| C-level [adj.] | Describes the people at the top of a company that get fancy 'C' titles such as C.E.O., C.F.O., C.O.O. |
| Cabinet condom [n.] | Tape applied to the button of a filing cabinet to prevent it from being locked (since the key has long since disappeared.) |
| Cafeteria plan [n.] | A package of benefits that allows the employee to make choices. |
| Call on the carpet [v.] | To discipline. |
| Can I stir fry an idea in your think-wok? [exp.] | Could I have your opinion on this issue?
Credited to David A. |
| Cannibalize [v.] | To launch a new product that takes market share away from one's own established products.
Thanks to Dwayne S. for the correction. |
| Capsizing [v.] | Laying-off employees (downsizing) to the point where an organization can no longer function. |
| Career Limiting Move (CLM) [n.] | An action or comment that could hinder the future progression of one's career. |
| Career suicide [n.] | An action that causes you to lose both your current job, and any chance you'll find another one in your field. "If you blow the whistle on this operation, it'll be career suicide." |
| Carpool tunnel syndrome [n.] | The semi-conscious state that is the result of repeated early morning ride sharing. |
| Carrots and sticks [n.] | Incentives. "If we're going to make this sale, we need a few more carrots and sticks." |
| Carte blanche [exp.] | The freedom to make any and all decisions. |
| CFO [n.] | Chief Finagle Officer. The person who's responsible for manipulating a company's finances to avoid legal penalties. |
| Chainsaw consultant [n.] | An individual brought in to do management's dirty work at lay-off time. |
| Change agent [n.] | A clever title for a consultant (or employee) who sees himself as a catalyst for improvement. Often involves encouraging the adoption of new technologies. |
| Change management [v.] | The act of guiding a company through internal or external changes.
Submitted by Clive N. |
| Charm school [n.] | A derogatory term for new manager training. "After the harassment case, my boss was shipped off to charm school." |
| Chartists [n.] | Market analysts who have made a career of graphing financial data. |
| Chasing down smokestacks [exp.] | Placing sales calls to industrial companies. |
| Cheese chew [v.] | Performing an unwelcome chore to please another.
Submitted by Rob T. |
| Chicken shop [n.] | A department or company that produces substandard work. "Their parts had a 20% scrap rate last quarter. I'm never dealing with that chicken shop again."
Submitted by Rod SW. |
| Chinese wall [exp.] | Procedures to guard information. |
| Circle-back [v.] | Revisiting an issue after it has been addressed. Using this one habitually could lead you to say something like, "I'm heading to lunch now, but we'll circle-back later."
Submitted by Randi. |
| Circular file [n.] | The garbage can. "Toss that company newsletter in the circular file for me." |
| Cleans up well [adj.] | Describes a technician or software developer who can actually speak with the customer without embarrassing the company. |
| Clocksucker [n.] | A completely unproductive employee; a waste of company money.
Submitted by Lee. |
| Close of play [n.] | The deadline for the submission of an order or application, as spoken in parts of the world where cricket lingo and business jargon are equally familiar.
Suggested by Bill F. |
| COB [n.] | Close Of Business. That magic moment that comes but once each day -- quitting time.
Submitted by our spies at a Fortune 100. |
| Column-shaking [v.] | Threatening to uproot the traditions (or bad habits) of a company, usually with new and unconventional ideas. |
| Come to Jesus meeting [n.] | A term of American (specifically southern) evangelical origin that refers to a serious meeting with an individual or team. These meetings often involve ultimatums for performance improvement.
Submitted by aclassicgirl. |
| Commonplate [v.] | To present a topic for consideration, so that all members of a group have the same information (ostensibly, as if everyone were eating from a 'common plate'). "Now that I've commonplated the issue, can we come to a reasonable decision?" |
| Community property [n.] | The shared assets of a married couple. |
| Comp [adj.] | The cool way to say complimentary. |
| Contrarian [n.] | An investor who makes decisions in opposition to mainstream ideas. |
| Cook the books [v.] | A fraudulent attempt to falsify company records. |
| Cookie-cutter [adj.] | A generic person, product or approach. "I'm so tired of these cookie-cutter business grads. When are we going to find someone with a brain in their head?" |
| Cooperative competition [n.] | A classic management oxymoron presumably referring to mutual benefits experienced by two competing firms. |
| Coopetition [n.] | The ruthless struggle between an organization's departments for limited budget dollars, staff and equipment, despite the fact that everyone involved should be supporting the overall mission. Symptoms include the hoarding of copy paper, conference room time-slots, and the IT guy.
Suggested by Aidan. |
| Core competencies [n.] | A company's most successful skills and activities. Often leveraged. |
| Cost containment [n.] | An attempt to reduce expenditures. |
| Counterposing [v.] | When ground-level staff outwit management by using more jargon, more pointless questions, and more vague commitments than their superiors.
Submitted by Captn Freedom. |
| Covered-off [adj.] | Describes something that has been completed or otherwise taken care of. "Let's make sure those requirements are covered-off."
Submitted by Garry. |
| Cowboy [n.] | A worker that is difficult to supervise. |
| CPB [v.] | Conducting Personal Business. Using company resources and time for things that aren't work-related (there's a good chance you're doing it right now). |
| CPS [n.] | Cheap Plastic S***. Promotional items (often made of plastic) distributed through advertising, corporate gifts, trade shows, or other give-away programs.
Submitted by Jocelyn S. |
| Critical mass [n.] | 1) The point reached by a new idea or product just prior to explosive market growth.
2) The point when an issue can no longer be avoided and must be addressed immediately. |
| Criticality [n.] | An extreme level of importance. Whatever your colleague meant, there's a good chance she's not talking about a nuclear accident. "I cannot emphasize the criticality of this issue enough."
Submitted by Shane H. |
| Cronyism [n.] | Playing favourites among close associates. |
| Cross sabers [v.] | To have a conflict. |
| Cross-pollination [n.] | The generation of ideas that can occur when individuals from diverse backgrounds are brought together. "By removing your cubicle walls, we hope to cultivate the opportunity for cross-pollination." |
| Cross-training [v.] | Learning a colleague's job so you can perform it, in addition to your own, when they disappear during vacation, maternity leave, or the latest round of layoffs.
Submitted by Isabella. |
| Cubicle vultures [n.] | Those who gather office supplies from the desk of a fired co-woker. |
| Cut the mustard [exp.] | To perform adequately. |
| CYA [v.] | Cover Your Ass. To exercise caution to avoid blame. "You better CYA on this one. We can't afford the bad press." |
| Cybernate [v.] | To control via a computer. |
| Cyberslacking [v.] | Wasting company time by casually browsing the Internet or instant messaging.
Submitted by Mike. |
| Cycle [n.] | An employee's time, broken down into sections. "I'll have to check if she has any available cycles for this task."
Submitted by Renee. |
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