Time is one of the most precious commodities in today’s modern world, however the value we give to time and how we manage our day by it is not universal. Many professionals working across cultures are surprised by how their international counterparts manage meetings, projects or other business activities. Different interpretations of being ‘on time’, the importance placed on deadlines and how people refer to the past, present or future are just some aspects of how time can be perceived differently across cultures.
Working effectively across cultures requires an awareness of different perceptions of time which will help to reduce the complexity of international business and put you in a better position to manage and harness cultural differences.
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There are so many components of time that need to be understood when working across cultures that it can become quite confusing. Dutch interculturalist Fons Trompenaars suggests a simple model which puts attitudes to time into two general categories: sequential and synchronic. With these terms Trompenaars attempts to describe how people around the world generally manage their time and how time impacts on their behaviour and mindset.
In sequential cultures Trompenaars argues that time is dealt with in a specific logical order. For example people from a sequential culture may prefer to have a detailed agenda for meetings and regular milestones throughout the life cycle of a project. They rely on this structure and can find a more flexible approach to time frustrating. Time tends to control and influence what people do in sequential cultures, and many will find value in the expression ‘time is money’.
People in synchronic cultures tend to manage their time quite differently than those from sequential cultures. In synchronic cultures people will have a much broader and more flexible perception of time. As such time is adaptable and allows much more freedom for tasks to be achieved. People from synchronic cultures don’t tend to be slaves to time but rather they use time as a guidance for how they structure their day and life. In synchronic cultures people will approach tasks in a much more open way and not be as beholden to deadlines and timeframes. Rescheduling a meeting at the last minute, showing up a few minutes after the meeting start time or missing an agreed deadline are all things they accept readily.
While this approach may frustrate those from a sequential culture, their more rigid and structured approach to time can seem inflexible and too strict to those from synchronic cultures. Here are a few additional different attitudes you may find in sequential and synchronic cultures.
As you read through the list ask yourself what you agree with the most. Then think about how someone with the opposite approach may perceive you.
| Sequential cultures | Synchronic cultures |
|---|---|
| People tend to do one thing at a time | People tend to do multiple things at a time |
| Times are precise and punctuality is valued | Times and deadlines are guidelines that people may intend to meet but won’t always |
| Time is limited – time is a resource that needs to be efficiently used | Time is a tool, a subjective, mouldable concept |
| Logic, efficiency and speed are the focus of business | Relationships are the focus of business and will improve efficiency |
| Tasks are sometimes secondary to time | Sticking to time is secondary to building relationships |
| Meeting deadlines is commended | Completing the task well is more important than meeting deadlines |
| The future is a continuation of the present | The future is interconnected with the past and present |
The importance that people give to time can vary dramatically. Working effectively across cultures requires the ability to not only identify different perceptions of time, but it also requires the skills to be able to manage business and relationships when attitudes to time are so drastically different. Attending a cross-cultural awareness course like Working Effectively across Cultures can give you an understanding of how cultures control time or let it control them, and how behaviours are therefore impacted.
Whether you see time as money, something to be controlled or something that will guide you from one point to another, think about the above attitudes to time you may find and be aware of how you may be perceived by your international counterparts when working across cultures.
© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011
