Russian Meetings

Russian Meetings

As might be expected in a country where managers are autocratic in style, meetings are often for the purpose of information dissemination, rather than for the open debate of current business issues.

Formal meetings are often held to ratify decisions which have been made elsewhere and to give clear instruction on key tasks to be performed.

Any open debate on the issues in hand will have been undertaken elsewhere in either one-to-one meetings or in smaller groups. It is in these background meetings where much of the real debate is undertaken. Without access to these meetings, it can be very difficult to influence the flow of events and it is only through cultivating very close relationships that an outsider will ever be invited into these inner cabals.

Formal meetings tend to be very structural and serious. The dour image associated with many Russian negotiators stems from the belief that a formal meeting is a serious affair and should be treated accordingly. Humour is seldom used in such serious situations.

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 Russia only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.