Forgive me for being a little negative in this post. Just for fun, I want to list some of my cliche and buzz-phrase pet peeves. Some of these are just warn out while others simply sound unprofessional. Managers who use these can expect to kill motivation. Use them at your own risk.
10. Rightsizing – We all know you are trying to put a positive spin on down-sizing or layoffs.
9. Eat the frog – Just say, “We need to finish the unpleasant task we are putting off.”
8. Bio-break – Many people perceive this terminology as being gross and unprofessional. Simply say “break” or if you must qualify the break use “health break.”
7. Skin in the game – For many visually oriented people, this falls into the gross category.
6. Bleeding-edge – See #7 above.
5. Best of breed – No explanation is needed for this one.
4. Incentivize – Just so you know, this is not a word.
3. Monday morning quarterbacking – Sports oriented buzz-phrases confuse some people and annoy almost everyone else.
2. Out of pocket – Unless you are a quarterback or a writing utensil, please don’t tell anyone you are in pocket or out of pocket.
1. Think outside of the box – The most overused cleche in the book. An ironic use of a cliche for not using cliches.