As working from home continues to be the new normal for millions of office workers across the West Midlands; a new study has revealed that office jargon is increasingly being used at the kitchen table, on the sofa and at bedtime.
For a staggering 85% of West Midlanders, workplace office jargon now features in conversations outside of office hours according to research by connectivity provider TalkTalk.
‘Touching base’ and ‘blue-sky thinking’ are now happening over dinner and in front of the TV as the balance between home and work life continues to blur.
According to the poll the most annoying workplace jargon in the West Midlands are:
1. Blue sky thinking – 26%
2. Hit the ground running – 23%
3. Deep dive – 20%
4. Drilling down into it – 18%
5. Low hanging fruit – 18%
6. Touch points – 18%
7. Circle back – 16%
8. Touch base – 16%
9. Idea shower – 16%
10. Swim lanes – 15%
The poll looked at the office jargon that has infiltrated our home lives the most, identifying ‘touch base’, ‘no brainer’, ‘thinking outside the box’ and ‘moving the goal posts’ among the phrases that had made the transition from work to personal life.
Surprisingly, less than a third (27%) say they find it annoying, perhaps that’s because over half (53%) admit to using office jargon in the home themselves as they adapt to the new work-life patterns.
Caroline Taggart, author of Misadventures in the English Language said: “We pick up an expression at work or in the media and unconsciously begin using it ourselves. We’re stuck with it before we realise we’ve even adopted it, no matter where we are.
“Our lives are more blurred than ever and with no commute to help our brain switch from work-to-home mode, it’s no surprise we forget to ditch the jargon when we log off.”
TalkTalk has seen a 48% increase in internet usage in the West Midlands this year as much of its office workforce transitions to home working. With over half (54%) of people in the UK expecting to return to work in the office full time, it appears that the use of office speak in the home could be here to stay.
But not everyone is enjoying this increasing usage of work speak; 27% of West Midlander’s admit that hearing their housemate use office jargon sets their teeth on edge and 20% say they have no idea what people are talking about. ‘Blue sky thinking’, ‘hit the ground running’, and ‘deep dive’ were cited to be the most annoying workplace jargon.
I.T., Sales, and Engineering professionals were deemed to be the biggest offenders when it comes to using workplace jargon in the home.
According to the report the most commonly heard workplace jargon in the home in the West Midlands are as follows:
Brainstorm – 38%
Touch base – 38%
Thinking outside the box – 37%
On my radar – 34%
No brainer – 32%
Going forward – 32%
Singing from the same hymn sheet – 27%
On the same page – 26%
Moving the goalposts – 25%
Hit the ground running – 24%
How many of these do you use? Have a brainstorm and circle back letting us know please!
For more information on TalkTalk’s new Homeworker Package: www.talktalk.co.uk/shop/broadband/homeworker
