Top 10 Management Consulting Jargon Terms

Do you speak the management consulting world’s language? You would not be far removed from calling it a separate dialect of English, considering it has its own vocabulary and changes the use of verbs and nouns in some cases.

Don’t fret, though. The words can make some sense if you know where they come from, and we’ve made a list of 10 of our favorites:

Bandwidth – You have a certain amount of energy, of skills and time that you can bring to bear on a project. Bandwidth is an all-encompassing term that combines each aspect and sounds more professional than, “I don’t have the time nor the energy to do this.

Best Practices – Whether you’re talking about a business sector, your client company or in general, best practices are the methods and means that have the most benefit. However, be careful in using absolutes if you plan on trying a new method: it may become a best practice, but if you call it one it’s not true.

Close the Loop – In meetings, closing the loop means finishing an item on the agenda or a topic of discussion with everyone in agreement. It can also be used to describe an item still to be done.

Core Competencies – If you had 15 seconds to describe a company’s best attributes, you would come up with its core competencies. Many consultants assigned to struggling firms recommend focusing time and resources on these areas.

Leverage – Synonymous with use, leverage is a verb that may be frequently included in reports to give a sense of strength or careful thinking to the reassignment of resources. Should generally be added to documents when a management consultant feels that the task is BEST completed using the proposed method.

Ping – Taken from the computer and networking world, to ping someone means to contact them on a matter. Generally it is done with email, but the term can be used no matter the media.

Pushback – Pushback is any real or anticipated issues that might be raised by the executives at a client company concerning a consultant’s analysis or proposed solution.

Scope Creep – A management consultant is brought in to find out why a company’s new marketing strategy is affecting workplace productivity. Scope creep sets in when they find out that they’re also responsible for assisting on writing policies and other tasks not initially included in the project

Takeaway – The takeaway is the set of key points that the audience should understand by the end of a presentation or meeting. Management consultants who don’t ensure their clients get the “takeaway” may not be successful.

Wetware – The human element. It may refer to the minds of an organization, the human resources available to a company in general, or simply a consultant’s mind and thought process. Can be difficult to figure out which without context.

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