Using an acronym tool can be a valuable way to save time and improve communication in the workplace. An acronym is a shortened form of a phrase or word that is made up of the first letters of each word in the phrase. For example, the acronym “FAQ” stands for “frequently asked questions.”
Acronyms are often used in business and other professional settings as a way to save time and reduce the amount of text that needs to be written or spoken. They can also help improve communication by providing a shared language and terminology that can be understood by everyone in an organization.
There are many different acronym tools available, ranging from simple online dictionaries to more advanced software applications like Wonderus. These tools can help you quickly and easily create, manage, and use acronyms in your daily work.
Some benefits of using an acronym tool include:
- Time savings: By using acronyms, you can save time when writing or speaking by using fewer words to convey the same information. This can be especially useful when communicating with others who are familiar with the same acronyms.
- Consistency: An acronym tool can help ensure that acronyms are used consistently within an organization. This can help prevent confusion and misunderstandings and improve the clarity of communication.
- Accessibility: Acronym tools can provide quick and easy access to a wide range of acronyms, making it easier to find the right acronym for a given situation. This can be especially useful when dealing with complex or technical subjects.
- Collaboration: Many acronym tools also offer collaboration features, such as the ability to share acronyms with others or to vote on the best acronym to use in a given situation. This can help facilitate discussions and decision-making within a team.
Overall, using an acronym tool can be a valuable way to improve communication and efficiency in the workplace. By taking advantage of these tools, you can save time and improve the clarity of your communication with others.
Here are some common acronyms we have found that are often used in chat whether it be iMessage, SMS, Email, or an online Chat tool. I personally have to look some of these up again and again.
Recently we have introduced ContentPacks, so if you use Wonderus, you and your team will be able to look these up on the fly.
| Name | Shorthand | Description |
| Any Day Now | ADN | Waiting on someone |
| As Far as I know | AFAIK | As per someone’s knowledge. |
| Away from keyboard | AFK | Currently away from computer |
| Also known as | AKA, A.K.A. | used when someone has another name: James Brown, aka the “Godfather of Soul” |
| Action Point | AP | Something that needs to be done by someone, often as a result of a meeting |
| As Soon As Possible | ASAP | As fast as possible |
| At The Moment | ATM | right now, at the moment |
| Business to Business | B2B | A service or product that is created by a business for other businesses. |
| Business to Consumer | B2C | A service or product that is created by a business for consumers (non-businesses). |
| Back at keyboard | BAK | Okay, here I am. I’m back and ready to chat. |
| Business As Usual | BAU | An ongoing state of work, despite something that may have disturbed the workplace. |
| Blind Carbon Copy | BCC | Sending a copy of an email to someone without the original recipient knowing |
| Best friend at work | BFAW | Everyone needs a BFAW! |
| Business Process Management | BPM | Analysing business processes and identifying gaps and issues. |
| Be right back | BRB | Hold on, i’ll be right back |
| Be right there | BRT | I’m on my way |
| By The Way | BTW | Oh I should let you know that… |
| Bring your own computer / Device | BYOC, BYOD | |
| Customer to customer | C2C | |
| Capital Expenditure | CAPEX | The money that is spent on capital work, such as projects (once-off work). |
| Carbon Copy | CC | Sending a copy of an email to someone else |
| Content Management System | CMS | A system used to store and display content (text, images, etc) for users to view. |
| Close of Business | COB | The end of a working day. Often used in deadlines, e.g. “COB Thursday” |
| Curriculum Vitae | CV | An alternative to a resume, preferred in many parts of the world. |
| Calendar Year | CY | The period from Jan 1 to Dec 31, often used in planning. |
| See ya | CYA | |
| Dollar based net retention | DBNR | What is a good Net Dollar Retention rate? In fact, any NDR rate over 120% is great but 135% is considered excellent. Businesses may track NDR to help them reach hypergrowth, gain success in private equity partnerships, and/or release initial public offerings (IPOs). |
| Do it yourself | DIY | |
| Direct message | DM | Private message so the group doesn’t have to see the thread. |
| Do not disturb | DND | Currently not responding to messagse. |
| Data Warehouse | DW | A database used for business intelligence and reporting. |
| Employee Assistance Program | EAP | A service offered by employers to assist their employees with issues. |
| End of Day | EOD | The end of a working day. Often used in deadlines, e.g. “EOD Tuesday” |
| End of Message | EOM | Indicates the end of a message |
| Enterprise Resource Planning | ERP | The process of organising and planning resources for projects and company operations. |
| Estimated Time of Arrival | ETA | An estimate on the time that something will be finished by. |
| Face to face | F2F | |
| Fear of Missing Out | FOMO | It happens to everyone. |
| Fear of the office | FOTO | Working from home has made it hard to return to the office. |
| Full Time | FT | Someone who works a standard week of working hours. |
| Full Time Employees, or Full Time Equivalent | FTE | A full time employee. Often used in resource planning. |
| Fixed that for you | FTFY | It is appended to a quotation that has been modified to include a correction. |
| For the win | FTW | To express approval or support. |
| Forward | FWD | |
| For What It’s Worth | FWIW | |
| Financial Year, or Fiscal Year | FY | The financial year used for the company. Varies by country and company. |
| For Your Information | FYI | Used to notify someone of some information |
| How About You | HBU | General friendly conversation |
| Human Resources | HR | The company department responsible for employee issues and services. |
| Information and Communication Technology | ICT | The employment sector that software developers work in. |
| In case you missed it | ICYMI | To point in the direction of something interesting or enlightening that’s available for your perusal online. |
| I Don’t Know | IDK | |
| I Don’t Remember | IDR | |
| I Don’t Really Remember | IDRM | |
| If I recall correctly | IIRC | |
| I Know Right | IKR | Affirming a previous statement. |
| Instant message | IM | |
| In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) or In My Oponion (IMO) | IMHO, IMO | |
| In Real Life | IRL | As opposed to being online |
| Information Technology | IT | The company department responsible for computers and networking. |
| Information Technology Infrastructure Library | ITIL | A set of practices used in service management for IT. |
| Just in case | JIC | |
| Key opinion leader | KOL | |
| Key Performance Indicators | KPI | A set of metrics or numbers used by a company to measure its success. |
| Let Me Know | LMK | |
| Leave Without Pay | LWOP | Taking time off work without being paid. Alternative to annual leave. |
| Management | MGMT | |
| Month on Month | MoM | A report that compares one month to the previous month. |
| Minutes of Meeting | MOM | A list of topics that were discussed in a meeting |
| Message | MSG | |
| Not Applicable or Not Available | N/A | Indicates that something does not apply. |
| No Big Deal | NBD | |
| Non-Disclosure Agreement | NDA | An agreement signed by someone to keep the contents confidential. Often used on private projects. |
| No problem | NP | |
| Not safe/suitable for work | NSFW | |
| Nevermind | NVM | |
| Original Equipment Manufacturer | OEM | A company that manufactures equipment for users. |
| Out Of The Office | OOO | Maybe PTO, Sick-Time or just not in the office at the moment. |
| Operational Expenditure | OPEX | The money that is spent on operational work, such as support and management (ongoing work) |
| On The Other Hand | OTOH | |
| Please Find Attached | PFA | Indicates that a file has been attached |
| Personal identification number | PIN | |
| Point Of View | POV | |
| Public service announcement | PSA | |
| Part Time | PT | Someone who works less than a standard week (e.g. 2 or 3 days per week) |
| please take another look | PTAL | |
| Personal/Paid time off | PTO | |
| Quality control | QC | |
| Quote Retweet | Qrt | To share someone’s message, deriving from Twitter |
| Rapid Application Development | RAD | A software development methodology |
| Request For Proposal | RFP | A request that a company sends to a vendor to make a proposal for some work |
| Request For Quote | RFQ | A request that a company sends to a vendor to make a quote for some work |
| Return On Investment | ROI | The result that a company or a person gets on money that has been invested |
| Search Engine Marketing | SEM | The process of promoting a company or service on search engines |
| Search Engine Optimisation | SEO | The process of optimising a website to be found by search engines |
| Stock Keeping Unit | SKU | A single item that can be tracked by a stock management system |
| Sick Leave | SL | Taking time away from work for health reasons |
| Service Level Agreement | SLA | An agreement between a company and a service provider. Often used in application support to refer to timeframes for resolution |
| Small to midsize business | SMB | |
| Subject Matter Expert | SME | An employee that knows an area of the business quite well |
| Shaking my head | Smh | |
| Short message service (text message) | SMS | |
| Standard Operating Environment | SOE | The default computer configuration (software, hardware) for employees to use |
| Standard Operating Procedure | SOP | The standard process for getting something done |
| Terms and conditions | T&C | |
| To Be Advised, or To Be Announced | TBA | The details will be provided at a later date |
| To Be Confirmed | TBC | The details will be provided at a later date |
| To Be Determined | TBD | The details will be provided at a later date |
| To Be Honest | TBH | Let’s be real for a second. |
| Time In Lieu | TIL | Taking time off as repayment for working extra hours at an earlier point |
| Too Long, Didn’t Read | TL;DR | I need the quick summary |
| Three Letter Acronym | TLA | An abbreviation of something that is three letters long |
| Too Much Information | TMI | More information than you should have disclosed. |
| Thank you so much | TYSM | |
| Take your time | TYT | |
| Very important person | VIP | |
| Without | W/O | |
| What do you mean | WDYM | |
| Working From Home | WFH | An employee that performs their work from home, instead of coming in to the office |
| Work in progress | WIP | This work isn’t finished, it’s in beta. |
| Week on Week | WoW | A report that compares one week to the previous week |
| With Respect To/With Regards To | WRT | Referring to another topic that was mentioned |
| What You See Is What You Get | WYSIWYG | A process of creating a design of software where the design matches the output |
| Year On Year | YoY | A report that compares one year to the previous year |
| You There | YT | Hey, are you around? |
| Year To Date | YTD | The time period from the start of the beginning of the year and the current (present) date. |