Don’t Let Corporate Jargon Hold Your Team Back

You’re in a meeting. Someone says, “Let’s circle back to ensure alignment on the KPIs so we can really move the needle across products.”

Everyone nods.

But in your head, you’re thinking… “What did they just say?”

That’s corporate jargon. It’s everywhere. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Most of us—well, we just tolerate it. And while jargon isn’t always bad, it can be a bigger problem than we realize. The real issue? When jargon stops making things faster and starts making things foggier. And that fog is slowing your team down.

When Language Obscures, Not Clarifies

Language is supposed to create clarity. It’s meant to connect people, to help them collaborate, and to make smart decisions quickly. But in many organizations, corporate jargon does the opposite. It confuses. It slows people down. And worse, it creates distance—between individuals, teams, and entire departments.

Anthropologist David Graeber explored this in his book Bullshit Jobs, arguing that layers of meaningless work—and meaningless words—emerge in organizations to preserve the illusion of productivity. He called this “managerial feudalism”: leaders expand their scope by hiring people to do questionable work just to increase their headcount. Jargon plays a similar role. The more complex the words, the harder it becomes to question the necessity of the work behind them. But hey, at least it all sounds official, right?

Why We Still Use Corporate Jargon

Here’s the twist: jargon isn’t always a villain.

Research in organizational communication shows that companies adopt specialized language to gain legitimacy. Industry-specific jargon signals expertise. It shows professionalism and alignment with norms. If you’re a doctor, an engineer, or a pilot, technical jargon actually saves time and prevents errors because everyone on the team knows exactly what those terms mean.

But here’s the catch: those teams have a shared understanding.

Inside organizations, that shared understanding often breaks down. Research has also shown that managers who use little to no jargon are actually seen as more trustworthy by employees. In other words, jargon may impress people outside the organization, but inside, it creates headaches.

The real problem isn’t jargon itself—it’s forgetting who you’re talking to.

Know Your Audience

Before you use a term like “OKRs” or “value prop,” pause and ask yourself: Does everyone in this room actually know what that means?

Inside your core team, shared language can be a time-saver. If your product team refers to an MVP, everyone knows you mean minimum viable product—not most valuable player. But when you step outside that team bubble and into a meeting with sales, HR, or external partners, that same shortcut can become a speed bump.

What’s familiar in one department can feel like a foreign language in another. Marketing talks about “demand gen” and “funnels.” IT throws out “DNS propagation.” Finance focuses on “run rates” and “burn.” HR wants to “360” everybody. None of these terms are wrong—but they are highly contextual. And when people don’t know what you mean, they’ll do one of two things: nod and Google it later, or tune out completely.

Here’s a better approach: assume at least one person in the room is hearing the term for the first time. Maybe it’s a new hire. Maybe it’s a partner from another department. Maybe it’s someone from a different industry where that same acronym means something else entirely. Either way, when people feel excluded, they disengage.

The best communicators—and the best leaders—meet people where they are. They don’t oversimplify, but they do make sure no one gets left behind.

Clarity Is a Competitive Advantage

Clarity is kindness.

Whether you’re leading a team or sending a quick email, your words do more than convey information. They shape how people feel about the work—and about you.
Nothing slows down a team like a message that has to be reread three times just to be understood. And as communication gets more informal—thanks to Slack, emojis, and even memes—clarity matters more than ever. You don’t need to send GIFs to the board of directors, but you can write like a real person instead of a corporate buzzword generator.

Here’s a simple contrast:

“We’ll leverage our core competencies to achieve stakeholder alignment.”

vs.

“Here’s how we’re using our strengths to meet what our stakeholders need.”

Which one would you rather read?

Clarity doesn’t just improve comprehension—it builds trust. When people don’t have to decode your message, they focus on what you’re actually saying. And they see that you respect their time.

So before you hit send or speak up in a meeting, ask yourself:

• Would a smart, motivated outsider understand this?
• Would I say this out loud in a conversation?
• Can I cut any words without losing meaning?

Nobody ever complains that a message was too clear. Or too short.

Call Out Fake Complexity

Sometimes, jargon isn’t just confusing—it’s a smokescreen.
In some organizations, language is used to make something sound more important than it is. If you’ve ever heard a sentence that sounds impressive but doesn’t actually say anything, you’ve seen this in action.
Phrases like:

“We’re architecting a holistic transformation framework to unlock cross-functional synergies.”

Sound fancy. But what’s actually happening?

One of the easiest ways to spot unnecessary work—or questionable priorities—is to listen to how people talk about them. If you can’t understand what’s being said, you’re not the problem. The language is.

This is why it’s okay—important, even—to ask, “What does that actually mean?” Or, “Can you give me an example?” You don’t have to be snarky. Just be curious. Either the person will clarify, and everyone will benefit, or they won’t—and you’ve just exposed a deeper issue.

Calling out fake complexity isn’t rude. It’s responsible. It saves time. It protects your team from wasting effort on meaningless work. And as a manager, you set the tone. When you say, “Let’s simplify that,” you give everyone else permission to do the same.

In the end, work that matters doesn’t need to hide behind big words. It speaks for itself.

The Real Role of Corporate Jargon

So let’s be clear: corporate jargon isn’t the enemy. It’s just a tool.

When used with the right audience, it speeds things up. But when it confuses or excludes people, it slows everyone down. The trouble is, jargon tends to creep in during moments of uncertainty. We use it to delay, to mask doubt, or to sound like we’re in control when we’re really just treading water.

But you don’t need jargon to sound competent. You need clarity. Clarity builds trust. Trust builds momentum. And that’s what drives high-performing teams forward.