Blog: International Business Skills (Business & Intercultural Skills)

Here are some useful tips we´d like to share from a professional who has worked for many years with German speaking and English speaking cultures.

“I can only speak from my experience with English- vs. German-speaking
cultures.

For example, if I write an email to somebody in the US or another English
speaking country, I will address the person and add a sentence of small talk
(how are you and the family, how is the weather etc.). However, if I send a
business email to somebody in a German speaking country, this would be
considered inappropriate and by some even as rude. Private comments or
questions do not belong in business conversation (verbal or written) unless
you know the person very well.

In German speaking countries it is very important to greet the person by
name at the beginning of the email and have a salutation and your name or
signature at the end.

The way you word your email is done the same way you would speak to the
person you are writing to. So if you are formal with the person in a
conversation you would write your email just as formal. If you send an email
to a group, you would always write the email as formal as you would talk to
the person you know the least of the group.

In German speaking regions it is quite common to get right to the point,
which some expats from the US/UK view as rude or harsh.

However, the way we use small talk (even in emails) in the U.S .is viewed as a
waste of time or fishing for private information. This is something a German
speaking coworker would not appreciate”.

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Read our blog post about Write Effective Emails

See our Intercultural Skills for Business courses.   Read more about The Practice Office Group.

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