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It's probably not too different from the other statements, e.g.

"Shit, I'm really sorry, I'll get that done soon"

"Yeah, I'll talk to the other team and tell them to get their shit done"

"No problem, I'll tell Bill his shit's not that important, and I'll get this done"

(But, since it's Enron, there was probably an inordinate amount of just "Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit The books aren't adding up")

I have read in a few places that use of profanity signals affinity, and even used by some sales people to quickly build rapport with their leads. Same thing might be at play, subordinates trying to be chummy with their superiors.

Yeah, it's a nice middle-ground curse word. "Fuck" is a little too string, and "damn" just doesn't have the same light-heated sound to it. I'd guess "shit" usually is a bit self-deprecating too; as in, "shit, I completely forgot to do that!"

Even more puzzling to me is #7 "kitchen".

Meh, kitchen plays a big part in day-to-day office life, so I'm not surprised at all.

Maybe it's from infrequent food-related announcements for events, sent by office-assistant types and received by many people?

"Project Iota launched! Pizza in kitchen"