APS meeting buzzwords, dental floss at the hot desk, and what movies are spies watching right now?

Here they are, read them if you can bear it: "Pivoting to the positive", "dial up", "dial down", "fit for purpose", "lens on the conundrum", "is it a common ground piece", "recognition piece", "we need to agree on visibility", "crystallise principles", "loosen the reins", "enabling factors to be linked in", "reputation objective", "that's the lens we need to be looking through", "stay in the lane on the messaging", "we have to pivot".

Make sense? We hope it did to all those present.

Is there such a thing as too much dental hygiene? As one team in the public service found out recently, yes, there is. We hear one worker in Canberra raised some eyebrows when they left a dental floss pick at a hot desk. At least one colleague was not impressed, and shamed our conscientious flosser by posting a photo of it during a branch meeting.

The lesson? Put your dental instruments in the bin, or leave them at home. Please. We're grossed out just thinking about it.

Top spy chief Rachel Noble declassified some sensitive information last week at an event celebrating Australian Signals Directorate's 75 years in operation.

All the spies - and she means the many thousands within the Five Eyes alliance - are talking about one movie only apparently. The Colin Firth-led war drama, Operation Mincemeat.

"It's really a great movie, well-worth watching," Noble said. But for what it's worth, she personally prefers the 1992 Robert Redford spy thriller, Sneakers. The more you know, huh.

According to the Department of Finance, Labor's machinery of government changes are pretty much done and dusted. Except, anyone listening to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's National Press Club address last week would have heard him mention another federal entity, the Department of Widgets, in response to a question about the public service. "I've been somewhat surprised - because some of the detail isn't known until you're in government - that people who I knew, good professional public servants, were put off by the Department of Widgets, then re-employed as contractors being paid more than they were as the dep sec of the Department of Widgets," he said.

What is the DOW, a surprise new department created under Labor, this one number 17? No, by all evidence. And maybe it's for the best that a federal widgets department doesn't come to exist, given the public service's recent record in creating phone apps.

We've ticked past the $40 billion-mark in government contracts for this year. An impressive feat? We suppose. But what's most interesting is how those contracts were determined.

Of the nearly 50,000 contracts entered into, more than half were on a limited tender basis. That's right - just shy of $20 billion in government money was committed to suppliers who were approached directly by agencies.

Now, there's no doubt a large chunk of that was probably done for good reasons and in line with the rules. However, it's that smaller chunk we wonder about.

The salaries of department secretaries are often in the spotlight and on the receiving end of the public's ire. But what about their lesser-known agency head counterparts?

The Remuneration Tribunal's latest determination shows those chiefs are living comfortably too.

At the top of the list is the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chair, who receives a plum salary of $911,140. The Australian Public Service Commissioner is next in line on $845,650 while the chairs of the ACCC and ASIC along with the Office of the Special Investigator's director-general, the Solicitor-General, AFP Commissioner and Services Australia chief executive all get salaries in the $700,000s range.

See? It pays to rise to the top.

It could be a while yet before we see the end of EL1s, APS6s and other public service classifications. Despite the misgivings of the APS Hierarchy and Classification Review's report, public servants will also likely have numbers rather than meaningful job titles for some time.

The most ambitious recommendations of the review last month - including reducing the number of bands from 13 to eight - are on the backburner, although the public service is moving to make less sweeping changes, such as ramping up training for middle managers. Another idea, to create more space for well-paid specialists who don't manage staff, might also resonate in the longer-term.

Readers responded to the review's findings last week, urging the need for change.

Julie wrote in saying that training and expertise should be a focus: "Staff and managers should be allowed to specialise, that is when the best results are achieved ... More emphasis should be given to employing people for their expertise so I think the professional status should be reintroduced into the hierarchy to ensure the best decisions are made."

And Michael had this to say about the review recommendations: "A 'flatter structure'? Not sure, but flattery has always been the way to climb the structure."

We observed in last week's column that the public service's adoption of the puffer jacket has turned it into something of a uniform. But one reader's response reminds us it may not always be so ubiquitous. After all, fashion changes - even in the public service. Maybe change is on the way.

Ted weighed in on Canberra's puffer phenomenon, and it sounds like he's resisting: "Though I did think about it during the peak of the puffer jacket hype, I did not fall victim to the pack mentality (as I consider myself a trendsetter). I prefer a nice woollen peacoat, although I did buy a puffer for my wife, kids, mum and my dog."

Possible APS fashion tip for winter 2023: Puffers out, peacoats in.

Which buzzwords would you like dialled down at work meetings? Have you seen a colleague commit a hot desk hygiene faux pas at your workplace? What's your favourite spy flick - and which one is most faithful to the trade? And is it yea or nay on peacoats in the APS next year?

Email us at ps@canberratimes.com.au or send your tips and feedback through the form below.