Corporate jargon starting with S

54 terms of corporate jargon starting with S, from SaaS to synergy. A stretch goal is a very hard target, and some personal news means I left my job.

Every term under S

S

SaaS: software you rent; Software as a service: software paid for by subscription and run online.
sabbatical: long break; An extended break from work, with your job kept.
sad desk lunch: lunch at your desk; Eating lunch at your desk while still working.
salary band: pay range; The pay range set for a role.
scalable: can grow; Able to grow without breaking or costing much more.
schedule TBD: hours unknown; Your working hours have not been decided yet.
scope creep: the job keeps growing; A project's work growing bit by bit beyond the plan.
scrum: agile method; A way of running work in short sprints with set meetings.
seagull manager: swoops in, squawks; A boss who appears only to criticize, then leaves.
self-starter: little training; Someone who will not need training, because there is none.
serial entrepreneur: keeps starting companies; Someone who has started several businesses.
servant leadership: boss who helps; A management style where the boss's job is supporting the team.
severance: leaving pay; Money paid to someone whose job is ended.
SGTM: fine by me; Sounds good to me: agreement in four letters.
share of voice: how much we're heard; A brand's share of all the advertising or talk in its market.
share of wallet: their spend with us; The part of a customer's spending in a category that goes to you.
ship it: release it; Release the work now, flaws and all.
side hustle: extra job; Work on the side for extra money.
sidebar: side conversation; A short private chat apart from the main meeting.
sign-on bonus: joining bonus; A one-off payment for accepting a job.
sincerely: formal goodbye; sincerely meaning
singing from the same hymn sheet: agreeing; Everyone saying the same thing, in public at least.
skip-level: meeting with boss's boss; A meeting with your manager's manager, without your manager.
skunkworks: secret side project; A small team working on something new, away from the usual rules.
SLA: promised response time; Service level agreement: a written promise about response times and uptime.
SMART goals: measurable goals; Goals meant to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
SMB: small business; Small and medium-sized business.
soft deadline: flexible date; A target date everyone knows can slip.
solopreneur: one-person business; Someone running a business alone, with a big title.
some personal news: I left my job; The opener for leaving a job, by choice or otherwise.
SOP: the procedure; Standard operating procedure: the written way to do a task.
soup to nuts: start to finish; Everything, from beginning to end.
SOW: the job spec; Statement of work: what a contractor will deliver, and when.
spidey sense: hunch; A hunch that something is about to go wrong.
sprint: two-week push; A short, fixed stretch of work in agile teams, often two weeks.
stack ranking: ranking staff; Ranking every employee against the others, best to worst.
stakeholder: anyone affected; Anyone a decision affects, or who can block it.
stand-up: daily check-in; A short daily team meeting, meant to be held standing.
stay in your lane: mind your job; Do your own work and stay out of others'.
stay interview: why are you still here; A talk with current staff about what would make them stay.
sticker shock: price surprise; A buyer's dismay on seeing the price.
straw man: rough first draft; A rough proposal put up to be argued with and improved.
streamline: simplify; Make a process simpler and faster; sometimes cut jobs.
stretch assignment: hard new task; A task beyond your current skills, given to help you grow.
stretch goal: very hard target; A target set beyond what is expected to be possible.
subject matter expert: the one who knows; subject matter expert meaning
Sunday scaries: dread before Monday; sunday scaries meaning
sunk cost: money already spent; Money spent that cannot come back, often used to justify spending more.
sunset: shut down; Phase out a product or service.
swag: free branded stuff; Branded freebies: pens, tote bags, water bottles.
swim lane: your area; The area of work each team is responsible for.
SWOT analysis: pros and cons grid; A four-box list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
sync: quick update meeting; A short update meeting, or the verb for holding one. Quick syncs are neither.
synergy: teamwork; The hope that two teams combined achieve more than both apart.

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