Ten tips for German business etiquette
What are the hidden rules of etiquette foreigners need to watch out for while doing business in Germany? The latest installment of The Local's JobTalk series gives you ten top tips for keeping on the right side of your German colleagues.
Anyone who has spent some time in a German workplace will tell you that quite a few stereotypes about Teutonic business culture do ring true.
Order, structure, precision and thoroughness permeate work life here, which is why foreigners in business environments could be forgiven for suspecting their German colleagues have a secret set of rules - and are following them to the letter.
Here are just a few of the main German business customs to look out for.
NB: These rules are for traditional office and business environments, but they could be embarrassingly out of place in, say, an urban start-up run by twenty-somethings. If in doubt, use the golden rule: do as those around you do.
Click here for our ten tips on German business etiquette
Click here for The Local's job listings
Josie Le Blond
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Anyone who has spent some time in a German workplace will tell you that quite a few stereotypes about Teutonic business culture do ring true.
Order, structure, precision and thoroughness permeate work life here, which is why foreigners in business environments could be forgiven for suspecting their German colleagues have a secret set of rules - and are following them to the letter.
Here are just a few of the main German business customs to look out for.
NB: These rules are for traditional office and business environments, but they could be embarrassingly out of place in, say, an urban start-up run by twenty-somethings. If in doubt, use the golden rule: do as those around you do.
Click here for our ten tips on German business etiquette
Click here for The Local's job listings
Josie Le Blond
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