Are You a Bullfighter? The New Workplace Pastime

We’ll powerphase our human resources to full empowerment, synching up our strategic initiatives to maximize our leverage in the current oscillating global environment.” “Huh? What does that mean?” you might ask.? That was a real sentence taken from an internal memo from a company doing worldwide business. If you’re like most folks in today’s workplace, you’ll probably do your best to try to figure it out for yourself after asking some other people who either give you the same response you had, or will give you that look that says, “everyone else knows, what’s the matter with you?” Yet it all sounds like bull to you.

Last week I was teaching a class on communication skills and one of the participants asked me a question I hear repeated in so many other classes, regardless of the topic – whether it is management skills, critical thinking, information overload, etc. The young gentleman asked, “How do I handle my manager, and other managers who always talk using terms that don’t mean anything?” I asked for clarification. He then came out with a continuous string of common workplace jargon that went on for several moments. After a chuckle by the group, another person asked, “Why do people do that?” Then another group member went on to complain how some people write emails that go on forever. She complained that she forgot what the first part of the sentence was talking about because it went on so long. Of course, I don’t have the answer to that question, but I do have answers to help you fight the bull in workplace communication.

From my experience studying productivity in the workplace, probably the biggest loss of morale, time efficiency, quality, and re-work is poor communication and lax communication habits. Another surprise to most participants in communication skills training is the well studied fact that the words we use only convey the smallest percentage of the meaning we are trying to express. One reason for this is that language holds meaning in the mind of the individual. Individual experiences, culture, upbringing, training, etc. is what carries meanings. Think about a project you work on. Have you used terms that only the people on the team fully understand? Think about technical jargon. Whether you are a techie or not, we all have our own system of technical terms. Do we stop and consider how we are using those terms, and do we consider the receiver’s understanding of the terms?

Imprecision in how we speak and write are part of our human condition. If you are serious about wanting to improve your workplace communication, you will constantly be diligent in monitoring how you use your terms. For examples, how often have you heard someone being described as a “grandstander,” or “power mongerer,” or has “a bad attitude?” Unless we take the time to clarify those terms then we are engaging in generalization. Generalization leads to misunderstanding. So here’s the tip: listen to yourself describing things as you speak or write. Be willing to discipline your language use. Be willing to define your terms clearly and accurately. Be a bullfighter.

Additionally, you can now become a real bullfighter in your organization. Deloitte Touche Consulting (http://www.dc.com/insights/bullfighter/downloads.asp) has developed a software tool called Bullfighter. The program gives those of us who embrace clarity, a tool to detect and eliminate gobbledygook from our communication. Using the Flesch reading ease scale and their own “bull scale” (a composite directory of vague business terms and jargon), Bullfighter scans through a Word document and rates the bull scale and readability of your work and yields an overall “bull index” for you to consider. Best of all, it’s free. You can even add to your own bull directory as you work to keep yourself disciplined as your organization develops more of its own bull. Better yet, invite your colleagues to join in on the fun.

Keep it clear. Keep it concise and precise. Fight the bull. No bull.

Editor’s note: This article has been screened full bull.

Keep us posted on your discoveries of the bull index, or shout back at us at:

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If your organization could use help keeping communication simple and clear, please contact us at: 1-800-852-9703. Mention this article and receive a special reate for any training or consulting

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