OfficeSlang.com

Slang	Slang Meaning
2.0	The next generation of ideas and processes, like Web 2.0 or Education 2.0, as compared to the old boring 1.0 version
30,000 foot view	Seeing the big picture, like the view of everything down below from an airplane, which gives you perspective. Managers and executives like to take this view.
800-Pound Gorilla	A business that dominates their industry like Microsoft, Google or Facebook. There's an old joke: What do you do with an 800-pound gorilla? Anything he wants.
Action item	A task that needs to be done, but calling it an action item makes it sound more important.
Advise	"Used in official sounding business communication like ""Please advise which color flux capacitor you would like to purchase"".
Analytics	The statistical analysis of business data to help predict or improve future performance.
Around	"Used instead of ""with"" or ""on"". Examples: ""are we on track around the merger tomorrow?"" or ""I am struggling to get up to speed around the new accounting software"".
Ballpark figure	An estimate, an educated guess. A guesstimate.
Bandwidth	"A person's available time to complete something, like ""I don't have the bandwidth to handle another project this month.""
Best in breed	The top company in an industry.
Best practices	Optimal tactics and strategies.
Bizmeth	"Short for ""business method"".
Blocking and tackling	Basic tasks.
Blue sky thinking	Idealistic or visionary ideas - not always with practical application.
Boil the ocean	Taking on a very difficult or impossible task (the ocean can't be boiled).
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.""
Branding	A company's marketing, related to the overall feeling evoked by the company's products, advertisements, and graphic design.
Brick-and-mortar	A business with real-world address that deals with people face to face, like a bank of grocery store. The opposite of an Internet business.
Bring Your ""A"" Game"	Be prepared, do your best.
Business landscape	The threats and opportunities facing a business.
Business process outsourcing (BPO)	Replacing in-house knowledge-based services IP research for patents; legal and medical services; R&D, and animation/design with labor from an outside firm, many times offshore (like in India).
Business-to-Business (B2B)	Selling to other businesses, not consumers.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)	Selling to consumers, not other businesses.
Buzzword compliant	Implies a product supports features simply because they are currently fashionable.
Change agent	A person who leads change within the organization. Sometimes an event or condition can even be a change agent.
Chase shiny objects	"Chasing anything that moves or looks new or enticing. Example usage: ""Stop chasing shiny objects and get down to the business of growing your business"".
Client engagement	A meeting.
Client-centric / customer-centric	Focusing on the customer to keep them happy and satisfied.
Communicate	"A fancy way of saying ""say"" or ""tell"".
Context	"Often used in place of ""background"" or ""information"". Used in conversation such as ""What's the context?"" or ""Give me some context""
Co-opetition	A business strategy based on game theory that is a combination of cooperation and competition, where companies that are in the same market work together in the exploration of knowledge and research of new products.
Core competencies	A business's main strengths or strategic advantages.
Cover all directions of the compass	Trying to make things acceptable for all stakeholders.
Deck	Powerpoint slides used for a presentation.
Deep dive	Getting into the detail.
Deliverable	Something that is owed and has to be done by a certain date.
Disambiguate	To clarify.
Downsizing	Cutting expenses by laying people off.
Drill-down	To look more closely
Drinking the Kool-Aid	Trusting in things said by authority figures. A fervent devotion to a certain company or technology.
Drop dead date	The absolute final possible date for deliverable.
Drop the ball	To make a blunder of fail.
Eating your own dogfood	Using a product yourself which you sell to others.
EBITDA	Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Used to compare profitability between companies.
Elephant in the room	An important and obvious topic that everyone is aware of, but is not discussed because it would be uncomfortable.
Elevator pitch	A short summary of a product, service, or company, used to get your point across quickly (like in the time frame of an elevator ride). Many times given in person to a venture capitalist or angel investor to obtain funding.
End user perspective	What a customer thinks of a product or service or how they feel having to or after using a product service
Engagement	A project.
Enterprise sales	"""Enterprise"" is another name for a business. ""Enterprise Sales"" refers to complex sales dealing with large contracts with long sales cycles and multiple decision makers.
ETA	"Can mean ""Estimated Time of Arrival"" but also refers to your estimated time to completion of a task.
Event horizon	A turning point in the life of a company.
Eyeball driven	Depends on views for success. For example, websites that depend on ad (banner) impressions are eyeball driven.
Face time	Time spent meeting face to face with someone, not remotely by email/phone/text. Sometimes refers to just showing up at a location and interacting with people.
Facilitate	To conduct or oversee, like for a meeting.
Game changer	A person, company or event that radically changes a situation, usually with new and different ideas that stand out from the crowd.
Gantt chart	Shows the schedule of a project along with other details.
Going forward/Moving 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
Granular	In excessive detail.
Guided	Used to abdicate responsibility for a decision, especially where the consequences of making a poor choice could be severe.
Hard stop	The absolute final possible ending time of a meeting.
Have the vendor in our pocket	Keeping a vendor / contractor paid
Heads Up	"Used to ask for a report/update on something, ex: ""Give me a heads up on this.""
Herding cats	A difficult chore.
High level	An abbreviated explanation of what would otherwise be an elongated report, including only the most pertinent details.
Hit the ground running	To start doing something that you have already prepared for so that you do not waste any time.
Holistic approach	The entire organization is considered in its processes and policies to sure the business is running at its full potential, instead of having strong and weak areas.
Home run	A big financial win. Example: The investor passed on the deal because he did not think it could be a home run.
Human capital	People
In the loop	Knowing what's going on and being kept informed
In the weeds	The view by the staff who actually does the work
Incent	To encourage
Interface	To communicate.
It’s not brain surgery	It is not hard to do.
it’s not rocket science	It is not hard to do.
Joined up thinking	A wider point of view from discussing the viewpoints of each organization and coming to an agreement or compromise.
Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO)	"eals largely in services that are highly ""knowledge-based"", such as: intellectual property research for patent applications; legal and medical services; training, consultancy, and research and development in fields such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; and animation and design
Lack of liquidity	If an investment is not liquid, it is very hard to sell.
Land and expand	A strategy to sell a small solution and then grow it within the client's environment
Lean forward and Lean back media	A Lean-forward medium has people actively engaged, like the Web where users search for things and look for content. TV, books, and magazines are examples of lean-back mediums because you just sit down and veg out.
Leverage	To use something to maximum advantage.
Light a fire under him/her	To motivate somebody.
Logistics	Commonly used by shipping companies (Fedex, UPS, etc.). The management of the flow of goods between the origin and destination. Involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, packaging, and security.
Long tail	A retail strategy of selling a few each of a large number of unique, less popular items. Examples include Amazon.com, Netflix, and eBay.
Low hanging fruit	Easy
Make it pop	Make it stand out.
Metrics	Ways to measure something.
Mindshare	The development of consumer popularity and awareness by using advertising and promotion. Brands compete for mindshare.
Mission critical	If something is mission critical, its failure will result in the failure of business operations.
My two cents	Giving my opinion
net-net	"Meaning ""get to the point"". Also, an investing technique where a company is valued only on its net current assets.
New economy	A global economy based on high growth industries such as advanced technology (Internet) and biotech.
Next generation	The next stage or version of a product, service, or technology.
Off the shelf	In-stock, not custom made.
Offshoring	Also known as Offshore outsourcing, or something being offshorable.
On the fritz	Broken.
On the radar	When you are aware of something. Well-known.
Open the kimono	Transparency and full disclosure.
Operationalize	To define an abstract concept in such a way that it can be practically measured.
Out-of-pocket	A non-reimbursable expense you need to pay for yourself. Also used to mean somebody is unavailable.
Paradigm shift	A revolution in thinking. A transformation from one way of thinking to another.
Pass the monkey	To pass the responsibility for a problem to someone else.
Pick the low-hanging fruit	Going for the easiest option.
Ping	To contact somebody, like by email, text, or phone.
Procurement	Buying things.
Pushing the envelope	Going outside normal boundaries to achieve a target or goal
Raft of measures	A collection of proposals or schemes
Reaching Out	To contact
Reinvent the wheel	To duplicate a method already created by others.
Return on Investment (ROI)	How much profit was made in relation to how much capital was invested. ROI (%) = Net profit ($) / Investment ($) * 100 %
Reverse fulfilment	Processing returned products.
Rightshoring	Putting jobs where they belong. For example outsourcing the less important processes overseas and keeping the complex work in-house.
Rightsizing	Cutting expenses by firing people. Downsizing.
Run the numbers	Do the calculations.
Sandwich method	A way of providing feedback where you positive feedback (a compliment) in the beginning and end but in the middle give constructive criticism. Also known as the hamburger method.
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)	Legislation enacted in 2002 to protect shareholders in all public companies after the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco International, and Adelphia financial scandals, with the goal of eliminating accounting errors and financial fraud.
Seamless integration	Making a change without causing any errors, complications, or interruption in service.
Shovel-ready	The planning is done work can start right away, as soon as funding or approval is granted.
Singing from the same sheet music	Showing a united front in public.
Skin in the game	Showing confidence by investing your own money in something, instead of just getting paid to do it.
Solutions provider	A vendor.
Spinning the plates	Multi-tasking
Sustainability	Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sweating the assets	Getting every last drop of usability and value out of of the assets you already have, like by cutting costs and virtualizing.
SWOT Analysis	A strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats in a project or business venture. Generates ideas and strategic goals, and helps match the company's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates.
Synergy	Two business participants or elements working together to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Take it offline	Talk about it later
Talk the talk, walk the walk	If you say you can do something, demonstrate you can do it.
Tear down the silos	Remove barriers
The 80-20 rule	Pareto's Principle - Focus on the 20% of something matters because 20% of something is responsible for 80% of the results. So for example 80% of an assignment can be finished in 20% of the time, 20% of the defects cause 80% of the problems, and 20% of the people in a country own 80% of the wealth.
Think outside the box	Novel or creative thinking where you think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective.
Touch base	"To contact or speak with. ""Let's touch base on Friday about the new computer software.""
Unique selling proposition (USP)	Something that differentiates a product from the competition.
Value proposition	A statement explaining why a customer should buy the company's product or service.
Value-add	Something that improves a value or service.
Vertical market	A subset of a larger industry which meets the needs of a particular industry. A niche market.
Visibility	To know about something.
Win-win solution	Providing a product or service which makes everyone happy.