4.1 Regelungen im Job

Teamwork and leadership

A meeting without an agenda is a very rare event in Germany. The sequence in which contributions are made to discussions does not necessarily have to be in order of hierarchical seniority. What is expected – and provided – are sound, purely factual contributions. Wild gesticulation or discussions conducted in an aggressive manner are not appreciated. 

From a German perspective, presentations should be prepared in multimedia form with particular attention to detail (visual format, exact numbers): the current situation is analyzed, options are presented and, ideally, at the end concrete recommendations or instructions are provided. Key information is summarized in writing in the form of hand-outs / presentation packs, etc. Jokes, cartoons and the like are largely seen as unnecessary distractions. 

A feature of task-oriented societies such as Germany is that its members are particularly fo-cussed on the outcome during negotiations. As achieving objectives is very important, only a concrete outcome is seen as a success, and results are expected to be achieved by the end of the meeting. If there is time left after business has been dealt with, this is the time to take care of building relationships. However, one thing is certainly important before any deal can be closed: German busines-people need to have the feeling that they are in possession of all the relevant information (background facts, figures, market analyses, etc.). It is not usual to criticize competitors – the product should speak for itself.