Are We Speaking The Same Language?

Boomers! Zoomers! Ummm… Looners! (Google it, mildly NSFW, learn something new, no judgement. Admittedly, I thought it was a term for people who like making wooden ducks. It is not, oh well, still fascinating.) Jargon, it can be both common to wider society, or unique to a niched group. One place that jargon can cause issues of consequence is the workplace.  

Corporate jargon has been the butt of many jokes, and for good reason, it’s simply quite stupid sounding at times. Contributing Editor of Inc., Jeff Haden highlights how overuse of corporate jargon can make otherwise very smart people sound… Well, dumb. And as Jeff points out, Professional Services firm Grant Thorton has put together a Jargon Index to rank the popularity of various corporate buzzwords, use them wisely.

Words do matter, especially in a corporate setting, however something more fundamental has shifted with regards to corporate communication… Regardless of age, we are all Zoomers now. That’s rightttttt, supriseeeeee! DIGITAL COMMUNICAITON IS REACHING ITS FINAL FORM! ALL CAPS! See, I did that for emphasis, it’s what the kids do now. Many of us have been forced to fully embrace working remotely. Some of us thrive in response to this, and some of us struggle. Role, location, technical prowess, these all play a part in how well ‘virtual’ communication works for each individual, and along the way generational shift has muddied the waters. Younger humans entering the workplace are much more adept at working remotely. Kate Morgan of the BBC outlines how Gen Z’s move into the workplace is shaking up corporate communication. 

Moving forward, we will reach a new homeostasis (yeah, I had to google how to spell that), in which we will become more comfortable with working remotely, and new corporate communication norms, but for the time being, and the whole point of this article, EVERYONE must be mindful that how we communicate, the mediums we use, the words we use, is very important. This is not a new thought, far from it, however with added stresses of the global pandemic, and a vast generation shift occurring, we need to be extra mindful. 

The end. 

Author’s note: Wooden duck collectors are a thing, and carved wooden ducks can sell for upwards of a million USD… The more you know.