I'm not gonna lie..

[BigT]

Entire emails, team pep-talks, org-wide meetings (etc) filled with hot air. Management buzzwords and empty speech.

Yup, for me management speak is the ultimate evil.

Can I ask your advice/opinion on something?

Is it the language used or the concepts you describe that you detest? If it is things like the concept of, say, org-wide meetings then I'd really appreciate your thoughts on something.

I have a team of about 80 spread in nine different time zones. More than 50% work from home. I have an all hands staff meeting once a month where I go through the performance of the business and by necessity some of it is chart filled power point hell. I present the exact same slides as I do at our company board meetings and invite any questions they have. No BS and no hiding anything other than personnel related. The reason I do this is because I want to be transparent in how we are doing, give them an insight into what is discussed by execs and make them feel part of a bigger work family rather than just an individual sat at home behind a screen. I want them to know the great work they are doing makes a difference and they all have a part to play.

On the basis that some of my team might think the same as you, but wouldn't tell me, do you have any advice on how to better achieve what I want to without being the ultimate evil?

 

[FoxEye]

On the basis that some of my team might think the same as you, but wouldn't tell me, do you have any advice on how to better achieve what I want to without being the ultimate evil?

Doesn't sound very similar to what we get to deal with, in fairness. We don't get charts or figures.

We get catchphrases. "Let's revolutionise our workplace! We must all innovate to liberate the business! Let's share the responsibility for our success! We need to maximise our potential!"

1. Most of it makes no sense. If it does make sense it still doesn't describe anything useful.
2. It's overly broad and very light on details.
3. Most of us don't think it applies to the jobs we actually do.
4. It's easy to get the impression that upper management don't understand what we do.

You ever hear the phrase "management buzzword bingo"? That's the type of stuff of which our top overlords seem to have an infinite supply. The time we lose in those dept-wide meetings is time we could have spent more productively doing the work that keeps piling up, instead of listening to barely comprehensible management buzzword bingo.

 

[Tinders]

Our management seem to like bluesky thinking a lot at the moment, digitalisation is another one, but no body really knows how to apply it.

And getting older, im starting to dislike street slang, like Cuz and Sick

 

[m4rmite]

Well... the guy the MD's promoted to General Manager after 7 years as Ops Manager has used nigh on every one of the mentioned carpphrases i mean catchphrases.
He has the learning absorption of a dried out cactus but in is defence he does have a lovely brown nose, and a large following of his very own brown nosers.

He would make a great politician, ask a direct question and you receive 5 minutes of non related drivel.
Rowing in the same direction
Singing from the same hymn sheet
The key is not to get emotional ( when someone clearly asks the impossible and he doesn't understand why it rubs people up the wrong way)

But by far the worst is..(as its normally quoted by the weak dumb ones where i work)

We need to work as a team, always directed to the stronger people who are sick of the lazy bags of washing spouting it.
This from the muppet who kept reminding everyone he was new for his first 4 years, yet had the gaul to give a worker an appraisal and tell him to absorb more around him.

and breathe...

 

[neodude]

One that has been bugging me recently and I'm guilty of it myself, "Turn Around". As in "She turned around and said...". Why the need to turn around before answering somebody? lol.

 

[Raggs]

No word of a lie I've had enough of people saying "I'm not gonna lie" and also saying "back in the day"