214. Understand What Your Colleagues Say In Meetings: Master Business Expressions #5
Apr 17, 2024
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Discover common business expressions related to managing people and change. Learn to navigate disruptions with idiomatic phrases like 'to ruffle feathers' and 'let the dust settle'. Gain insights on maintaining stability during transitions and managing team dynamics effectively.
'Ruffling feathers' means causing annoyance or disruption in business meetings.
'Rocking the boat' refers to creating anxiety or imbalance within a company.
Deep dives
Expression 1: Ruffling Feathers
When businesses undergo changes with new staff that shake things up, they can end up ruffling feathers, causing disruption. The expression 'ruffling feathers' originates from bird behavior where moving their feathers irritates them. In this context, it signifies causing annoyance or disruption. An example sentence to use this expression could be, 'I don't want to ruffle any feathers.'
Expression 2: Rocking the Boat
In the business context, 'rocking the boat' refers to disrupting the balance or creating anxiety within a company. It draws parallels to a boat becoming unbalanced when rocked. The origin of the expression reflects instability and danger in a literal sense. A key sentence using this expression could be, 'I don't want to rock the boat.'
Expression 3: Letting the Dust Settle
When faced with significant changes or tensions, 'letting the dust settle' means allowing things to stabilize before taking further action. The analogy of dust settling after disturbance signifies calming down or stabilizing. It implies waiting for a situation to normalize. A possible sentence incorporating this expression is, 'I think we should let the dust settle.'
The world is changing so fast. Businesses and companies have to adapt all the time. A transformational programme here, a new strategy over here. There's a lot going on and it's a topic we talk about all the time. But, what expressions do you know about managing people and change?
Today we will cover 3 very common and useful business expressions related to people and change. This will avoid you getting lost in the middle of meetings when you have no idea what people are talking about.
After you have listened to the episode, you will u:
understand what each expression means - context and when we use it
Know the the origin - this tells a story and helps our brain to associate and learn the expression
One key sentence I recommend to try and use it.
This is the 5th in a series looking at business expressions, if you haven't listened to the other ones in the series, I highly recommend you go back and take a listen.