Officious

Conversational

amongst

among

appropriate

right

bring someone into the loop

tell someone what’s going on

fine-tuned

adjusted, changed, altered, fixed, amended, adapted, tailored, modified, tweaked

going forward

in future (in almost every case “going forward” can be deleted altogether without harming the sense of the sentence)

herewith

here’s or here is

is a driver for (as in “the market is a driver for companies to assess risk accurately”)

forces, compels, makes, encourages (or turn the sentence around and use the word “because”)

key

important, vital, essential, main, significant, weighty, momentous, far-reaching, crucial, urgent, serious, valuable, considerable – or just leave it out

make sure we’re all on the same page

make sure we all agree / know what’s going on

mitigate

improve, counter, counteract, alleviate, temper, reduce

myself

me

opportunities explored

options considered, alternatives weighed up, preferences chosen, decisions taken

perspective

point of view

please do not hesitate to contact me

I’m around tomorrow if you want to catch up / give me a call – or email – if you’d like to have a chat

please find attached

I have attached / the file I’ve attached shows…

progress (as a verb)

get going / sort out / deal with (or say what you will actually do)

reflect (as in “increased the director’s pay to reflect the excellent performance of the business”)

recognise, show, demonstrate, reveal, bear out, indicate, express (or, best of all, turn the sentence around and use the word “because”)

reflect (as in “members should reflect on whether…”)

decide (best because it requires something to happen as a result of the reflection), consider, make up one’s mind, make a decision, think about, deliberate, discuss

regarding / with regard to

about

scope (as in “a further review of the scope of the VAT exemption”)

extent, range, reach, span, ambit, breadth, limits, area

scope (as in “the scope of the work” or “outside of scope”)

remit, programme, task, job we were asked to do

scope (as in “there is scope for further acquisitions”)

possibility, prospect, potential, promise, capability, option, choice, opportunity, leeway, capacity, latitude (or change the sentence: “we could make further acquisitions”, “further acquisitions are possible”)

step change

transformation, revolution, renewal, reorganisation, metamorphosis

subject to

depending on / when / if / as long as

take forward

lead, develop, introduce, complete (or better still say what will actually be done)

whilst

while

within

in