Digesting Acronym Alphabet Soup

When it comes to effective communication, I believe that less is more. With a clear, concise message, fewer words are misinterpreted. Less noise is easier to consume than more noise. You get it.

One notable exception is the use of acronyms. As acronyms proliferate an industry, an organization or a department, new sub-languages arise. We quickly reach a point where we need translators to decode the messages. Less is less. Communication SNAFUs result.  If you don’t know SNAFU’s translation, you should look it up before using it.

Case Study

The topic of acronyms came up at a recent event for Human Resources Executives. I chatted with the Vice President of Employee Relations for a large communications company.  He spoke of his work in “ER”. For the sake of clarity, there are three acronyms in play:

1. HR
2. VP
3. ER

While HR and VP are commonly understood in the corporate world, his use of the ER acronym led me to question it. If we were at a meeting of health orientated professionals, working in ER translates to a much different job environment.

I admit I was briefly confused. I shared my translation challenge with that Telcom ER VP. He acknowledged their organization has an ongoing challenge with acronym ambiguity. They have over 100,000 employees. They address this challenge with an internal website where employees can post and seek translations for their growing list of acronyms and company specific terms. It is a virtual English to Company dictionary. An internal decoder tool.

Digesting Acronym Laced Alphabet Soup

What do you do when you hear an acronym you don’t understand? When we hear or read a foreign term, do you ignore it or question it? Many of us ignore these lapses in communication and hope they go away. There are two popular motives:

1. It’s about me: You seek to avoid appearing ignorant or uninformed.
2. It’s about them: You avoid appearing rude by interrupting the other person. (see Should Interruptions be Pardoned?)

In either case, we defeat the purpose of communication: The effective exchange of information. If you’re not serving this purpose, why do it?

Blame Free Interactions

Communication participants need to take responsibility in your roles of both information sender and information receiver. When you take this responsibility seriously, sweeping your acronym ignorance under the rug is irresponsible. As a responsible listener, you fail in your role when you blame the sender for using foreign terms and avoid clarification. The idea exchange fails.

Citizen’s Arrest

I my industry-diverse practice, I regularly hear acronyms I don’t understand. I confess that I used to sweep my acronym ignorance under the rug by nodding without knowing. But I grew to realize that pleading ignorance is critical to overcoming it. I gradually gained enough self-assurance and courage to question foreign terms. Acronym questioning has become a habit and a skill for me. I’ve become a self-deputized acronym policeman. I regularly make citizen’s arrests.

Skillful Arrests

So, I believe that it’s OK to interrupt for the sake of clarification. But it is important that your intent is clear. Avoid any perception of police brutality. If your arrest is a veiled attempt to expose or demean the “sender”, you will shoot yourself in the foot. I am pleased to report that my inquiries are well received. People do respect you when you show the extra effort to understand.

Responsible Sending

How do you feel when two members of a group suddenly begin speaking in a foreign language so they can conduct a private discussion in your presence? Do you remember when your parents would spell words in front of you before you learned to read? How did you feel? Consider that feeling before using acronyms or jargon among others who are unable to translate.

To Serve and Protect

In public service announcements, we’re told to drink responsibility. As a service to yourself and others, I suggest that you communicate responsibly:

• Avoid using terms that could need translation by providing the translation instead of speaking in code.
• Ask for translation when needed

To serve and protect responsible communication everywhere, I invite you to join my Acronym Police Force. You are hereby deputized to make citizen’s arrests. Be part of he solution. If you’re arrested yourself, give the acronym police the respect and information that they deserve. And, be advised that calling this the APF is both a communication SNAFU and an arrest-able offense.