CRA Inc

4 May 04 @ 12:46 am

Time And Culture

When advising clients in how to deal with cross-cultural communication issues, one item we consistently return to is the matter of time. Cross-cultural communication research demonstrates that cultures vary in how they interpret and think about time, and that these differences influence message interpretation. Specifically, some cultures are “monochronic” and others are “polychronic.” Monochronic cultures are “one thing at a time” cultures. People in monochronic cultures tend to:

* Think of time as something tangible, like a road down which we journey, or something which we “spend”
* Segment time
* Dislike interruptions
* Believe the task—and its completion–comes first
* Focus on fewer relationships
* Not change set plans—even if it might improve the quality of the process

The United States, Northern Europe / Scandinavia, and Germany are examples of monochronic cultures. Polychronic cultures, on the other hand, are “many things at once” cultures. People in polychronic cultures tend to:

* Think of time is a single point, and not as something tangible (like a road) or quantifiable (like an asset we can spend)
* Involve many people when completing a task
* Focus on completing transactions over holding to schedules
* Believe relationships come first
* Change plans easily—especially if they believe it will improve the quality of the process

The Mediterranean nations, Latin America, and parts of Africa are examples of polychronic cultures.

Why does it matter? Because how cultures think about time directly influences how they think about, practice, and interpret communication. In very broad strokes, polychronic cultures can see monochronic cultures as very aggressive and even pushy when dealing with time-based topics and messages, while monochronic cultures can see polychronic cultures as passive, disorganized, or unconcerned when dealing with similar messages.

As an example, people from monochronic and polychronic cultures will often draw very different meanings from something as simple as a deadline. While a monochronic individual may see a deadline as a firm boundary by which all leading tasks must be accomplished, a polychronic individual may see a deadline as a milestone to which the process should be managed, but not beholden … if he or she can improve the quality of the task or the process by changing schedules or involving more people, so be it.

What to do about it? First of all, as you define the context in a situation, consider the matter of time and culture. If your counterparty is from a culture that views time differently than yours, take an audience-centered approach try to “converge” on the matter of time: adopt an interpretive stance that favors the view of your audience, rather than presuming they should adopt your own.

Second, and on a very tactical level, be very specific with counterparties from other cultures about what expectations you have related to time-based messages. And if those expectations are consistently not met, then you should confront the issue and have the conversation about time, working to create a set of shared expectations that both you and your counterparties can work from when working together.

posted in category(s): Theory Points