Business Jargon/Corporate Buzzwords

ROI

Return on Investment

Refers to all the benefits received from the investment

Incentivize

to motivate somebody to use a product or service

Monetize

Make money from a product or activity.

Breaking down the silos

limiting or eliminating the physical barriers between different groups within a corporation.

"To increase our effectiveness, we are breaking down the silos and giving everyone access to important data"

Leverage

something which gives help or advantage or gain more control.

"Can you leverage the ad team to boost your product sales"

Low-hanging fruit

Targets or goals which are easily achievable, and which do not require a lot of effort.

"The North American market offers low-hanging fruit with no competition compared to breaking into the European market."

Learnings

act of gaining knowledge or new skills. Used as a noun that refers to body of teachings or lessons you receive from an activity, event, or project.

"the team used the learnings from the workshop to develop a successful marketing strategy"

Robust

describes a company's product or service that has a lot of functionality and beneficial uses for its consumers.

Reach out

the act of communicating or contacting other individuals or businesses.

"let's reach out to Daniel's and see if he's available for lunch."

Giving 110%

often requesting thar you exert extra effort into the task.

Over the wall

refers to sending important information to a client or customer.

Best practice

the most beneficial or superior method of accomplishing a task or project.

"connecting with clients on a personal level seems like our best practice for increasing sales."

Lots of moving parts

to describe a system or business with a lot of departments, employees and processes.

"it's hard to adjust some of the small details of this project because it has a lot of moving parts."

It is what it is

refers to the lack of control or care for a specific situation or project result.

Blue sky thinking

describe extremely creative problem-solving and innovative new ideas.

Key takeaways

major points or areas of interest that are important to remember from a presentation or meeting.

Game changer

used to describe a significant change to a company or project.

"Creating a software that tracks our inventory and sales was a real game changer."

Gain traction

an idea or company project becoming more effective or popular.

Aha Moment

used to describe an important revelation.

"last night, I had an aha moment and came up with a solution for development problem."

In the loop

the act of being given important information or knowledge on a particular subject.

"I told Amir about our marketing strategy, so he's in the loop"

Trim the fat

act of removing unnecessary details, resources or individuals from a company or project.

"we need to trim the fat. Can we combine the research and marketing departments for this project."

Synergy

refers to multiple ideas or departments that have a greater benefit when they work together than when they work alone.

ASAP

As soon as possible

Backburner

means to de-prioritize a task.

Baked in

it is already included. Used for factors or elements included in a financial or business model or roadmap.

Balls in the air

several activities or tasks are going on simultaneously. Same as the phrase "too much on the plate"

Bandwidth

capacity to take on more work. The time, capacity, and resources to handle the additional responsibilities.

"do you have the bandwidth to take on a new project?"

Brain Dump

Write down everything you can think of

Deep dive

doing in-depth research or thorough analysis on a given topic.

Ducks in a row

getting organized or making all of the necessary preparations for a task or project, say a presentation or seminar.

Herding cats

negative phrase used by managers to describe that their team members are disagreeable or difficult to deal with.

Streamline

to change something so that it becomes more effective or productive.

Win-win situation

is one that benefits all parties involved.

IPO

Initial Public Offering

When a private company goes public by offering its stocks for sale to the general public.

"Although the firm has long resisted going public, the founder suggests that the IPO should take place in the next 2 years."

Capital gains

Refers to an asset's value. the profits you can make from selling valuable assets.

"I am pleasantly surprised by the capital gains I earned from my investments this year."

Quantitative easing

purchasing more bonds to decrease long-term interest rates. Action directly impacts people's spending power and stimulates increased economic activity.

"the bank has implemented quantitative easing to stimulate the economy and increase liquidity."

Liquidity

person's or an institution's ability to convert an asset into cash with a drastic change in its market value. Liquidity is a crucial indicator of financial health.

"given our current liquidity ratio, we may be unable to cover all liabilities."

Blue chip stocks

describes stocks from established and reputable organizations.

"I have been researching blue chip stocks and have found some promising options for long-term investments."

Bear market

A market that has experienced a sustainable price decline by a minimum of 20%, and investors take up a pessimistic sentiment.

"I'm worried about the state of my investments during this bear market."

Bull market

stock prices rise and investors are more optimistic, typically signaling a time of economic growth.

"Investors are optimistic about the future of the economy as evidenced by the current bull market in stocks."

Leverage

Actionable Items

Employee behaviors that require an immediate corrective action by the supervisor.

ASAP

as soon as possible

Backburner

postpone consideration of or action on.

Baked in

built-in

Balls in the Air

you are busy or have several projects underway

Bandwidth

Capacity to take on more work

Bleeding Edge

a novel product, idea, creation, or innovation, especially related to technology.

Brain Dump

Write down everything you can think of

collaborate

collaborating or working with other teams to reduce barriers and improve efficiency.

Bring to the Table

whatever you can possibly offer

Circle Back

follow up with certain people at a later point in time

Core Competencies

the most prominent skills in an employee or teammate.

Deep Dive

doing in-depth research or thorough analysis on a given topic

Deliverables

Deliverables refer to the tasks or responsibilities assigned to you. For instance, providing an update on your deliverables means sharing your task progress.

Ducks in a Row

getting organized or making all of the necessary preparations for a task or project

Game Changer

a unique or amazing plan that can give a significant competitive advantage to a business

Get on Board

to agree with a plan, strategy or idea.

Good to go

It means confirming that a task, project, or action item is fine and can be sent ahead

Hard Stop

used by people to specify a particular time to end a meeting because the person has some other commitment or conflict

Laser Focus

extreme focus

Leverage

to use a resource or a situation in an effective, advantageous manner

Low-Hanging Fruit

It describes an easy task or opportunity that provides quick and good results

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

to take maximum advantage of a situation, or exploit an opportunity

Move the goalpost

changing the objectives, scope or requirements

Ninja

describe a highly-skilled professional or an expert. Corporate professionals also use 'guru' or 'thought-leaders' in place of ninja

One-Pager

creating a summary or pointers of a report or plan in a single page

Pain Point

describes a problem or challenge faced by a business which has a significant impact on them.

Park it

to keep something on hold until you get approval from another team member or an event occurs

Push the Envelope

you are asking the person to give their best. It simply suggests getting the most out of someone

Resonate

to be able to relate with someone's ideas, suggestions, or situation

Skin in the Game

complex phrase for describing the ownership of an investor. It means having an interest in the outcome of an event or a project

Synergy

describe the positive outcome of teamwork or collaboration between different departments or teams

Touch Base

you will communicate, talk or discuss something with them

Throw Under the Bus

Throwing your teammate under the bus means to put the blame on them for something gone wrong, especially when your teammate is not expecting it

mission statement

a short written description of the aims of a business, charity, government department, or public organization

core

This adjective is often overused in the business world; it means "main", "primary", or "most important"

touch base

to talk to someone for a short time to find out how they are or what they think about something ( = get in touch to see how things are going)

to tap someone

to ask/get someone to do something

outside the box

to think imaginatively using new ideas instead of traditional or expected ideas; to think of clever and innovative solutions to a problem

Core competency

a set of knowledge and skills that make the organization superior to competitors and create value for customers; the thing that a company does best

got a fire drill

got an emergency

out of the loop

If someone is unaware of something (like a topic, decision, etc)

let's take it offline

let's talk after the meeting

moving forward

= in the future

By virtue of having your homework done on time

To be ready

Top down approach

to look at a problem from the highest level first

Spend time in the field

spend time working at customer level

To circle back

to come back to a problem

Tardiness

to be late

Ram up

to make stronger

Put our foot on the gas

Increase the speed of something

Folks

People

Put your foot on someone's throat

to keep someone down/in an inferior position

The playbook

instructions on how to do something

to see green shoots

something beginning to grow - e.g. a business

a big piece of who we are

a large part of a company's identity or culture

What they're up to

what are people doing

I don't think there is an appetite to....

the feeling is that people don't want to do something

You cant rev up the pipeline and shut it down

you cant get ready to do business and cancel it at the last minute