Office workers irritated by 'management speak' "Thinking outside the box" - meaning to look at things differently - was voted the most annoying overused term, followed by the phrase "going forward" - meaning in the future - and then by "let's touch base" - used when the person wants to call, email or meet to discuss an issue. Charles Elvin, chief executive of the ILM, said: "When office-based teams work in close proximity for long periods of time, we see that seemingly trivial issues can grow disproportionately, if left unchecked, and begin to cause upset and resentment." Chrissie Mahler, founder of the Plain English Campaign, said that there is a serious side to the irritation and overused jargon could be holding British businesses back. "Management speak gets in the way," she said. It acts as a barrier to procuring new business. It does two things - it isolates newcomers who feel they have to learn the lingo when the should be made to feel at home, and it gets in the way of business and finds its way onto forms, leaflets and official documents. "It is downright dangerous, this country needs everything it can get at the moment, and the longer managers sit around like gnomes with their fishing rods in a pool of "blue sky thinking" the longer it is going to take." Instead of sitting in the office irritated by jargon people need to stand up and tell their bosses that they are not making any sense, Mrs Mahler added.