Identifying leader makes for more effective meetings — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 6
A meeting leader’s role is to ensure that the discussion stays on track, that everyone participates, and that the outcome of the meeting is clarified...
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Setting ground rules makes for smoother meetings — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 5
Ground rules are especially important when people of different cultural backgrounds are meeting together…ground rules ensure that all the participants are on the same wavelength in terms of the way...
Setting the meeting agenda — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 4
An agenda clarifies the topic of the meeting, both broadly and specific points…Once an agenda has been created, the key thing is to actually use it during the meeting. ...
Deciding who should attend the meeting (who should be invited) — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 3
Businesspeople today are typically busy and the time that is taken up by attending a meeting could be used for other activities…it’s important to invite people based on their ability...
Clarifying the purpose of a meeting (why have a meeting?) — Cross-Cultural Meetings Part 2
A meeting is called, but the objective of the meeting is not specified. This leads to wasted time and frustration…think about whether a meeting is the best way to...
Nemawashi or Debate? — Cross-Cultural Meetings Part 1
For western countries, meetings are for resolving conflicts, reaching group decisions, and problem solving…In contrast, the Japanese view meetings as a place to confirm things that have already been decided,...
Japanese business culture – Being included
It is hard to overestimate this aspect of Japanese culture, particularly since it differs so completely from the experience of most Westerners. For a great many generations, the Japanese have...
Liens de loyauté selon le système sempai/kohai
La dynamique sempai/kohai (senior/junior) affecte profondément le fonctionnement des entreprises japonaises...
The various roles of Japanese expatriates
Many of the Japanese expatriates at my clients’ subsidiaries in the U.S. don’t have a clear idea of what their role is. Given vague titles like “Coordinator” or “Liaison”,...
Shanai shoshin – Promotion from within
The old practice of lifetime employment has started to fray at the edges…Yet, even while making greater use of flexible staffing, Japanese companies tend to maintain a “core” staff who...