English Rewind - Weekender: management speak

Hello, Catherine here from BBC Learning English.

Just so you know, this programme is from the BBC Learning English archive.

It was originally broadcast in November 2006 on our website.

Enjoy!

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Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Weekender.

'Blue-sky thinking', 'getting your ducks in a row',

'thinking out of the box' and 'reading from the same page'.

Well, what are these strange phrases?

Well, they are metaphorical expressions for the workplace,

a kind of language that is described as 'management speak'.

'Management speak' — the way that managers talk to the employees

when they want to encourage them and make them work harder.

If your boss said to you "We all have to get our ducks in a row!"

would you know what was meant

and how would you feel about your boss for saying it?

I'd probably think the boss is insane or maybe temporarily unwell.

I wouldn't understand what he was talking about at all.

Well, that's one opinion and it's not an uncommon one.

Nicola Clark has commissioned a report on communication in the workplace

and she believes managers have to think carefully

about how they express themselves.

She calls management speak 'jargon'.

This is a word for the special vocabulary and language

often used within a particular type of job — 'jargon'.

Jargon isn't always bad, she says, but what does she think is very important?

It's fine to use jargon when it's considered shorthand

and when everybody that's within that environment understands it.

If they don't, they just need to really carefully think about they're saying.

Communication is so important.

She says that communication is so important.

Jargon, she says, is ok if everyone understands it.

Using jargon can be an effective form of shorthand,

a way of saying a lot in a simple sentence.

Indeed, every profession has its own jargon,

but it's only useful if everyone understands it.

However, even if everyone understands it,

that doesn't mean they like it being used, as these office workers comment.

I think the less management speak, the better.

It can just cause confusion

and quite often it's just a way of the boss showing off new management terms

that they've learnt on some expensive course.

I think it's a real shame that managers rely on such clichés

when they're communicating with their staff, because it's really patronising.

Those employees weren't fans of management speak.

They both thought it made their bosses look bad.

The second speaker called the expressions 'clichés',

'Clichés' — expressions which are used too much and aren't original.

He also thought using them was 'patronising'.

'Patronising' — treating the people you are talking to as stupid and unimportant.

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But what about managers themselves? How do they feel about this type of language?

I spoke to Andrew Thompson, one of the managers at the BBC.

What do you think is his attitude to this kind of language?

I asked him if he hears or even uses phrases

such as 'blue sky thinking' and 'thinking outside the box.'

Yes, I hear them quite a lot, I hear them in meetings, colleagues use them,

I have possibly, although I'd like to say I haven't, I've used them a few times.

There are always new phrases and some of them actually say something

and are useful and people use them and they come into the language

and that happens in management as I'm sure it happens in all sorts of other areas.

So, you know, of the ones you mentioned, 'thinking outside the box',

it does mean something.

I think it's terribly over-used,

but, you know, meaning 'innovative thinking; non-conventional thinking'.

I can recognise that and, as an expression,

it's a quick way of saying something.

So, I'm not saying all management speak is terrible,

I'm just a bit sceptical about some of the phrases that come up.

Well, Andrew isn't completely against management speak.

He says sometimes it can be a quick way of saying something,

it can express an idea simply.

But he does say some expressions are used too much

and there are some phrases he is 'sceptical' about.

'Sceptical' — he's not sure if they are actually very useful.

I went on to ask him if there were any particular phrases that he didn't like.

Which one does he mention?

I've taken an intense dislike to 'driving things forward'.

And this is from an organisation where one of our own departments,

our finance department, if I can name and shame them,

have a slogan which is 'Driving Finance Forward' which, in my humble opinion,

is not terribly meaningful.

It just sounds vaguely positive, so what does it really mean?

So, Andrew has strong dislike of the phrase 'driving things forward',

which, he says sounds a little positive, but has no real meaning,

and I suppose this is the main complaint with a lot of management speak.

It's not clear.

Finally, I asked Andrew if he could explain

the strange management speak expression we had at the beginning,

to 'keep all our ducks in a row'.

Yes, we need to get organised, we need to get ready, we need to be prepared,

and so, arguably, why not say, "We need to be prepared,"

or, "We need to be ready for the next thing we have to do"?

I'm not terribly against 'getting our ducks in a row',

but I wonder how much it adds?

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