Gainesville, FL \u2014 If employees are having to \u201ccircle back,\u201d \u201cladder up\u201d or look for \u201clow-hanging fruit,\u201d it might be hurting their morale, researchers say. <\/p>\n
A team from the University of Florida and George Washington University surveyed more than 1,800 participants who were given the scenario of starting a new job. Half the participants received jargon-filled emails regarding \u201cintranets\u201d and \u201cEFT\u201d payments. The other participants were sent emails with plain language.<\/p>\n
The participants who received the jargon-filled messages found it more difficult to process information and reported feeling insecure and less likely to ask for help. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t just make them feel bad about the information they\u2019ve been given,\u201d study co-author Olivia Bullock, assistant professor of advertising at UF, said in a press release, \u201cit makes them feel bad about themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n
Results also show that older participants reported more difficulty processing the jargon-filled emails but were more likely to ask for clarification. Younger participants were less likely to ask for or seek help. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou need people to be willing to collaborate, share ideas and look for more information if they don’t understand something at work,\u201d Bullock said. \u201cAnd jargon might actually be impeding that information flow across teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlways reduce jargon. The benefit of using jargon doesn\u2019t outweigh the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n