Annoying business jargon dominates many workplaces from the boardroom to the water cooler. The temptation to use buzzwords to punch up a point is enticing, but doing so often masks or confuses what we’re really trying to say.

Have you played buzzword bingo at the office?

We’re hoping you can leverage these best practice examples when you level-set with your team and essentially move the needle away from a burning platform to help realign your corporate values.  See how annoying that is? What does that even mean?

What we meant to say is, be aware of these 10 common phrases used in the workplace and what they’re supposed to mean. You may find that you’re guilty of using them yourself.

1. Full service: Used to describe some gas stations that will do everything for you, this phrase has somehow seeped into how firms and agencies describe themselves today.
2. Think outside the box: Approaching a business problem with an unconventional fashion. Just do it – you don’t have to actually say it.
3. The tail that wags the dog: The least important part of a situation has too much influence over the most important part.
4. Lot’s of moving parts: This is pretty much the grade school equivalent of defining what goes into a project.
5. Ducks in a row: To be well prepared and organized (or you could just say that).
6. Leverage: How a situation can be manipulated or controlled. This is the Samuel L. Jackson of words – because it’s everywhere.
7. Corporate values: The people that make up the business have values – the corporation does not.
8. Run it up the flagpole: To tell people about an idea and to see what they think about it.
9. Best practice: A benchmark technique that delivers superior results when compared to other methods (still confused).
10. It is what it is: Wow. Enough said.

What business jargon do you find particularly annoying in your workplace? Share in the comments or tweet us @MBAI_Team.