Overcoming Jargons: Turning confusion into clarity

lorenaflorian0
Sep 1
4 min read

When working with a cross-functional teams, it is quite common for stakeholders to use terminologies that are native to their industry but unknown to others. These are jargons, and they are quite useful in reducing the need for the speaker to explain complex topics by using words that many people are familiar with. The downside? Not everyone knows every jargon, in addition to this, some people don’t feel comfortable in raising their hand for an explanation, as a result, people would try their best to understand what they “think” it means and base their work off this assumption.

It is because of this assumption project managers have to touch base with stakeholders again to clarify what they meant by “scope creep” or “project delivery” simply because there was a lack of clarity in their messaging. Worse yet, you may run into the risk of setting up the wrong expectations for clients and suffer the negative implications on the project.

With the rising increase of complex projects demanding the expertise of individuals from different departments, it becomes more alerting for the project manager to take into consideration about jargons and formulate methods to increase clarity in communication.

Why it matters

It is a sound temptation to use jargons to demonstrate all the knowledge accumulated in the academic and professional life. Yet it is crucial to respect the implications of using words other people may not be aware of. These implications include and are not limited to:

Misunderstanding of projects

Stakeholders that do not understand certain terminologies may have gap in knowledge with regards to the project and may pose the question later down the line or hand over deliverables that are not to up to expectations.

Waste of resource

Having to repeat yourself is not only exhausting, but also a waste of precious time. Having the need to explain yourself repeatedly over different stakeholders is taxing for both the speaker and the listener.

Assumptions and impact on reputation

Especially within a workplace in which the corporate culture is resistant to change, the use of project jargons would be a considered a threat to an already established practice which will be met with negative sentiments.

Risk of reduced confidence and alienation

Stakeholders that are unsure of the terminologies may feel excluded from the project and feel a reduced sense of ownership to the project. The excessive usage of terminologies that are difficult to grasp run the risk of reducing he confidence stakeholders have and reduce their input into projects.

By taking these issues into consideration, it becomes clear that jargons serve both as a convenient and challenging impact on projects. The following list are by no means exhaustive, but they can serve as a start in the consideration of overcoming project jargons.

Understand your audience

Before you could address this issue, it is first important to consider who your audience is. If you intend on communicating with those of similar discipline as you, it may not be necessary to address the issue when there isn’t any language barrier to begin. If, however, you have identified the stakeholder to be outside the discipline and may not be well informed of project management terminologies, then it would be necessary to acquaint yourself to the language of their industry.

Avoid using jargons and use simpler words

The usage of jargons poses a difficult problem to everyday people by adding a layer of difficulty in understanding. Because of this, a higher barrier of entry is imposed. The simplest and easiest solution to overcoming jargons is to simply never use them at all and substitute them with words that are more accessible so that there is a reduced issue with understanding your messaging. Now that you understand what they known and don’t know, you can select the words to substitute. Here are a few examples you may use.

Deliverable = finished end-product
Stakeholders = everyone impacted by the project
Sponsors = people funding the project
Scope creep = rise in cost/time

Define your terminologies

There are however certain terminologies that are difficult to convey in few words, that is where you may need to dedicate to defining your terminologies. By taking the time to explain each jargons, not only are you enriching the lives of everyone by informing them a terminology that they can use on in their future career, it additionally saves time by cutting down the need for substitution words in the future. Definition is not just limited to being verbal, using visuals is also a useful tool in communicating information to stakeholders in understanding complex concepts.

Usage of GenAI

An additional tool that you may use under your project management kit in overcoming project jargons is the usage of generative AI. Because most models are trained under different industry context, they possess information with regards to cross-functional teams that the common project manager do not have. They can recontextualise concepts such as translating law terminologies to that of finance (e.g. equity have different definition between the two discipline). They are generated with high accuracy and speed faster than what any human could making prompting a valuable asset.

Conclusion

Although the usage of jargons is a convenient means of communicating complex concepts, it also poses the issue of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Because of this, it is essential for project managers, especially those working in cross-functional teams, to take into consideration how their information is to be interpreted and how they can overcome these issues. With the rise of complex and interdependent projects, it becomes clear that the skill of communication will rise in demand and value, and the consideration of jargons is part of the broader skillset in communication in which us as project managers must develop.