Podcast Erik, Luca, Hanno

The podcast episode discusses communication styles with supervisors and bosses in different countries. In Germany, it can be either very personal or formal depending on the organization. In the US, communication is mainly professional. In China, it is mostly formal in corporations but informal in smaller businesses. The group discusses their preferences for more informal management styles. They also talk about work ethic differences between countries, such as longer working hours and less vacation in the US and China. They speculate on how these work ethics could be advantageous or challenging when working in Germany. The group also discusses communication between colleagues, noting that Germany is becoming more international and promoting a friendly work environment, while China and the US have different approaches. The group shares their personal experiences and thoughts on friendship in the workplace. They acknowledge cultural differences and the potential challenges of integrating Hey guys, welcome back to episode 11 of the Cultural Canvas, the podcast where we bring you different cultural backgrounds into one society today. My name is Eric Winterhalter from the United States and here with me are Lukas Chen, I'm from China, and Hannah Eckert, I'm from Germany. Okay, so the first talking point of today, we're going to talk about our communication with supervisors, bosses, and employers, how it is at home, and then how that transfers to here in Germany. So, here in Germany, first of all, it's very different depending on which organization you're in. So, it can either be on a very personal level with your supervisor or it can be on a very, very formal basis. Yeah, I think in the U.S. mainly, it's a very professional level of communication. You're usually not friends with your boss, it's kind of like, it's not seen that much. How about in China? In China, for most of the time, it's going to be a very, very formal communication, especially if it's corporation. But especially when it comes to smaller businesses, it can be very informal where all the workers know each other, they know the boss, and it's just more of a first name basis. Yeah, I'm kind of going off of like a big corporation just because like in the business world today, that's kind of where I want to work, but I feel like it would be weird if my supervisor was trying to like become my friend. It just doesn't sit right with me. How about you, Anna? I mean, I think it depends on if you're working with a small company, it might be better if you're on a personal level with your boss. It's just easier to communicate and easier to discuss certain topics. And when it's very informal, there's a lot of bureaucracy between the employer and the boss. So that can make the communication between them very difficult. Yeah, I think mainly for if it's like a supervisor and a group aspect, I could get behind that. But if it was like my head boss who oversees a bunch of people and everything, I like it just doesn't, even for a small company, I don't think I'd like that. What about you, Luca? I don't know where I'm coming from. I feel like a lot of people wouldn't exactly like or be used to the informal type of management. But honestly, for me, I would love an informal like management. Yeah, I would too, but I still think it'd be weird. I don't know. It's kind of like, yeah, it's ironic because I want it, but like it wouldn't feel right to me. It doesn't make sense. It's just like they have like instead of like the more like traditional, like hard power you'd see, like from like, you know, very formal management, like the more informal ones, just a lot more friendly, in my opinion. It's just more open, like the spread of ideas is more. Yeah. And I also think it's becoming kind of a trend. So more and more companies are switching to a more informal way of communication. And this like whole hierarchy of you're the manager, you're the high, high boss. And like that, that stuff is going away, I believe. Yeah, I totally agree with you guys. I think I'm just kind of more old style from what I've been taught by my dad. But now we have a guest joining us, Victoria from Thailand. And we are going to be moving on to talking point number two. I was wondering, what is the difference between the work ethic at home and the one here in Germany? And do you think that yours is an advantage or a challenge here in the German market? I feel that the work ethic in Thailand is focused on working hard and prioritizes finishing work as soon as possible. Yeah, I think in America they work longer hours than some other places and they take less vacation because they really are focused on finishing their project. Yeah. And in China, it's very, very the same as well. And it's like everyone works super hard and there's barely any weekends. Hours are super long for their days. Yeah, I think those these will all be advantages, though, because if they're used to working longer hours, being introduced to a shorter hour market might like increase their productivity and then allow them to work more and focus more. That's possible, yeah. Like since you already used to the high workload, now that you work less, maybe, I don't know, maybe it like makes you work better in those shorter times. I can also see a challenge, though, being like, because in America it's very individual work. And if there's a lot of group work here, I think it might be a challenge to introduce like cooperation and coordination between other people. I think delegation then is important. I think in Thailand we use that a lot as a tool to help complete larger projects faster. Yeah, here in Germany, I would say quality is like the most valued thing someone has. I think that using the Thai skills of putting a lot of effort into work in a shorter workload might allow the quality of work to improve over time. Thank you, Vicky. That was very insightful. And now a word from a sponsor. In a world full of cyber threats, safeguarding your online presence is crucial. Introducing NordVPN, your ultimate shield in a digital realm. Connect to thousands of servers worldwide, ensuring lightning fast speeds and unrestricted access to content from any corner of the globe. You know, here on the podcast, we love our listeners to be safe and online when we use our, even when you use your public Wi-Fi. I mean, I use this myself all the time when I want to watch shows on Netflix that just aren't available in my region. So guys, you can use code CANVAS to get your first month completely for free. Back to the podcast. So what are you guys' thoughts on the communications between colleagues when it comes to Germany and at home? So first of all, here in Germany, I think there's a trend towards more international communications. So there are a lot of English speakers joining the workforce. And so you experience a lot of different communication styles from a lot of different cultures. So, yeah. Yeah, I think that's actually very true. I mean, my brother lives here and he was saying that Munich is just becoming such an international city. And that's why I really like that I'm studying here, because at this university, it's super international. And I'm the only person in my class that comes from the cultural background that I'm used to. So it's really interesting just to see people from, I mean, Germany itself or from China or Thailand. Like, just those cultural differences are really, really cool to me. Yeah. I don't know about Italy, but in China, the communications are much more like aligned to just Chinese people, especially since, especially if you're not like a huge corporation doing like exports or something like that, you would not really care about anything but the Chinese people, because really in China, the diversity is really not there, to be honest with you. So it's much more like secluded. Yeah. I think in the U.S., they kind of promote colleagues being friends and communicating well, because I think that really adds to the productivity of the workers, that they like being in the workplace with their colleagues and they can communicate fine. I think it's just a little different than the bosses because, like, there is still some sense of authority. Yeah. It's just different. Yeah. But I think when it comes to friendship in the workplace, in Germany, it's a little bit different. So there's most of the time, it's like there's a very clear distinction between actually friends which you hang out in your spare time or like work friends. Like, there's like a big distinction between that. And especially for international people who come to Germany, just the culture shock they experience when they first interact with, like, German people, like, for example, that they are very direct and very, like, cold, if you can say that. Like, that is not very, like, there's not a warm welcome. Yeah. I get that because, I mean, I guess it's kind of biased because I'm looking at it from all these people who were put in the same situation as me. So we all had to be friends with international people. Like, we had no choice. But in the US, like, my dad goes out with some of his colleagues sometimes, like, to get a drink or something. Like, that's very normal for me just because in the US, you, it's, you hang out with them outside of the workplace. Yeah. I feel like in China, it's a lot more, it's a lot more like just work. Like, work is much more secluded for just work. Yes, you could have, like, friends, like, that are actually friends from your work, but it's very, actually rare. A lot of the time it would be, as I would say, just work friends, if anything. Yeah. Yeah. But how do you think that will affect you entering the workplace then? Because for me, I'm going to be trying to become friends with everyone. And if the Germans are all like, oh, this, you're just a work friend, it's going to be like, oh, I see it as, like, we're just friends. Yeah. For me, like, I would be very open. So, you know, I'd make a lot more friends, not just, like, work friends. What about you, Arno? I mean, you might actually, like, have an advantage with that, with, like, this open minded and, like, open to new people and new contacts. But you might also, like, scare, like, Germans away, since you're not used to that. So, yeah, there's a big difference, apparently, between the U.S. and Germany. Yeah. I mean, I know they're all cold. I'm walking on the streets and I'm getting barked at from some Germans. I don't know what they're saying. But if they speak English, then I think I can become their friend. OK, so that's the end of the episode for today. I really enjoyed that, actually. I got to see a lot of different perspectives. And, I mean, I think this topic could be talked about or explored for a long time. But we're just going to wrap it up here today. Thank you guys for tuning in and make sure you tune in for the next time.