Admit it or not, we’ve all been guilty of abusing PM buzzwords and phrases!
Don KimPROJECT-TO-PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT EXPERT| Seeking opportunitiesSacramento, CA, United States
If there’s one big epiphany I’ve have learned over the years as a corporate “Salaryman“, is that a person’s frequency of use of corporate buzzwords and phrases is inversely proportional to what they actually know. In other words, the less a person knows the more they will pontificate buzzwords and phrases to masquerade the lack of knowledge and experience.
So it was with great glee, that I ran into this Gartner (ironically, a group that is notorious for peppering buzzwords in their communications) post that outlined the corporate lifecycle for the buzz forecast in 2012...
So the next time you ask for business requirements to do PERT analysis in order to accurately calculate your CPI and SPI indexes to ensure a synergy between Business and Information Technology groups that will ensure the harmonization across disparate systems of cloud based big data realized through growth hacking techniques. Realize that this is just the “new normal” that requires leveraging a more agile toolbox so as to see how “sticky” your story points really are so that your next Sprint can be adequately pinged against the WIPs on your Kanban board. At the end of the day, it’s all about the realization or your core competency as a project manager.
Whew! So let’s be honest, haven’t you been guilty of abusing PM buzzwords and phrases? I hate to admit it, but I have been guilty of this on more occasions than I care to admit!
So what are some of your all time favorite (or that makes you cringe or roll your eyes) PM buzzwords and phrases?
(To read more as well as see the Gartner graph and other fun pics: http://goo.gl/6Yhmf Saving Changes...
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Shaquita ParkerAssociate Director| Evolent HealthBowie, Md, United States
"Add value" is my least favorite phrase. It means nothing without some additional information and direction. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
There are so many buzzwords I don't know where to begin! I'll have to give this question some thought and work out the most cringeworthy in my opinion, although I have to agree that 'add value' is definitely up there. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Don, great post. I suppose one buzzword (buzzphrase) that makes my eyes role is "The New Normal"... I have to give credit to our CEO of PMI, Mark Langley, who put it best at a recent Gartner Group event during a panel discussion. After other executives on the panel gave their prognostication of impending doom unless we recognize "The New Normal", Mr. Langley, who was last to comment, sagely and rhetorical asked, "If this is The New Normal, then I would like to know, what was the Old Normal?" His point was not lost on the audience. Can we all just speak the language of business? Or put another way, why is it that we need these buzzwords? Could it be to overcome something..? Lack of knowledge, lack of business case, lack of ability, lack of communications skills...?! I am sure that there is a right time and place for buzzwords, but generally speaking I am leary of them. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
I came across one lately "Lifted and Shifted". Heard it mentioned over and over in many occasions. Saving Changes...
