Formal business people like to maintain a degree of distance from their
colleagues and clients. They do this by using titles and qualifications and
addressing people by their surnames. They avoid jokes and colloquial language
and can come across as a bit stiff in business relationships. This is common
in cultures whose languages distinguish between the formal and informal
pronoun ‘you’, as does French (tu and vous) and German (Du and Sie), for
example.
Informal people, on the other hand, want to sweep aside anything that gets
in the way of business. They see titles, qualifications and surnames as an
unnecessary barrier to communication. A colloquial, even jokey, style is quite
common among such people, but they’re often perceived by more formal types
to be over-familiar and flippant. The British and North Americans use this
informal approach, as can the Dutch.
INFORMAL vs FORMAL
Gareth, a zippy, lippy 27-year-old accountant, was moving from south
London to Zurich. He wanted to rent an apartment from an elderly
German-speaking Swiss, an agent consultant called Heinz Jacob. They
negotiated in English, but Gareth noted that his colloquial, “Hi Heinz,
how’s it hanging?” street-smart style wasn’t getting the friendly
reaction that he was used to in London.
This wasn’t a problem until Gareth ran into legal difficulties.
Gradually, he got the message. He called Jacob one morning and
changed his approach. “Good morning, Herr Jacob,” he said. “Sorry
to take up your time, but I’ve got a problem with the documents that
I need to sign before I can transfer the deposit on the flat to your
account. I’m planning to fly over on Friday to deal with it.”
Jacob’s response? “Don’t worry. We’ll deal with it in January when
you move in.” Gareth was left wondering: what had prompted Jacob’s
cooperation? Was it that he had adopted a more respectful and, to
Jacob’s ears, a more professional tone? That’s the difference between
a formal and an informal approach, and an illustration of what can
go wrong and how to put it right.
THE WORLD’S BUSINESS CULTURES AND HOW TO UNLOCK THEM
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