We've all been there, whether you've heard it or you're guilty of saying it yourself. You've been sitting at your desk, working away on your computer or taking part in a meeting when someone throws out a dreaded workplace cliche.
They come in emails, memos, speeches, etc. and somehow those in charge never seem to understand how annoying or cringe worthy those phrases are. But, boy oh boy, they are.
Have some originality people! It's not hard to avoid being a mind-numbing cliche.
Those buzzwords don't help you either, even though 71 percent of American workers have used that kind of jargon at work before, according to a survey from Jive Communications. And about 25 percent of employees will use those ridiculous phrases, cliches or idioms at least once a week!
When you use those phrases, you actually hurt your chances at communicating effectively. People feel like they need to use those words to fit-in when the majority use them, even if they don't understand what they mean.
So, then you end up with something like this: 44 percent of those surveyed by Jive said they had used workplace jargon without actually knowing what it means. And most people surveyed also viewed those who use that language negatively, at 54 percent.
Why? They felt like people who relied on those types of words weren't credible-- they didn't know what they were talking about and were just trying to fake it.
So, what words or turns of phrase should you avoid? These were the top 10 most cringeworthy used phrases at the office, according to the Jive survey:
1. Give 110 percent
2. Think outside the box
3. Hammer it out
4. Heavy lifting
5. Throw them under the bus
6. Don't count your chickens before they've hatched
7. Pushing the envelope
8. Let the cat out of the bag
9. Let's circle back
10. Win-win situation
One of the other dangers of using these types of phrases is that not everyone understands what they mean, Lane Morris, the Sara Ellen Skinner Professor in Management at the University of Tennessee, said.
"There are idioms that leaders use that cause people to question their credibility, that they use to make them sound intelligent, but it causes us to make them think they are insincere," Morris said.
It breeds confusion or a lack of trust in what's being said as well, he explained.
We asked Morris what were some other turns of phrase he has heard a lot that he recommends leaders avoid in the workplace-- and what they can use instead.
Think outside the box- When you stop and think about it, just what is this box, Morris said. They're asking people to think innovatively and creatively.
Blue-sky thinking- They're encouraging people to think broadly, but there are some limits. Morris would encourage people to think broadly, or in other words, to just be straight forward about what you're asking people to do: Think without constraints.
Move the needle- This oftentimes creates a lot of confusion, Morris said, and that's the problem with that type of phrase-- just what is the needle, where is the needle? It assumes the listener has an idea where the needle is, in other words is there a way to measure that?
Bite the bullet- Just simply ask people to make a tough decision, Morris said.
The elephant in the room- Sometimes there are phrases that we use that are quite frankly insulting, Morris said. If you're talking about a personnel issue and you reference that as the elephant in the room, do you realize what we just called that individual? That can be really insulting and inflammatory.
I don't have the bandwidth- This can generate some confusion, but basically you're just saying you have limits on your time and resources, Morris said. "We're not radios."
Apples to apples- You're just making a comparison between two products, Morris said. For example, say product a and product b.
Throw people under the bus- Not very appealing, Morris said. "I think that's about being respectful to people." He explained you're trying to essentially say don't harm a colleague, desert them or abandon them.
So why should we avoid them?
"Advocating for more straightforward language in an organizational context leads to greater clarity and credibility," Morris said. "[Those are] two key ingredients in organizational communication; two important components of a great message."