How to relieve the tedium of dull meetings: Play Buzzword Bull***t

This week, a tongue-in-cheek way to make dull meetings just a touch more bearable.

I had forgotten until recently just how much jargon the Higher Education sector is riddled with. It took the dreaded words ‘Professional Services Review’ to unleash the floodgates with new acronyms, abbreviations and impenetrable language to remind me just how much. Every sector will have their equivalent, but right now if we were to be playing Top Trumps I suspect Universities would be out in front by some distance.

Have you ever sat through meetings not quite brave enough to ask what a specific term or acronym means? Wondered whether the person presenting the change plan had wires coming out of their back? Wanted to stifle a yawn or giggle?

If that’s the case perhaps it’s time to reinstate Buzzword Bull***t. Below is a template to start you off. Feel free to add your own words or swap terms that don’t apply- and prepare to play!

Rules of the game

1. Players agree before a meeting how they will signal that they have a full house. This might be through posting a pre-agreed phrase into the chat if you’re playing virtually on Teams or Zoom. In person, agree the equivalent of calling out ‘House’ when you’ve filled your scorecard. Or agree beforehand how many words will constitute a win.
2. At the end of the meeting, the person with the highest score is treated to a coffee by the player with the lowest score.
3. Alternatively, players might agree before a meeting/presentation to take it in turns to ask or interrupt the speaker each time jargon or an acronym is used and request clarification. Each interruption scores 1 point. Eventually perhaps the speaker might retreat, defeated, into using plain language.

Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.

Kingman Brewster, junior.

 

Feel free to share those words or phrases which press your buttons, make you snigger or reach for the sick bucket!