American Meetings

When asked to describe meetings in the USA, a word which Americans often use is aggressive. This confrontational approach, (where openly and directly debating all the relevant issues even at the expense of personal relationships is valued) is very alien to those cultures which always put diplomacy and harmony at the heart of their approach to meetings.

Of course, many cultures mistakenly see this direct approach between colleagues as a sign of bitter, personal animosity – which it always invariably is not. It is endemic in the American approach to communication in meetings and is seen as a positive step towards addressing whatever the vital and pressing issues might be. Time pressured, ambitious American business executives do not have time for the vagueness, diplomacy and lack of focus which they perceive as typifying meeting situations in such diverse cultures as the UK and Japan.

Meetings often include formal presentations by one or more of the participants and these presentations are a vital element in the demonstration of professional competence. Thus, presentations should not only be relevant and well researched but also delivered in a positive, enthusiastic and committed manner. The meeting and especially one in which a presentation has to be made, is seen as an opportunity to impress – important if personal success is to be achieved.

Meetings are increasingly virtual with one or more participants joining from a completely separate location by either conference call or video link. These meetings can often prove less successful than face-to-face meetings due to communication difficulties (especially if some participants are non-native English speakers) and it is possible that the right skill-sets are not always in place to make the most of these difficult meeting types.

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