Punctuality Pays

(1)One of the cultural differences that tend to annoy Americans has to do with understanding of punctuality. Getting ahead at work starts withgetting to work on time!

Ifyou come from a culture that has a more relaxed view of time, you’re likely tobe surprised at how serious Americans are about time. While not all Americansare punctual all the time, the society as awhole operates on the basis of well-kept schedules. This is true in personaland community life as well as in the U.S. business culture.

Here’sa real-life story that happened to me recently. I had scheduled a business meeting with a team from India, but had somehow forgotten to log it into myagenda. (2)Arrivingat my office 30 minutes after the appointment, I got a voice message telling methe team was waiting for me in the meeting room. (3)Beingafraid that I had missed the appointment, I hurried in, and found them happilychatting together. Their attitude was “Ah! You’re here! We can startnow!”

Ifthe team had been American, it’s likely that they would have been annoyed, andunlikely that they would have waited more than 10 minutes — at the most. Theywould have left me a message asking to re-schedule the meeting. Why? BecauseAmerican-style appointments have a firm end as well as start time, and (4) if you start late you won’t be able to finishthe business at hand without running beyond the scheduled ending time.

If you’re new to working in the United States, doing business with the U.S., orworking for an American company overseas, here are a few tips for your everydaybehavior around appointments andpunctuality. They are sure to help you get ahead with your American colleagues.

• Schedule meetings and appointments in advance — a few days, a week, even a month inadvance.

• Always make appointments for in-person meetings. Don’t just show up and expect people to make time to talk with you.

• If you think you’re going to be more than a few minutes late for any appointment, call and let the other party know you’re running late.

• Plan your own time so that you can be punctual for appointments you have made. Avoid changingplans at the last minute.

                                                        守时有回报

         

     有一种常会惹恼守时的人的文化差异可能关系到对守时的不同理解。要想升职就要从准时上班做起！

      如果你来自一个对时间观念比较宽松的文化环境，那么守时的人人对待时间的认真态度就很可能使你感到惊讶。尽管不是所有的人都总是守时，但是社会整体上是在严格遵守时间的基础上运行的。无论在个人生活、社区生活还是守时的商业文化中都是如此。

       下面是最近发生在我身上的一个真实故事。我本来安排了和一个不怎么守时的团队进行商业会晤，可是不知怎么的，忘了把它记在我的日程表上。我到办公室时比约定的时间晚了30分钟，接到一个语音信息，说那个团队在会议室等我。由于害怕我已经错过了这次约会，我赶紧跑进会议室，却发现他们正在一起开心地聊天。他们的神态是在说：“啊呀，你来了！咱们现在可以开始了！”

         

        如果这是个守时的人的团队，他们很可能会生气，而且不可能等待十多分钟——这是最多的了。他们会给我留个口信，要求重新安排会谈时间。为什么？因为守时的约会安排有严格的结束时间和开始时间。如果你开始得晚了，不超出约定的结束时间你就不可能完成手头的业务。

        如果你对于在守时的公司工作，下面就你在约会和守时方面的日常行为提出了几项建议，它们一定能帮助你与美国同事愉快相处。

        要提前安排会议和约见时间——要提前几天，一周，甚至一个月。

        始终要对见面会谈约定好时间。不要突然出现还指望人家有时间和你交谈。

        如果你觉得约见有可能迟到几分钟，要打电话告知对方你会迟到。

        要计划好自己的时间，以保证能准时赴约。避免在最后时刻临时改变计划。