Today's CultureQuiz: GERMANY!
Doing business in Europe means doing business, directly or indirectly, with Germany, the biggest economy on the continent. So, can you get all five of this week's German CultureQuiz questions right?
Germany’s central role in European economics, politics and social life means that most Germans are very familiar with the way non-Germans do business. But, as is the case with all aspects of life, the way countries behave, even in the workplace, is profoundly affected by their culture, and Germany is no exception. So no matter how familiar your German colleagues may have become with how you and your culture prefer to do business, the question you should ask yourself when working with German colleagues is how familiar are you with the way they prefer to do business? Those who understand the influence of German culture on German ways of working inevitably succeed far more frequently in Germany, and with far less difficulty, which also translates into far less cost. So go ahead and see how much YOU know about German business culture and choose the correct multiple choice answer for each of the following five German CultureQuiz questions! (The correct answers follow the quiz, so if you haven’t already subscribed, you can do so right here)
GERMANY CultureQuiz questions:
Your presentation seemed to be going well, as there were few questions or interruptions. At the end of your presentation, you invited questions, and one or two individuals responded. As you collected your notes, several people at the table then began to rap their knuckles against the table, making a surprisingly loud noise, and then the rest of the group joined in. Did you do something wrong?
a. Yes, the noise was a sign of disapproval because you should not have asked if there were any questions. Asking for questions implies that attendees did not understand your presentation, something Germans would not be inclined to admit.
b. No, you did nothing wrong because rapping knuckles against the tabletop is a non-verbal sign of thanks and appreciation for your efforts at the German meeting. Think “applause”.
c. Yes, the noise was a sign of disapproval because you should not have collected your notes at the end of your presentation. In Germany, there is an assistant to collect and organize any and all papers left on the table at the end of a meeting.
d. No, you did nothing wrong, because rapping knuckles against the tabletop is a non-verbal sign that your time is up, and you apparently completed your presentation within the allotted time.
You pointed out to Gunther, your German colleague, that you were still waiting for his response to a question you outlined for him in an earlier email.
“But I wrote that I needed the response by the 10th of March”, you point out.
“No you did not”, Gunther responds. “Your email states you need my response by the 3rd of October, not the 10th of March”, and Gunther points to your email where you wrote: “03/10/2023”. “Precisely”, you reply, “the 10th of March!”
“No”, Gunther reiterates, “this says the 3rd day of October!” What’s going on, you wonder?
a. In Germany, dates are written in a “day/month/year” format, not a “month/day/year” format. Next time, to avoid confusion, write out the name of the month, so that the number in the date, no matter where it appears, cannot be confused with the month.
b. Gunther is just trying to make a problem where it doesn’t exist; everyone in Germany knows that you write all dates in the “month/day/year” format.
c. Gunther is trying not to embarrass you by not calling attention to your greater error: not writing the date in the “year/month/day” format, the preferred way in Germany.
d. Gunther is trying not to embarrass you by not calling attention to your greater error: not writing the date in the “year/day/month” format, the preferred way in Germany.
Your host is introducing you to all the members of the team in Dresden. “And this is Herr Professor Doktor Carl Schmidt, our Director of Research”.
“What a pleasure, Carl, to finally meet you after all this time”, you respond warmly, and shake his hand firmly and vigorously several times. However, Carl seems a bit disappointed and perhaps somewhat perplexed at your behavior, and you wonder if you said something wrong.
a. Your greeting was just fine; your German colleague just needs some time to get to know you.
b. Your greeting was too informal: you should not have referred to him with his first name, as he was introduced to you with his title, which is precisely what you should have used in greeting him.
c. Your handshake was incorrect: in Germany, the handshake is typically one quick, firm “snap”, not many vigorous shakes, and it is typically accompanied with direct eye contact.
d. Both your informal greeting and your vigorous handshake were incorrect.
About to wrap-up your presentation, you announce to the group, “And, as a follow-up to my presentation, I thought you might appreciate an executive summary of my proposal, highlighting the important next-steps we should take”, and begin to distribute your outline to the attendees at the table. “Please feel free to review at your convenience and get back to me with any questions”, you add. However, as soon as you distribute the paper, everyone on the team begins to review it in depth, and pepper you with questions about data and research that apparently is missing in your summary. Why is this happening?
a. The “Executive Summary” typically does not contain the level of in-depth research needed in Germany for Germans to feel comfortable with the report’s conclusions. “Just-enough” information, or conclusions that have not been thoroughly reviewed or tested are typically rejected in Germany.
b. In Germany, practical, pragmatic proof for any conclusion or next-step actions needs to be provided, as evidence of multiple previous successes and failures, all of which need to be referenced.
c. Numbers, data, details, and evidence of past success need to be foremost in a proposal in Germany, not left as after-the-fact references.
d. All of the above.
Having been recently relocated to the Munich office, you wanted to make an impression on your German team of your dedication to doing a good job, and have spent numerous long days and weekends at your desk in the office. How surprised you were, therefore, to discover after several weeks that the “buzz” in the office about you was that there was some concern about your level of competency for the job, since you were needing to put in so much time at your desk in order to accomplish tasks that should have easily been accomplished within the time allotted to do them. Why would your German team feel this way?
a. Putting in “over-time” can be seen, especially if it is frequent, as a sign of disorganization, or poor thinking and planning. Germans typically do not frequently work over-time or on weekends or on holidays, and can find it odd - and perhaps challenging - if others need to in order to accomplish their tasks.
b. Your German team is just joking with you, as you are the new member. Take it in stride, and do not change your work habits.
c. Initiate a “Bruderschafftrinken” with the team, where you and the team can get together for drinks after-hours at a pub nearby. That usually re-sets team perceptions correctly.
d. “Ordnen”, or “putting things in order”, or more specifically, organizing, for the sake of efficiency, clarity and precision, is a central German cultural requirement, and your working outside the boundaries of the workday disturbed the expected order of things.
Easy? Hard? Neither? So, how many CultureQuiz Questions did you get right? Here are the answers below…
Here are your correct GERMANY CultureQuiz ANSWERS:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Dean Foster Global Cultures to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.