Everyday Office Jargon · Vice President level

"In the trenches"

"In the trenches" means doing the demanding, hands-on day-to-day work of a project, as opposed to managing or strategizing from a distance.

Say this instead: doing the hard work

How "In the trenches" shows up at work

Used earnestly by people who want credit for rolling up their sleeves, and occasionally by managers describing their teams from a comfortable remove. The trenches rarely involve actual discomfort.

Buzzword

The implementation team has been In the trenches on this migration all week.

Plain English

The implementation team has been doing the hard, detailed work on this migration all week.

Corporate Rank: Vice President · Category: Everyday Office Jargon

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