphemisms like "team member" and "line of support" instead of addressing the underlying issues that take actual work to solve, or at least a change of behavior from management, like favoritism or punishments that are out of proportion with the purported crimes. So it just feels extremely gross to the employees, who generally aren't as stupid as managers assume they are and can see right through it.
That sounds like a toxic culture to me - and that can be hard to fix. The bigger the company, the harder these issues tend to be to fix, and the less interest there tends to be in fixing them.
Oh my goodness, great thread, and I hear so much "business speak" that I have forgotten that certain things actually are business speak and not just generally accepted.
The ones that grate on me the most are nouns that get turned into verbs, when there are perfectly good verbs already available:
- Decisioning instead of deciding
- Actioning instead of acting
- Solutioning instead of solving (that one, at least the spellcheck thinks is wrong)
And the converse:
- "finding the solve" instead of "finding the solution"
- Asks instead of requests
and so on.
Former Washington Football Team/Redskins GM Bruce Allen ruined the word "culture" for me when he said "the culture is actually d--- good" when describing a completely lost ogranization full of harassment and corruption, not to mention repetitive failure on the field.
My least favorite is when the term "guest" is used instead of "customer". This is a professional retail environment, not a family Thanksgiving dinner.
Someone mentioned "deliverable" upthread.
Also, as others have mentioned, "guest." If I'm a guest, I shouldn't have to pay for whatever it is I'm receiving.
And I don't like the term "human resources." "Personnel" is a perfectly good word.
Quote from: thspfc on March 12, 2021, 08:22:50 PM
Former Washington Football Team/Redskins GM Bruce Allen ruined the word "culture" for me when he said "the culture is actually d--- good" when describing a completely lost ogranization full of harassment and corruption, not to mention repetitive failure on the field.
That's a good example of why the proof is in the actions, not the words, when it comes to culture. Yeah, right. We'll believe the culture's good when you string together some winning records, a respected coaching staff, and become a destination where players want to go. If you feel pressure to
say the culture's good, there's a decent chance it probably isn't.
I'm glad I'm working remotely for the foreseeable future, but when I used to attend a great deal of meetings and seminars, I'd cringe when we'd have...." breakout sessions" 🤢
Quote from: thspfc on March 12, 2021, 07:43:08 PM
“Shoot me an email”. Emails aren’t shot, they’re sent.
EXACTLY!!! so dumb
Quote from: interstatefan990 on March 12, 2021, 08:26:42 PM
My least favorite is when the term "guest" is used instead of "customer". This is a professional retail environment, not a family Thanksgiving dinner.
I don't even go to those places if I can help it: Target, Rudys, In & Out are 3 of the worst.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 05:36:59 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 12, 2021, 03:46:42 PM
Quote from: webny99 on March 12, 2021, 03:11:11 PM
The leader is the boss - that seems simple enough to me. If there's good ownership and a good business culture
If there's good ownership, they're more likely to
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on March 12, 2021, 03:22:35 PM
stay normalized and move onto more important work place problems
The problem is when you get a boss who wants to lord it over everyone else, so everyone is miserable. So to "fix" the problem they use euphemisms like "team member" and "line of support" instead of addressing the underlying issues that take actual work to solve, or at least a change of behavior from management, like favoritism or punishments that are out of proportion with the purported crimes. So it just feels extremely gross to the employees, who generally aren't as stupid as managers assume they are and can see right through it.
Which is why I refuse to take our satisfaction index every year. They clearly don't give a damn about what anyone has to say because there is some draconian person at the top who won't retire.
This would be kind of cool if they were a literal dragon person. If someone in charge is going to be draconian the least they can do is shoot fire out of their mouth at the annual shareholder meeting.
They did an anonymous satisfaction survey at my job once. One of the questions was something open-ended, like "What is something we could do to improve employee morale?" and I wrote "Fire the general manager." They didn't. They also didn't do another anonymous satisfaction survey ever again.
QuoteBut we do shit like that but call people in a government office "associates" because it "supposedly" makes them feel valued according to an HR person who doesn't work in field.
Someone in an office making rules for people they've never met and doing a job they don't understand is the root of all evil. I'm deeply jealous of a friend of mine who managed to score a job in a 10-person office with the owner of the company right there in the building.
When I worked at Chrysler HQ, it seemed like the annual "morale" survey always came out just after something bad - poor sales, losses so no bonus, layoffs, etc.
Quote from: GaryV on March 16, 2021, 10:29:55 AM
When I worked at Chrysler HQ, it seemed like the annual "morale" survey always came out just after something bad - poor sales, losses so no bonus, layoffs, etc.
That's awful timing. Sooooo I wasn't laid off so I *guess* my morale is high??
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 15, 2021, 11:46:43 PM
I'm deeply jealous of a friend of mine who managed to score a job in a 10-person office with the owner of the company right there in the building.
I'm pretty sure the total number of people in my building is under 20 on any given day. And the owner is right there in the back hall, on a first name basis. The other day, the CEO told me to stop addressing my e-mails to him as "Mr ___".
Just call me Gary.
"I think of this company as a family." -big boss man
No, it's not. Don't pretend it is. You're not my daddy or my uncle or my pee-paw; you're the head of a company that pays me money to do stuff that contributes to the company delivering a product and/or service.
Use different words to articulate yourself if you are trying to get across that to you, this enterprise is more than just a way to make money.
The problem is that there are so few executives that genuinely care about taking care of their employees, but want to put on a show of doing so (because it boosts morale), that words like that ring hollow from everyone who's been through that song and dance before. The only way to show you're serious about it is to walk the walk.
...damn it
/slap Scott5114
Oh, wait, that's right, not all IRC commands work on here.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 12, 2021, 08:35:25 PM
And I don't like the term "human resources." "Personnel" is a perfectly good word.
Actually, this is one where the "euphemism" is more honest. You're not a person about whom some care and thought should be given. You're just a resource.
Even better is "Human Capital Management."
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 18, 2021, 05:17:50 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 12, 2021, 08:35:25 PM
And I don't like the term "human resources." "Personnel" is a perfectly good word.
Actually, this is one where the "euphemism" is more honest. You're not a person about whom some care and thought should be given. You're just a resource.
Even better is "Human Capital Management."
System updates and business needs I'll add to list
Quote from: gr8daynegb on March 18, 2021, 06:30:04 PM
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 18, 2021, 05:17:50 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 12, 2021, 08:35:25 PM
And I don't like the term "human resources." "Personnel" is a perfectly good word.
Actually, this is one where the "euphemism" is more honest. You're not a person about whom some care and thought should be given. You're just a resource.
Even better is "Human Capital Management."
System updates and business needs I'll add to list
One of my friends works in HR and says "Adult Babysitting" is an accurate description
Quote from: OCGuy81 on March 18, 2021, 06:36:34 PM
Quote from: gr8daynegb on March 18, 2021, 06:30:04 PM
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 18, 2021, 05:17:50 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 12, 2021, 08:35:25 PM
And I don't like the term "human resources." "Personnel" is a perfectly good word.
Actually, this is one where the "euphemism" is more honest. You're not a person about whom some care and thought should be given. You're just a resource.
Even better is "Human Capital Management."
System updates and business needs I'll add to list
One of my friends works in HR and says "Adult Babysitting" is an accurate description
The spirit of George Carlin is strong in this thread. Give us focus, makes us stronger......
When I worked for Sprint one of the clients was Audi. 1) you had to dress up when they came in 2) you had to say OOOOWWWWW DEEEEE you couldn't say Ahhh Deeee or they'd have a hissy fit 3) you couldn't refer to their cars as used. I think when I got that spiel was the day I quit.
If you were leaving anyway, you should have "dressed up" in a 55-gallon hat and referred to them as Howdy.
You'd think they'd have a bigger problem with implying their cars went unused.
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
1) you had to dress up when they came in
Isn't it a good idea to dress up when a big client comes in anyway?
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
2) you had to say OOOOWWWWW DEEEEE you couldn't say Ahhh Deeee or they'd have a hissy fit
Because that's how it's pronounced. If you had a big, world-famous company, and a business partner couldn't even say your company's name right, you might get the impression they didn't value your business, right?
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
3) you couldn't refer to their cars as used.
'Pre-owned' is a car business word I despise. I do realize that the prefix
prei has more than one meaning but, to me, a brand-new car is pre-owned because it hasn't yet been owned. One that's already had an owner is no longer pre-owned. It's used.
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
I think when I got that spiel was the day I quit.
Probably for the best, if dressing up for work and learning to pronounce large customers' names correctly was too much to handle.
I mean, at the same time, if the Audi reps are seriously in danger of killing their account with a vendor because a (probably low-level) employee of the vendor mispronounces the company name, they really need to get over themselves. If I only did business with people that can pronounce Nazelrod correctly, I'd be living entirely off the grid.
I don't know. If I worked for Chevrolet, and I had a conference with a labor partner in Mexico, I'm sure I would expect the people meeting with me to not keep saying tsheb-ro-LETT.
This kind of reminds me of a former coworker/roommate/friend of mine. He was originally from Puno, Perú, and his dad was a used-car dealer there. When my friend was a kid, he wondered why everyone pronounced Dodge incorrectly. Obviously it was spelled DOTHE-hey, yet everyone kept saying DAHJ.
Business names are kind of silly when you start thinking about them anyway. A lot of them are the original proprietors' last names, but often it's been decades or even a century since anyone with that name was involved in the management of the company. And then a lot of other ones are just something someone pulled out of thin air because it sounds vaguely inspiring or technological, like Cingular or Verizon. The branding designer will try to come up with some sort of justification for the name, but it always feels like when someone is explaining what a flag means–oh, the blue is for honor, the red signifies the blood of the troops, the purple is because we ate a bunch of grapes during the war–come on, just admit the guy that designed the flag liked the way the colors looked together.
A long time ago, when I was starting my first website, I put it at https://www.denexa.com because the AI in a word game played it as a bluff. I was pretty amused by it, and it stuck with me (probably because it's one letter off from Lenexa, Kansas). Then, when I decided to start a company, I already owned the denexa.com domain name, so I just went with that for the company name. Some people have trouble pronouncing it. A few people have asked what it "means", so I'll either tell them the real story, or if I'm feeling particularly flip and know they're not a potential customer, say "It's the feeling you get when you eBay a Verizon" or something like that.
For the cannabis grow facility I'm working on, the company name is based on the last names of two of the partners, plus one family member of one of the partners, who isn't actually involved in the business–but that makes the acronym come out H.A.M., and the grow facility is in an old hog barn, so they couldn't resist the pun.
Business names seemed to be a lot more descriptive a century ago.
Quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average
Dow calculated his first average purely of industrial stocks on May 26, 1896, creating what is now known as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. None of the original 12 industrials still remain part of the index.[37]
American Cotton Oil Company, a predecessor company to Hellmann's and Best Foods, now part of Unilever.[38]
American Sugar Refining Company, became Domino Sugar in 1900, now Domino Foods, Inc.[38]
American Tobacco Company, broken up in a 1911 antitrust action.
Chicago Gas Company, bought by Peoples Gas Light in 1897, was an operating subsidiary of the now-defunct Integrys Energy Group until 2014.[38]
Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company, now Millennium Chemicals, formerly a division of LyondellBasell.[39][38]
General Electric, still in operation, removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2018.[38]
Laclede Gas Company, still in operation as Spire Inc, removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1899.[38]
National Lead Company, now NL Industries, removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1916.[38]
North American Company, an electric utility holding company, broken up by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1946.[38]
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in Birmingham, Alabama, bought by U.S. Steel in 1907; U.S. Steel was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1991.[38]
United States Leather Company, dissolved in 1952.[38]
United States Rubber Company, changed its name to Uniroyal in 1961, merged with private Goodrich Corporation in 1986, tire business bought by Michelin in 1990.[38] (The remainder of Goodrich remained independent several more years but was acquired by United Technologies in 2012 and became a part of UTC Aerospace Systems, now Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies subsidiary.)
Of course, back then businesses confined themselves to one industry and often one geographical area. I could have gone with something like "Oklahoma Playing Card Company", but I always planned to sell online and reach people outside of Oklahoma (meaning their opinion of me could well be negatively influenced by negative opinions they have about Oklahoma), and I thought about selling other game-related things like dice, so that's why I went with "Denexa Games" instead.
The name Microsoft came from a combination of the words "microcomputer" and "software". But now, when you think of the words "micro" and "soft", well, I'll let you fill in the rest.
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 19, 2021, 04:48:59 PM
Business names are kind of silly when you start thinking about them anyway. A lot of them are the original proprietors' last names, but often it's been decades or even a century since anyone with that name was involved in the management of the company.
Kind of like the H.E. Butt grocery chain in Texas, named for the founder's youngest son who also ran the company. Thankfully, that got abbreviated to H-E-B.
Hospital systems in my region often use made-up and rather mysterious names. The best of them is Inova, based in Fairfax, which projects both "innovative" and "in Northern Virginia".
Quote from: kphoger on March 19, 2021, 11:01:24 AM
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
1) you had to dress up when they came in
Isn't it a good idea to dress up when a big client comes in anyway?
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
2) you had to say OOOOWWWWW DEEEEE you couldn't say Ahhh Deeee or they'd have a hissy fit
Because that's how it's pronounced. If you had a big, world-famous company, and a business partner couldn't even say your company's name right, you might get the impression they didn't value your business, right?
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
3) you couldn't refer to their cars as used.
'Pre-owned' is a car business word I despise. I do realize that the prefix prei has more than one meaning but, to me, a brand-new car is pre-owned because it hasn't yet been owned. One that's already had an owner is no longer pre-owned. It's used.
Quote from: texaskdog on March 19, 2021, 12:39:07 AM
I think when I got that spiel was the day I quit.
Probably for the best, if dressing up for work and learning to pronounce large customers' names correctly was too much to handle.
Dressing up was fine, it was just an added annoyance since they were already snooty people.
Ever met someone with a weird name everyone misprounounced and it was everyone else's fault they had a weird name?
Quote from: interstatefan990 on March 19, 2021, 05:18:34 PM
The name Microsoft came from a combination of the words "microcomputer" and "software". But now, when you think of the words "micro" and "soft", well, I'll let you fill in the rest.
3M put out computer discs in the mid 90s that were called Imation. People didn't want to buy "imitation discs"
Stumbled across this clip on youtube that fits this thread perfectly :-D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5dRPVyqcA0