I spent a month in United States for a work trip, and as a Latin American I can denote that labor cultures are quite different, have a look at my short list on differences I noted between our cultures and let me know your thoughts down below on the comments section.
Time is money
Said to emphasize that you should not waste time, because you could be using it to earn money.
Americans have this in mind all the time and invest all the possible time to finishing any business idea they've got.
Individuality
Americans are motivated from an early age to be independent and to develop their own goals in life. They are also rewarded when they try to achieve their goals with more effort, this is something we should embrace even more in our culture, why not help a friend when he/she creates a startup?
Privacy
They like their privacy and enjoy time alone. Visitors from other countries will find the offices and homes of Americans open but their thoughts are considered private. What do you think? can be considered irrelevant
Equality
Most of them hold the ideal that "we are all created equally" and we have the same rights. This includes both men and women of all ethnicities and all cultural groups living in the United States.
Informality
The lifestyle is usually casual, you can see coworkers in the office in shorts and T-shirts. Managers and directors rarely wear ties and some of them may even wear jeans
Greetings and farewells are usually short, informal and friendly. "Hi", "How are you?", "What's up?" and "See you". Friendships are also casual, Americans seem to start and easily end friendships.
Achieve
They are oriented to achievement and how hard they work and play. Americans are always "on the move" because sitting quietly doing nothing seems like a waste of time.
Communication
Americans try to deal with their differences face to face and without mediators, which sometimes can be interpreted as rude by foreigners. They always express their opinions, even if they do not agree with their coworkers.
Please feel free to let me know what you think on my short overview on American work culture, I really would like to see your opinions
Top comments (1)
I am Italian and I share the same values... Maybe it's the western culture, not just the US.
And in any case I speak just for me, because I think that many people, both in Italy and in the US, don't have all these goals in life...