Browse everything

Everything the tools draw on, in one place: the acronyms, the jargon, and what people say versus what they mean.

Financebureaucracy 4/5
A-base
Permanent, ongoing funding that a department already has, as opposed to temporary money.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Acting
Temporarily doing a higher-level job, and being paid at that level while you do it.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Action this
Do something about this.
Financebureaucracy 5/5
Appropriation
Authority from Parliament to spend a set amount for a set purpose. 'Votes' are the categories within it.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Area of selection
Who is allowed to apply: by location, by organization, or by whether you already work in government.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
As per
According to.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Assignment
Temporarily working somewhere else while your home position is held for you.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
At arm's length
Deliberately kept independent, so a decision can't be influenced by the people it affects.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
At your earliest convenience
Soon, please.
Information Managementbureaucracy 3/5
ATIP request
A formal request from the public for records held by the organization, with legal deadlines attached.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Backfill
Filling a position temporarily while the usual person is away.
Workplacebureaucracy 2/5
Bandwidth
Time and attention available to take on more work.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Boil the ocean
Trying to do far too much at once.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Briefing note
A short structured document written to inform a decision-maker, usually to a fixed format.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Bring-forward
A reminder date set so something resurfaces when it's due.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Buy-in
Agreement and support from the people who matter to the decision.
Financebureaucracy 3/5
Carry-forward
A limited amount of unspent money allowed to move into the next fiscal year.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Casual
Short-term employment capped at a limited number of days per year, with fewer entitlements.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Central agency
The departments that coordinate and set rules for the rest of government, rather than delivering programs.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Circle back
Return to this topic later.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Classification
The group and level assigned to a position, which sets the pay range.
HR & Leavebureaucracy 3/5
Collective agreement
The negotiated contract between the employer and your bargaining agent, covering pay, leave and working conditions.
HR & Leavebureaucracy 3/5
Compressed work week
Working your normal hours over fewer days, so you get a day off on a cycle.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Conflict of interest
A situation where your private interests could improperly influence, or appear to influence, your official duties.
Financebureaucracy 2/5
Cost centre
The budget code that money comes out of, and the manager accountable for it.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Deck
A slide presentation.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Deep dive
A longer, more detailed session on one topic.
Financebureaucracy 4/5
Delegated authority
The formal permission a specific position holds to approve something, like spending money, signing a contract, or staffing a position, on behalf of the organization.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Deliverable
A specific thing that must be produced, that someone can point at.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Deployment
Moving to another position at the same level, without a competition.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Due diligence
Do the reasonable checks before deciding, and keep a record of them.
Workplacebureaucracy 3/5
Duty to accommodate
The employer's obligation to adjust work, tools or conditions so an employee can do their job, up to the point of undue hardship.
Generalbureaucracy 1/5
End of day (EOD)
Before the end of the working day, usually today.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Escalate
Raise something to a more senior level to get it resolved.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Essential qualifications
The requirements you must meet to be appointed. Assets are the nice-to-haves that may be used to narrow the field.
Financebureaucracy 5/5
Estimates
The documents through which Parliament is asked to approve government spending.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Evergreen
Kept continuously up to date rather than rewritten periodically.
Financebureaucracy 4/5
Financial signing authority
Permission to commit money (before a purchase) or to confirm goods and services were received (after).
Financebureaucracy 1/5
Fiscal year
The government's budget year, running from April to the end of March.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Flag
Point something out so it's on the record and on someone's radar.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
For decision
This item requires someone to decide something, as opposed to simply being told.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
For information
Presented so people know about it. No decision is being sought.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
For your awareness
You are being told this. No action is being requested.
Financebureaucracy 5/5
Frozen allotment
Money that exists in the budget but has been locked so it cannot be spent.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Going forward
From now on.
HR & Leavebureaucracy 4/5
Grievance
A formal complaint that something breached your collective agreement or terms of employment.
Workplacebureaucracy 1/5
Hard stop
I have to leave at a fixed time, no flexibility.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Heavy lift
A lot of work, more than it first appears.
ITbureaucracy 5/5
Horizontal enterprise capabilities
Shared systems, services or tools that more than one department can use, instead of each department building its own.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Imperative staffing
Imperative means you must already meet the language requirements on day one. Non-imperative means you can be appointed and meet them later.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
In the weeds
Too deep into detail for the audience or the moment.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Indeterminate
Permanent. No end date on your employment.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Language profile
Three letters describing the second-language ability a position requires: reading, writing, and speaking, in that order.
Financebureaucracy 3/5
Lapse
Money that was allocated but not spent by the end of the fiscal year, and is lost.
Information Managementbureaucracy 4/5
Legal hold
An instruction to stop deleting anything related to a matter, because it may be needed for a request, an investigation or litigation.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Lessons learned
A review after something finishes, to capture what worked and what didn't.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Letter of offer
The formal document setting out your appointment: position, level, salary, start date and conditions.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Level-set
Get everyone to a shared understanding before going further.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Leverage
Use.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Line department
A department that actually delivers programs and services, as opposed to a central agency.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Line of sight
Being able to see how a piece of work connects to a larger goal, or being able to see what's actually happening.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Lines
Pre-approved wording used when speaking publicly about a topic.
Workplacebureaucracy 2/5
Loop in
Add someone to a conversation. 'Close the loop' means come back and confirm it's finished.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Low-hanging fruit
The easiest improvements to make first.
Generalbureaucracy 5/5
Machinery of government
How government is structured: which department owns what, and how responsibilities are divided.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Milestone
A checkpoint with a date, used to track whether work is on schedule.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Mitigation
What you'll do to reduce a risk, or to soften it if it happens.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Move the needle
Make a difference big enough to actually measure.
Workplacebureaucracy 1/5
My plate is full
I have no capacity for anything else right now.
Securitybureaucracy 3/5
Need to know
Having a clearance isn't enough. You also have to need the information for your actual duties.
Financebureaucracy 3/5
O&M
Operating money, the budget for running things, as opposed to salaries or capital.
HR & Leavebureaucracy 2/5
Onboarding
Everything that has to happen for a new person to actually start: equipment, accounts, clearance, access.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
One-pager
A single page summarizing something for a busy reader.
Generalbureaucracy 5/5
Operationalize
Turn the plan into something that actually runs day to day.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Optics
How something will look to others, regardless of whether it's fine.
Workplacebureaucracy 1/5
Out of office
Away and not working, and your message should name who to contact instead.
HR & Leavebureaucracy 2/5
Overtime
Authorized work beyond your normal hours, compensated in pay or in time off.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Park it
Set this aside for now and come back to it later.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Parliamentary question
A formal written question from a parliamentarian that the government must answer, with hard deadlines.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Placemat
A single visual page laying out a whole initiative at a glance, usually for an executive audience.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Pool
A list of people who passed a process and can be appointed later without competing again.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Post-employment
Limits on what you can do after leaving, particularly dealing with your former department on behalf of someone else.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Priority entitlement
A right held by certain people to be appointed ahead of others when they meet the requirements.
Information Managementbureaucracy 4/5
Proactive disclosure
Information published routinely without anyone having to request it: travel and hospitality expenses, contracts, briefing note titles.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Probation
An initial period in a new appointment during which employment can be ended more easily.
Securitybureaucracy 3/5
Protected B
A sensitivity label for information that could cause serious injury to a person or organization if released.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Provide your comments for consideration
Send feedback. It will be read, but it may not change the outcome.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Question Period
The daily session where the government answers questions in the House of Commons, and the reason short-notice taskings appear.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Quick turnaround
A deadline much sooner than the work would normally take.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Readout
A short summary of what happened in a meeting, sent afterwards.
Information Managementbureaucracy 4/5
Record of decision
The written note capturing what a meeting actually decided, and who owns what next.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Recourse
The formal routes available to challenge a decision, and they normally have short deadlines.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Recuse
Removing yourself from a decision because you have a connection to it.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Red tape
Process that costs more than the risk it manages, as opposed to process that's doing a job.
Securitybureaucracy 3/5
Reliability status
The baseline security screening most public servants hold, allowing access to Protected information on a need-to-know basis.
Financebureaucracy 5/5
Reprofile
Formally moving planned spending from one year into a later one.
Workplacebureaucracy 3/5
Resourcing
Whether there are enough people and money to do the work.
Information Managementbureaucracy 4/5
Retention schedule
The rules for how long a type of record is kept before it's archived or destroyed.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Risk register
A list of things that could go wrong, how likely they are, and what's being done about each.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Roll out
Release something gradually, in stages, rather than all at once.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Sanity check
A quick review by someone else before committing to something.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Scope creep
Work quietly expanding beyond what was agreed, without more time or money.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Second language evaluation
The standardized tests that assign your reading, writing and oral levels in your second official language.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Secondment
Temporarily working for another organization, often outside your department.
Securitybureaucracy 3/5
Secret clearance
A higher level of screening required for access to Classified information.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Secretariat
The team that runs a committee: agendas, papers, minutes and follow-up.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Self-identification
Voluntarily telling the employer that you belong to a designated employment equity group.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Sign-off
Formal approval from whoever has the authority to give it.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Silo
Teams working separately on related things without talking to each other.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
SME
The person who actually knows how something works.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Socialize this
Share a draft with the people who will be affected or who have an opinion, and collect their reactions before it becomes final.
Procurementbureaucracy 4/5
Sole source
Buying from one supplier without competing the work, allowed only in specific, justified situations.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Sponsor
The senior person who backs an initiative and can clear obstacles for it.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Stakeholders
The people or groups affected by, or interested in, the decision.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Stand up
Create and start running something new: a team, a service, a process.
Staffingbureaucracy 4/5
Statement of merit criteria
The document listing everything a candidate is assessed against for a position.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Strategic alignment
The work supports the priorities the organization has already committed to.
Financebureaucracy 4/5
Subject to approval
This cannot go ahead until a specific approver says yes.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Substantive position
Your real, permanent job, the one you return to when a temporary assignment ends.
Financebureaucracy 4/5
Sunsetting
Funding with an expiry date. When it ends, the work stops unless new money is found.
Generalbureaucracy 5/5
Synergy
Two things working together produce more than they would separately.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Table
A standing committee at a particular level, named after the seniority of the people around it.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Table it
Ambiguous, and the ambiguity causes real confusion: in Canadian and British usage it usually means put it forward for discussion; in American usage it means postpone it.
Workplacebureaucracy 3/5
Take this offline
Discuss this separately, outside of this meeting.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Tasking
A formal request to produce something, usually with a deadline and a chain of approvals.
Financebureaucracy 5/5
TB submission
A formal document asking the Treasury Board for authority or funding, with a long internal approval chain before it's even sent.
Staffingbureaucracy 2/5
Term
A job with an end date.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Terms of reference
The document defining what a committee or group is for, who sits on it, and what it can decide.
Generalbureaucracy 2/5
Touch base
Have a short conversation to check in.
Information Managementbureaucracy 3/5
Transitory records
Material of no lasting business value (duplicates, rough drafts, routine messages) which can be deleted routinely.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Unpack
Go into more detail on something.
Generalbureaucracy 4/5
Where feasible
Do this if it is reasonably possible. It is expected, but not absolutely required in every case.
Generalbureaucracy 5/5
Whole-of-government
Involving many departments rather than one, usually with shared accountability.
Staffingbureaucracy 3/5
Work description
The official document describing your duties, used to decide your classification and pay level.
Generalbureaucracy 3/5
Working group
A group of staff doing the detailed work, below the level where decisions are taken.
Financebureaucracy 2/5
Year-end
The period before the end of March when spending and reporting deadlines all land at once.