The Old New Thing

Microspeak - The Old New Thing

Microspeak: Informing a product

December 14, 2010 Dec 14, 2010 12/14/10
Raymond Chen
Microspeak is not always about changing a word from a verb to a noun or changing a noun to a verb or even changing a noun into a verb and then back into a noun. Sometimes it's about data compression. This testing won't inform RC, but we'll need it to inform an RTM release. First, you need to familiarize yourself with a less-used sense of...

Microspeak: Take-away

November 30, 2010 Nov 30, 2010 11/30/10
Raymond Chen
At Microsoft, the take-away is the essential message of a presentation or the conclusion that you are expected to draw from a situation. It is something you are expected to remember when the whole thing is over, a piece of information you take away with you as you leave the room. XYZ demo take away (title of a document) The preferred ...

Microspeak: Sats

September 14, 2010 Sep 14, 2010 09/14/10
Raymond Chen
I introduced this Microspeak last year as part of a general entry about management-speak, but I'm giving it its own entry because it deserves some attention on its own. I just want to have creative control over how my audience can interact with me without resorting to complex hacking in a way that is easy to explain but ups our blogging ...

Microspeak: The funnel

August 18, 2010 Aug 18, 2010 08/18/10
Raymond Chen
In the Customer Service and Support part of Microsoft, you will often see the term funnel. Here are some citations: Effectively and efficiently solve issues by driving levers across the entire funnel. Putting the Fun in Funnel. Strengthening the front of the funnel. The funnel is a way of viewing customer support engagements. For some ...

Management-speak: Multi-perspective content

July 20, 2010 Jul 20, 2010 07/20/10
Raymond Chen
A colleague of mine visited an internal Web site for task ABC and found that the site was no longer there. Instead it was replaced with a simple message: Designed with the user in mind you will now find contextual ABC and DEF information served up in a secure format alongside all GHI information. Access to relevant multi-perspective ...

Microspeak: The statistic known as BIS

May 4, 2010 May 4, 2010 05/4/10
Raymond Chen
I learned this term from a chart presented at a team meeting. It contained a column labelled BIS. When asked what those letters meant, the team manager explained that it's an abbreviation for butts in seats. Everybody in the room instantly understood. It is the number of actual human beings sitting at desks doing work. When doing project ...

Microspeak: SQMmed

April 6, 2010 Apr 6, 2010 04/6/10
Raymond Chen
The letters SQM originally stood for Service Quality Monitoring, but that doesn't really answer the question, "What is SQM?" SQM is the internal code name for the technologies behind what is publically known as the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program. This is a voluntary program that customers can opt into, which gathers ...

Microspeak: Dialogue

March 2, 2010 Mar 2, 2010 03/2/10
Raymond Chen
Why have a conversation when you can dialogue? I think this is minimal work, but do others care? If they don't, then this is one for the ideas that failed bin. If they do, well let's dialogue... No need to talk when you can dialogue...