日本人最擅長開會？揭祕不同國家的會議文化

If you want to get your point across in a meeting in Finland, keep quiet; and let your counterparts deliberate. Of course, that won't work at all in, say, Canada.
在芬蘭，如果你想在會議上讓別人明白你的觀點，就要學會安靜，讓對方思考一下。當然在加拿大，這個方法卻一點兒也不適用。

As more of us do business across cultures and far-flung offices, every meeting can feel like a riddle. What do the long silences, idle chitchat and serious faces really mean in context?
現在，更多人把生意擴展到不同的文化地域，辦公室遍佈世界各地，每次開會都感覺像是一個謎。長時間的沉默、漫無目的的閒聊、認真嚴肅的表情在不同語境中究竟意味着什麼呢?

It's best to prepare ahead of time so you can quickly zero in on cultural quirks before you head to the meeting table. Here are five rules of thumb for different countries to make navigating your next international meeting a little less nerve-wracking.
走向會議桌之前，你最好提前準備一下，才能很快明白不同文化的特殊習慣。這裏列舉出了五個針對不同國家的經驗法則爲你保駕護航，下一次開國際會議就不會再這麼傷腦筋。

Stick to the schedule
嚴格遵守時間表

Where: Germany, Austria, Japan
國家：德國，奧地利，日本

We've all been to meetings that have a loose agenda, if any at all. They don't start on time and they seem to repeat as stragglers wander in. Not so in these countries. Japanese users of , an online meeting platform, are more likely to create a detailed agenda and pass out supporting documents several days prior to a meeting than meeting goers in any other country, according to founder Jason Shah.
我們開過會的人應該都參加過時間規劃鬆散的會議。開會時間不準時，遲到的人進來，還要重複一遍之前的話。但在這些國家就不是這樣。在線會議平臺網站的創始人傑森•沙阿說，利用他們的平臺，日本人比其它國家的會議組織者更傾向於創建詳細的會議日程，開會前幾天就把輔助文件分發出去。

"People [in Japan] are cognisant of how much time remains and don't go over," said Shah. It's expected that you'll understand the written materials ahead of the meeting. If a meticulously planned meeting runs over the allotted time, the gathering might be deemed uNPRoductive, he adds. Ultimately, it can lead to a negative outcome because participants may be seen as inefficient.
沙阿說，“日本人能夠意識到還剩多少時間，並且不會重複已經說過的話。”他還說，你應該開會之前就對書面材料有所瞭解。如果精心規劃的會議超出了預定時間，那麼他們就會認爲這次會議是低效的。最終可能會導致不好的結果，因爲管理者可能會認爲與會者沒有效率。

Germans and Austrians have a similar sentiment, said Stuart Friedman, founder of Global Context, a cross-cultural communication firm based in Redwood City, California in the US. In the US, a well-planned gathering that exceeds its scheduled time might signal great interest or excitement over the topic, but meetings that run long in Germany are often taken to mean that the parties are not communicating efficiently, he said.
位於美國加利福尼亞雷德伍德城的“全球語境”是一家跨文化交流公司，其創始人斯圖爾特•弗裏德曼說，德國人和奧地利人與日本人觀念相似。在美國，如果一次精心準備的會議超出了既定時間，可能說明人們對會議話題很感興趣、很有激情。但是在德國，這樣的會議通常意味着與會各方交流不暢。Don't even think about a brainstorm
頭腦風暴？想都別想

Where: China, Malaysia, Singapore
國家：中國，馬來西亞，新加坡

Backtracking or debating a topic can go against the traditional Chinese concept of "saving face", which is meant to avoid any mistakes or actions that could bring embarrassment. Laughing at even an obviously amusing answer, pointing out a potential mistake or even being too straightforward in an answer can derail the entire meeting.
試圖改變或爭論議題不符合中國傳統的“留面子”理念，“留面子”就是指他們會避免任何錯誤或可能引起尷尬的行爲。聽到一個明顯可笑的回答而發笑、指出潛在的錯誤，甚至回答得太直接，都會打亂整個會議。

Meetings in a number of Asian countries typically have a desired outcome, without much room for taking a new direction. Knowing the meeting's outcome saves participants from any confrontation or debates, but can be an odd experience for westerners.
很多亞洲國家的會議一般都有一個預期的結果，沒有太多改變方向的空間。與會者已經知道了會議結果，就不會再爭論或起衝突，但西方人會覺得這樣非常奇怪。

"Some people will fly to attend a meeting that they hope to be a brainstorming session, but [in China] brainstorming doesn't take place in meetings," Friedman explained.
弗裏德曼解釋說：“一些人本以爲他們飛去參加的是一個頭腦風暴會議，但是（在中國）會議中並沒有頭腦風暴。”Savour the interruptions
應對干擾

Where: Italy, France, Spain
國家：意大利，法國，西班牙

When Pascal Soboll meets with clients in Italy or Spain, he's no longer offended if they duck out early or arrive late. Rather than attend the entire three-hour meeting, the managing director at innovation and design firm Daylight Design, has learned that his counterparts there — and in some parts of France — attend based on their own timetable.
如果創新設計公司“日光設計”總經理斯卡爾•索伯爾會見意大利或西班牙的客戶，他就不會再因爲他們遲到或早退而生氣了。因爲他已經認識到，他在意大利、西班牙和法國一些地方的生意夥伴們是遵照自己的時間表參加會議的，而不是開完整整三個小時的會。

"People change their schedules very spontaneously," said Soboll. "They tend to come and go."
索伯爾說：“他們會隨意更改行程，他們一般都是想來就來想走就走。”

For Soboll that means tweaking his own German-based expectations of client behaviour. Rather than expecting the same group to sit through his entire presentation (often analysing the company's existing strategy) he makes it easier for people to turn up as needed. Those who have missed a portion of the presentation can then review and ask questions to avoid information lapses, he adds.
對索伯爾來說，這意味着要扭轉他對客戶行爲的德國式看法。他允許人們視情況需要來開會，而不再期待同樣的一羣人聽完他整個陳述（通常是分析公司當前的戰略）。他補充道，那些錯過了一部分陳述的人可以在之後回顧會議內容、問問題，避免信息遺漏。Please, no small talk
請不要再聊天了

Where: Finland, Sweden
國家：芬蘭，瑞典

While chitchat about everything from the weather to the latest sport scores can be good way to ease into more serious meeting discussions in North America, this type of warm-up exercise isn't acceptable in places like Finland and Sweden where non-meeting related discussions can be perceived as a way to veer away from a formally-set agenda and as a waste of other people's time.
在北美，聊一聊天氣、最新的運動賽事比分等所有事情都是輕鬆過渡到更嚴肅的會議討論的好方法。但這種熱身運動在芬蘭和瑞典並不爲人接受，因爲與會議無關的討論都被視作偏離正式議程的行爲，會浪費別人的時間。

In some countries, including Finland, there are long pauses in the conversation, which can make visitors feel like there's an awkward silence. Don't try to fill it, though, with small talk or anything else. In parts of Northern Europe business people are more comfortable with pauses that can be as long as a minute peppered throughout the conversation, explained Friedman.
在芬蘭以及其它一些國家，談話中會有長時間的停頓，來訪者會覺得這樣的沉默很尷尬。但是，不要試圖打破沉默，閒談什麼的都不可以。弗裏德曼解釋說，部分北歐地區的商人更習慣談話中時不時地來段長達一分鐘的沉默。

These breaks are used as a way to process what the other person is saying without interrupting. But a clashing of customs can make it easier to distrust the other side during a meeting, so it's crucial to keep this difference in mind.
沉默是因爲他們要思考一下對方說的是什麼，不希望受到打擾。但是在會議中，習慣不同很容易導致對對方失去信任，因此記住這個區別至關重要。

"The Americans' insistence on breaking the silence causes [the Finnish] to not trust [them]," for instance, said Friedman. "If someone Finnish gets quiet we wonder what excuses they are contemplating."
比如，弗裏德曼說：“美國人總是要打破沉默，導致（芬蘭人）不信任（他們）。如果芬蘭人不說話了，我們就會想他們在找什麼藉口。”Decode the feedback culture
破解反饋文化

Where: South Korea, Germany
國家：韓國，德國

When Soboll visits Seoul for business meetings, he anticipates the sort of feedback he will get by first making sure he understands the relationships of those across the table from him. The most junior team member speaks first to give some initial input and the decision maker typically speaks last to make the final call. The feedback order creates a formality to the meeting that helps the participants to understand the significance of each person's input, he adds.
索伯爾去韓國進行商業洽談的時候，他要首先確保自己瞭解桌子對面的人都是什麼關係，據此預計會得到什麼樣的反饋。首先說開場白的人是最初級的團隊成員，而決策者往往做最後一項陳述。他補充說，這樣的發言順序是會議的正規程序，有利於與會者理解每個人發言的重要性。

German meetings, to that end, can feel equally cool, he said. There's often no way to tell how things are going. "German clients don't applaud or jump for joy," he said. "No one is going to spontaneously say how much they love this work."
他表示，德國人開會在這方面也挺酷。你通常無法預測事情進展如何。他說：“德國客戶高興的時候不會鼓掌或跳起來。沒有人會自發地說自己有多喜歡這項工作。”

Vocabulary:

zero in: 瞄準
rule of thumb: 經驗法則
deliberate: 仔細考慮；商議
straggler: 落後者
savour: 品嚐；享受
backtrack: 改變主意；原路返回