Business Sense with Culturally Based Time Conflicts

By understanding the way different people view time one can more easily understand why some people tend to treat time as a valuable asset while others seems to have no respect for time. The general consensus is that neither view as correct nor wrong; the solution can be found in the underlying culture driving the use of time.

The anthropologist Edward Hall in his book The Silent Language published 1959 defined two distinct cultural time orientations, the monochromic and the polychromic.

According to Hall, some cultures are traditionally monochronic. In these cultures, time is experienced as a linear function. People are expected to focus on one activity at a time. One of the cardinal sins in this culture is lateness or interruptions and it is not tolerate.

On the other hand, in polychronic cultures, time is believed to be of a cyclical nature. In these cultures, punctuality is completely irrelevant and it is not frowned upon if somebody that is busy with something or someone is interrupted.

The Monochronic Culture

Some cultures are traditionally monochronic. In such a culture, time is thought of as being linear. People are expected to do one thing at a time, and they will not tolerate lateness or interruptions.

Monochronic cultures focus on one-thing-at-a-time, following a linear form so familiar in the West. It is said to be a consequence of the industrial revolution where labour was short and production of goods were primarily driving the economy. Monochronic cultures stress a high degree of scheduling, and an elaborate code of behavior built around promptness in meeting obligations and appointments.

The Polychronic Culture

In polychronic cultures, time is thought of as being cyclical. In such cultures, it is not important to be punctual, and it is acceptable to interrupt someone who is busy.

Polychronic cultures are just the opposite: human relationships and interactions are valued over arbitrary schedules and appointments. Many things may occur at once (since many people are involved in everything), and interruptions are frequent. Polychronic cultures are involved in many-things-at-a-time. Polychronic-time is common in Mediterranean and Colonial-Iberian-Indian cultures.

If you live in the United States, Canada, or Northern Europe, you live in a monochronic culture. If you live in Latin America, the Arab part of the Middle East, or sub-Sahara Africa, you live in a polychronic culture.

Practical Business Implications

So what happens when a person from a monochronic culture visit a person from a polychronic culture in his office? The monochronic culture visitor arrives punctually. The polychronic culture host continues to take calls during the meeting. His family and friends may drop by. His subordinates and work colleagues walk into the office without knocking and interrupt the meeting for trivial issues. When the meeting ends he takes his guest out to lunch. The polychronic culture host invites along a number of friends. All this appears to be really disorganized to the monochronic culture visitor but appears normal to the polychronic culture host. They are used to doing many things at the same time.

On the other hand, when the Polychronic culture person comes to visit the monochronic culture host he turns up late. The monochronic culture host spends very little social time welcoming the visitor, he feels that enquiring about the family of the visitor is unprofessional and too personal for a business meeting, in any event he knows that the visitor is busy and do not want to keep him longer than necessary.

The monochronic culture host follows a strict agenda. The items on the agenda are strictly adhered to, he is of the opinion that it provides the visitor with a clear picture of what will be discussed and the sequence of discussion and will stick to the agenda religiously.

The polychronic visitor cannot understand why items are discussed for which the time is not right. He does not participate as he does not feel the desired outcome will be achieved if the discussion takes place at the current time, in any event, an agenda is only a guideline to remind participants about items that may be discussed should the time be right.

Conclusion

Many a business deal has gone wrong or never even got off the ground as a result of the difference in the way the parties to the deal perceives time. The person with a monochronic outlook may get upset if the person dealing with him does not concentrate on the issues at hand while the polychronic outlook person may be offended if the person dealing with him does not even take the time to greet him properly and spend sufficient time enquiring about those dear to him.

The question inevitably gets asked, what it the correct approach, the answer is none of the above. Each one of us should make sure we understand the other person's culture and be sensitive to their needs in this regard, then we may just have a chance of making friends and eventually business sustainable partners.

©Carl Marx