Acronym Soup is hard to swallow

Acronyms ..... a time saving short hand or a carefully constructed barrier to entry?

I have always have a leaning towards plain speaking.... but nonetheless, I can't sometimes resist a little verbal flourish. We all try to communicate clearly to get a message across. Good and effective communication is predicated on being understandable. Yet in our business careers, we take part in the (somehow enticing) practice in weaving a web of industry shorthand - often the use of acronyms - to ensure that only those "in the know" can understand what the hell we are on about. We do it without thinking about it.

Being on the inside means that you speak this language - it's rather like being in an exclusive club. It shows that you belong. Being on the outside means that you are excluded as you try, in real time, to fight through the impenetrable jungle of acronym infused jargon. It's hard work.

Its not something that I have spend much time thinking about. Most of my career I have been on the inside. But now, from the outside looking in; and working across a number of sectors (all with their own unique jargon, slang, and abreviations developed over many years) I see that it is an issue.

Communications from the inside to the outside requires special attention to translate messages to be well understood by (external) recipients. Sometimes, its not just language, but without an inherent understanding of how things work in a business, a sector or an industry (aka being "on the inside") a message loses much of its essential meaning. This leaves those who have tried and failed to explain something, often at a loss to comprehend that the loss of impact is of their own making. A great example: a doctor trying to explain to a patient or their family the investigation, outcome and treatment plan of an illness - whilst often forgetting that those individuals have no medical background.

When an individual joins a business, or a sector, they are at a huge disadvantge. Not only do they have to learn the "hardware" of a role (the processes, rules and systems) together with the software ( how things actually work around here; the people, the relationships and politics etc) - but they have to do so when trying too learn a seemingly impenetrable fog of jargon, and a tidal wave of acronyms. It is no wonder that many new entrants struggle to come to terms with a new job. Efficiency is lost, learning curves lengthen, turnover increases.

As I touch some different sectors I am constantly confronted by acronyms that are part of the daily to and fro of a sector. But because I am not immersed in that sector on a daily basis It takes a lot of effort to acclimatise and survive amoungst the jargon, the acronyms and the lazy shorthand that has grown around even the basic day to day subjects.

Imagine then, the challenges when an organisation is multi-national and, whilst English might be the universally adopted common international language, those who do not speak English natively will struggle to intuitively grasp complex issues even without the jargon/acronym filled jungle that surrounds everything.

So heres to a life where the newcomer or the uninitiated or the outsider or the non-native speaker can easily and quickly understand the communication aimed at them. Only then can they truly make a valid and much sought after contribution and fully participate in the dialogues that surround them.

Now before you point out that abbreviation is often appropriate and removes doubt or ambiguity - fine. I know it's not all bad. However, it is time to use a few examples to make the point. No blame and shame intended. You decide....

Gov.uk helpfully (?) provides a list of "MOD Acronyms and Abbreviations" - "Definitions for terms and acronyms used throughout MOD documents" - this consists of 373 pages of around 55 acronyms per page (equal to in excess of twenty thousand).... and the usual comedic but essential favourites of FUBAR, SNAFU, and BOHICA etc. are not even included (google them if you don't know)

We might imagine that the list used in medicine is equally long - but it would appear that there are much fewer that the UK military vocabulary of abbreviations. However, in an effort to make amends, doctors infamous handwriting legibility helpfully adds a film of indecipherability should the acronyms prove too easy to understand.

In education a quick search unearthed at least four hundred acronyms. I am sure that the sector can devise a way to help us to learn all of these quickly.

How about your organisation?

So. (IMHO) maybe it's time to stop and think how we communicate. Perhaps , hopefully, for the benefit of the recipients of your outpourings. Otherwise acronym soup will remain hard to swallow. Just saying.