Business speak, also management speak refers to a particular syntax often used in large organizations. The tone is associated with managers of large corporations, business management consultants, and occasionally government. The term is typically derogatory, implying the use of long, complicated, or obscure words, abbreviations, or acronyms. Some of these words may be new inventions, designed purely to fit the specialized meaning of a situation. Frequently management speak is used to "spin" negative situations as positive situations.

Examples

Some business speak terms are:

• 2.0
  2.0
  The term 2.0 originated with software versioning and refers to the second version of a computer program or standards. The trend to apply it to concepts other than programs started with Web 2.0.- Modern usage :...
  
  — 'two point oh' a phrase referring to next generation ideas and processes, such as, "It's time we rolled out our 2.0 branding for this campaign" and "Web 2.0
  Web 2.0
  The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
  
  ".
• Advise
  ADVISE
  ADVISE is a research and development program within the United States Department of Homeland Security Threat and Vulnerability Testing and Assessment portfolio...
  
  — a word normally reserved for formal communication in English, but used in mundane circumstances for business speak, such as, "Please advise which size of Pro Block is ordered."
• -age- this suffix is appended to mundane words to create a more official tone, as in, "I noticed some breakage on that item. We might want to facilitate signage so there's some verbiage out there as to proper usage."
• Attn. — used on an envelope, this abbreviation for the word "Attention" is put before the name of the recipient, assumedly so that it is not opened by someone else. Critics say that the word is redundant, since the letter is obviously addressed to the recipient, with or without "Attn." before their name.
• Around — Used instead of "with" or "on" for example, are we on track around that meeting tomorrow? Or I was struggling to come up to speed around the new system.
• Bottom Out/ Bottom Line - Used as a verb to indicate that something needs to be done urgently - for example "we need to get that bottom-lined before the end of play today."
• Bandwidth — nothing to do with a signal's frequency range, but rather with the amount of data that can be pushed through a wire since different wires have different capacities. Some people will say they don't have time to do something by telling people that they 'don't have the bandwidth'.
• Boil the ocean — this phrase essentially means to tackle too many objectives at once."
• Branded/branding
  Brand management
  Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
  
  — handling of a company's marketing; generally related to the overall feeling evoked by the company's products, advertisements, and graphic design in the public or the company's customers; such as in, "We need to analyze how our product is branded."
• Communicate
  Communication
  Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
  
  — instead of the simpler "say" or "tell".
• Context
  Context (language use)
  Context is a notion used in the language sciences in two different ways, namely as* verbal context* social context- Verbal context :...
  
  — often used in place of "background" or "information". Used in conversation such as "What's the context?" or "Give me some context"
• Deliverable
  Deliverable
  Deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as a result of the project that is intended to be delivered to a customer . A deliverable could be a report, a document, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project.A...
  
  — anything that has to be done by a certain date to be verified by another party. "Have you met your deliverables? What's the ETA?"
• Drill-down — A relative newcomer in Management Speak, to "drill-down" is to get into the "nitty-gritty" of a situation or scenario, for instance when a high-level report is published and the implications for smaller sections of the organization need to be ascertained, it is common for a session of "drilling-down" between managers to occur."
• ETA
  ETA
  ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
  
  — acronym for "Estimated Time of Arrival", but used in the business world as your estimated time to completion of a task. "I need the ETA on your project."
• Facilitate
  Facilitation (business)
  Facilitation in business, organizational development and in consensus decision-making refers to the process of designing and running a successful meeting.Facilitation concerns itself with all the tasks needed to run a productive and impartial meeting...
  
  — to direct the flow of a meeting. Similar in meaning to "chairing a meeting", but often in a less formal style. An example: "Will you facilitate a meeting with your team about our branding?"
• Going forward - a confident gesture towards the future, but generally vague on timing, which usually means it can be removed from a sentence with little or no effect on its overall meaning. "Increased uncertainty has the potential to restrain economic growth going forward."
• Guided - used to abdicate responsibility for a decision, especially where the consequences of making a poor choice could be severe. Ex: "We would be guided by you on that" translates as "you make the decision, I'm not sticking my neck out"
• Heads up - used to ask for a report/update on something, ex: "Give me a heads up on this."
• High level
  High level
  High Level may refer to:In computing*High-level assembler, a type of assembly language translator*High Level Architecture , a military computer simulation framework*High-level programming language, a type of computer programming language...
  
  - An abbreviated explanation of what would otherwise be an elongated report, including only the most pertinent details , ex: "Give me a high level explaination of the status of the project ."
• Home Run
  Home run
  In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
  
  — used to refer to a business venture that will be very profitable. "Opening a coffee shop inside of your book store is always a home run!"
• Leverage
  Leverage (finance)
  In finance, leverage is a general term for any technique to multiply gains and losses. Common ways to attain leverage are borrowing money, buying fixed assets and using derivatives. Important examples are:* A public corporation may leverage its equity by borrowing money...
  
  - used more often as a verb in business speak than in conventional English, meaning "to take advantage of" or "to act upon". Critics see the verb form as an unnecessary substitution for the verb "to use", as in "She leveraged her network of contacts to find many qualified candidates."
• "Open the kimono" To share information with an outside party.
• Out-of-pocket — For the salesperson, this term usually means that he or she is off on some non-reimbursable junket. In a more general business-speak sense, it means someone is incommunicado. For example: "I can't make that conference call tomorrow. I'm traveling to Houston and will be totally out-of-pocket for the next three days."
• Paradigm shift
  Paradigm shift
  A Paradigm shift is, according to Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science...
  
  – a significant change in an approach or thinking. For example, “There has recently been a paradigm shift in consumerism.”
• Procurement
  Procurement
  Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...
  
  – buying things.
• Professional
  Professional
  A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
  
  — as used in business speak, this term is an adjective meaning generally polite and responsible. Critics claim that its underlying implication is conventional, interchangeable blandness without any personality or style.
• Resources - Used in place of people, when they are part of a company or process. Necessitates Resource Managers.
• SWOT Analysis
  SWOT analysis
  SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture...
  
  – an acronym meaning Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats Analysis. Usually used in group meetings/workshops to generate ideas and strategic goals.
• Sweating the Assets — Used to creatively describe the process of getting every last drop of usability and value from an almost exhausted asset. Used frequently by IT Consultancies who offer "fixes" and "upgrades" to systems as the most cost-effective way of delivering benefits.
• Synergy
  Synergy
  Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...
  
  - 2 things working together to form a greater whole
• Team player
  Teamwork
  Teamwork is action performed by a team towards a common goal. A team consists of more than one person, each of whom typically has different responsibilities....
  
  — someone who works well in a team or someone who does what his superiors want him to do without complaining.
• Touch base — to contact or speak with. An example is, "We can touch base about the branding on Friday".
• Vertical market
  Vertical market
  A vertical market is a group of similar businesses and customers that engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs. Often, participants in a vertical market are very limited to a subset of a larger industry...
  
  e.g. "this product is geared toward the healthcare vertical".
• Visibility
  Visibility
  In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...
  
  — "to have visibility of" something is used to mean "to know about" something. For example, "I didn't have visibility of that database".
• Vis-à-vis
  Vis-à-vis
  Vis-à-vis may refer to:* Vis-à-vis * "Vis à Vis" , an episode of Star Trek: Voyager...
  
  — meaning "in relation to" this word is used in the business world when comparing things, e.g. "let's look at last quarter's profits vis-à-vis costs".

See also

• Corporate communication
• Corporate image
  Corporate image
  A corporate image refers to how a corporation is perceived. It is a generally accepted image of what a company stands for. Marketing experts who use public relations and other forms of promotion to suggest a mental picture to the public...
  
  
• Corporate jargon
  Corporate jargon
  Corporate jargon lists jargon often used in business communication of corporations. A slang type or form is called "corporatese." Corporate jargon is not confined to business and can also be found in education and government departments.- Initialisms :...
  
  
• Corporate propaganda
  Corporate propaganda
  Corporate propaganda are propagandist claims made by a corporation , nearly always for the purpose of manipulating market opinion to the benefit of their product or to divide public opinion with regard to controversial issues related to that corporation, and its associated business dealings....
  
  
• Legalese
• List of corporate jargon
• Marketing speak
• Spin (public relations)
  Spin (public relations)
  In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...