Forget the buzzwords: mind your (IT consulting) Language

What I mean to say is: Mind your buzzwordlittered jargoninfested language. Yikes. Too much? Well, let me tone it down a little.

Among the many things that irk me about dealing with consultants, the one that tops the list would probably be their penchant for buzzwords. Every industry has its own collection of buzzwords. They are carefully inserted into research papers and proposals, if only to lengthen sentences that could have been understood in half the word count and quarter the time. They are skillfully included in conversation and are so overused or misused that eventually, a carefully constructed sentence makes no sense at all.

There are two functions of consulting buzzwords as far as I can tell

1. To create a distinction between those who know w hat the business is about and the
   outsiders.

2. To sometimes act as a cover for when people who are in the consulting business don’t really know what they’re talking about but conveniently pretend like they do (us commoners call this the Style over Substance fallacy ).

And point no 2 is precisely why you need to be careful about not being bowled over by fancy buzzwords. Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with spouting some jargon every now and then, but you know when things are off if that’s all you’re hearing.

Source: comics.ganefee.de

Now consider this. You’re interviewing people to fill in a position for a software developer. Which of these candidates sound more appealing to you?

Candidate A has a resume filled with unnecessary buzzwords like pivot (or worse, adding value) and not much information on what his skillset is, or what his experience involves. Candidate B, on the other hand, has a simple, yet detailed description of her skills and the projects she has worked on in the past.

Do you really want to go with buzzwords over skill? Probably not.

This particular conclusion would hold well in the case of hiring an IT consulting company as well. I’ve seen websites and proposals covered in business jargon that fail to convey either of
the two things a consulting company should be conveying

1. What they’re attempting to sell.
2. What their process of development is

After all, stringing along buzzwords to make a sentence isn’t the most complicated task in the world. However, making an idea stick and in effect, sticking to what you promise to deliver? Now that’s an entirely different ballgame altogether.

Admittedly, as a consulting company, it can be sometimes difficult to explain what exactly it is, your business does. Considering the fact that services and products are becoming more and more complex by the minute, sometimes it’s just easier to cover up the complications with buzzwords.

There’s a reason why the elevator pitch exists. Prepare your elevator pitch (again, if you’ve done it before). Focus on the why, as opposed to the what. When you tell someone that you are the best in XYZ, explain why they should believe you are. If you can tell someone what is so great about what you do in so few words, it helps you prioritize. You get to know the finer details about what you’re offering and it aids you in viewing your business from a different perspective. And beyond all that, it’s a relief when people actually get to the point. Because, believe it or not, nobody wants to hear the same thing said ten times over. Get to the crux of what you have to offer and market the hell out of it.

It’s important to understand that simplicity is the key here. Using a bunch of awesome-sounding words is NOT the way to go if you want potential customers to actually understand things. If you build great software, you don’t have to hide behind a smokescreen of jargon. Just come right out and say things in the clearest way possible. Your customers and team will thank you for it.

Image: Ron Mader via Flickr.