I am convinced that the more acronyms a company utilizes, the greater the signal of impending doom. It slowly sneaks into the corporate nomenclature until one day, someone joins your company, and bravely asks "What the hell does the LLT stand for?"
Suddenly, it hits you.
You've entered the upside-down world of acronyms without realizing it, and it is unclear whether you're going to make it out. One could literally hear the following at the company I worked for as the Chief Marketing Officer, "We're having a BLT meeting before the MLT, to talk about the LLT prep for the EMC where we need to review EDP, IRI, and NPD."
The language of Dungeons and Dragons is a breeze compared to this jargon.
Speaking in acronyms is certainly not about communication efficiency, as some would have you believe. Most employees don’t understand what’s being said but don’t want to admit it so they remain trapped in confusion and misunderstanding.
For some acronym advocates, it’s a way to make themselves feel superior because of their ability to speak the “insider” language.
It reminds me of a story from my high school years. There was an amiable guy in our high school class who was a member of the popular crowd. He had this slightly startled expression on his face most of the time as if he had just seen a ghost. His complexion also happened to be extremely pallid. His nickname was Boo.
Boo created his own strange, clipped language when we were in high school. I think he did it, perhaps unconsciously, as a way to elevate his status even further within the popular clique. To understand his clipped language required admittance. If you didn't understand it, you weren't admitted to the inner sanctum of the cool clique at our high school.
Boo might say very rapidly, "Def hit port sat night for G's." Translated, this meant, "Let's definitely go downtown on Saturday night for George's Pizza." I now think of Boo whenever I hear people spewing corporate acronyms in regular conversation.
Remember, not everyone you communicate with is a psychic. Speak clearly in acronym free sentences. You will help liberate all those trapped upside-down in your company who are struggling to understand and allow them to break free. Imagine the productivity increase you will see.