| Above-board [adj.] | Honest and open. “I don’t think you’re being totally above-board with me.” |
| Aces in their places [exp.] | Ensuring that the most skilled people are put in roles where they can be most effective. When someone shouts this out, everyone runs to their station and leverages their core competency. Suggested by EC. |
| Acluistic [adj.] | Completely clueless. |
| Across the piece [exp.] | Affecting an entire project or organization. “We’re aiming for efficiency improvements across the piece.” Suggested by Clive N. |
| Action [v.] | To undertake a given task; to put into practice. “Don’t bother me while I’m actioning my deliverables.” Suggested by Ryan. |
| Action item [n.] | A short term goal that requires a defined measure of work to complete. Basically a dynamic, proactive version of your to do list. |
| Actionable [adj.] | Originally a legal word referring to anything that affords grounds for a lawsuit. In business speak, it’s anything on which action can be taken. |
| Address [v.] | Used as a replacement for ‘do’, ‘tackle’, or ‘complete’, this word nicely avoids making a commitment to which the speaker can be held accountable. “I will address all of your concerns in the upcoming weeks.” Suggested by Russel H. |
| Adhocracy [n.] | A minimally structured business where teams are formed as they are needed to address specific problems. |
| Admin [n.] | Political correctness beat brevity when Secretary became Administrative Assistant. Brevity is back. “Get on the horn with my Admin.” |
| Administrivia [n.] | A term that encompasses all the trivial tasks that management is far too qualified to suffer through. |
| Adoption process [n.] | The customer’s steps along the path from cautious cynic to submissive consumer of your product. |
| Aggressive mediocrity [n.] | A conscious effort to ensure that the bare minimum, and nothing more, is achieved. Suggested by SM Trkula. |
| Agreeance [n.] | A fancier way of saying agreement. “Are we in agreeance?” |
| Air it out [v.] | To discuss an issue openly. “Let’s get the team together and air it out this aft.” |
| Al desko [adj.] | Describes any meal eaten at an office desk (you have our sympathies if it’s dinner). “I slept in so I’m having breakfast al desko.” |
| ALAP [adj.] | As Late As Possible. Describes meeting a deadline at the last possible moment in order to avoid receiving additional work. “I finished it last week, but I’m going to submit it ALAP.” Suggested by JC. |
| Alignment [n.] | Consensus. “Can we align on lunch orders?” Suggested by Josh. |
| All-hands meeting [n.] | A mandatory meeting for all employees. “Bob called an all-hands this afternoon. Not a good sign when he’s willing to freeze the whole department for an hour.” |
| Alpha geek [n.] | The head of your company’s IT department. |
| Alpha pup [n.] | Trendsetting young people. Important targets for marketing to this age group. “Get six alpha pups in here for a focus group.” |
| Amped [adj.] | Having a large amount of excitement and energy. “I’m so amped about this new product line.” |
| Anacronym [n.] | An acronym that is so old, no one remembers the original phrase. Examples include RADAR, ASCII, and SNAFU. |
| Anecgloat [n.] | A story designed to make the speaker look good. May be partly fictional. |
| Animal spirits [n.] | The irrational optimism that drives people to risk their life savings on a half-baked start-up idea. |
| Anointed [n.] | An employee that can’t seem to do anything wrong in the eyes of management. |
| Anonymize [v.] | To make anonymous. |
| Anticipointment [n.] | The feeling that something didn’t live up to its hype. |
| Appetite [n.] | Level of interest. “Don’t spend another minute on this till you sample consumer appetite.” Suggested by Otis. |
| Apple polish [v.] | To suck-up, flatter. |
| Armchair general [n.] | Someone who speaks critically, but has no experience in the field in question. |
| Around [adv.] | Replaces ‘about’ with a softer, tangential approach. “We need to dialog around your choice of work attire.” Suggested by Corinne F. |
| Arrows to fire [exp.] | Points to use in an argument. “Now if you don’t have any more arrows to fire, I think we’re finished here.” |
| Ask [n.] | Used when the word ‘request’ is not quite cool enough. “Where do we stand on the latest client ask?” Suggested by John C. |
| Assignment capsule [n.] | A clearly defined job description or task. “Stop arguing about objectives and start handing out assignment capsules.” |
| Assmosis [v.] | The apparent absorption of success that comes from sucking up. |
| At the end of the day [exp.] | The speaker would like you to know that he has a profound understanding about what is important and what is not. Suggested by Tom O. |
| At this juncture [exp.] | Now. “We’re not prepared to go public at this juncture.” |
| Availability [n.] | A convenient way of separating the individual from the ability to manage her own time. “I’d love to come, but I’m not sure about my availability, grandma.” Suggested by Sam K. |
