Corporate Lingo is Important For Good Communication

Tq fr oping ma pst. Crop lingo is smthing imp fr all to knw. If u dnt understand ma lingo, u nd I fl to comm tgther.

Well, after reading the above you should obviously have understood the purpose of this post. Oh wait, you did not? Perhaps my corporate lingo is a little alien for you. Remember, your success as a leader in the corporate world is greatly influenced by your lingo.

Nearly 5 years in my current job, right after my under-grad, I have come to realize one thing: your ability to communicate what you are thinking is without a doubt the most important ability required if you are to succeed in the corporate world. Do not believe me? Read on…

Think about it, a company is not a one man show – if you believe otherwise, stop reading and get out of my blog! peace –  its a dozen, hundred or, in my case, thousands of people that come together to achieve a common goal. A goal that is established by the top leaders and ‘communicated’ to 99% of the company below them. It is these 99% of the people who are the ‘engine’ of this ‘corporate car’. The top 1% is not directly doing the job, its the 99% below them who really put things into action. I am not saying you do not need that 1%, but you definitely need the 99% to effectively do what that 1% has planned for.

In my career till date, I have been a part of some instances where communication was not a 100%. Blame the corporate lingo? In some cases it was my fault, and I learned from them, and in some other cases it was an issue with folks not paying attention. Lets not get into a blame games here, we are beyond that, but the point here is that in the cases where communication, understandable corporate lingo, was not a 100%, the experience of working in a group was pretty bad. Surprise Surprise!

Guidelines for a Good Corporate Lingo, Communication

So the question arises, how do we ensure our communication is 100%. From my years of experience and from all the feedback I have received at work, here is what I think matters the most to have a strong communication.

Who are you talking to?

before you start typing or talking, ask yourself who your audience really is. If its your project partner, go in full detail mod, but if it is someone from another team, you got to ease it out for them. They have no idea what you have been working on. So walk them through it in a very strategic manner. In short, if you want to take this person from point A to point D, then you have got to walk them through point B and C also! Do not be lazy, make an effort.

Story Telling

People love stories, so tell them one! Start with the simple stuff like, why are you doing what you are doing? Why is it important to the company? What is do you need from them in this? The goal here is to take it easy, and have a good story to tell.

Cut the jargon

One line, if you use words that they do not understand, then how do you expect a 100% communication. Very similar to my beginning quot!

Presentation – Make it Beautiful

Make stuff look cool, smart and meaningful. I cannot emphasize how important this really is. The easier stuff is to the eye, the better it is for your communication. I am telling you through experience, this is that magic wand. If you get it right, you stand to gain a lot of praises.

Enough of these points, go practice them a little. Write them down on your white board and keep them in front of you while writing the next email to someone, making a power point presentation or even just preparing a little talk for a small group.

Remember, intellectual laziness is the worst kind of laziness!

You should check out my article on the Art of Laziness!

– Anant Agnihotri