Danish Business Meeting Etiquette

Danes tend to have lots of meetings and often complain that they are too long.

Meetings can be used as information exchanges, discussion forums or decision-making events and it is important that all participants are made aware of the emphasis of the meeting in advance in order to allow the appropriate level of preparation to be undertaken. Although thorough empirical preparation for meetings is seen as essential, pre-meeting lobbying can be seen as underhand and Machiavellian.

Meetings tend to follow a pre-determined agenda, which is nearly always adhered to. Although not as zealous as their neighbours (the Swedes), punctuality is definitely a virtue and meetings will begin and end on time.

Due to the consensus-orientation of the Danes, meetings can seem to be overly discursive to cultures more used to a command and control approach from management. Everybody is expected to speak and everybody is (ostensibly) listened to.

Debate can be very direct but is rarely confrontational – confrontation being seen as unhelpful in the consensus-building process. Attendees tend to speak one at a time and often seek permission from the meeting leader before speaking. Interrupting somebody who is speaking and overt signs of emotion are seen as poor meeting etiquette and would be frowned upon.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture.  Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Australia only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Denmark only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.