Germany – Page 52 – understand-culture

Quality is key

When it comes to the so-called magic triangle – schedule, budget, quality – Germans will almost always sacrifice one of the first two, or both, before reducing quality. The German customer, whether internal or external, expects nothing less. They will wait, and might even pay more if necessary, as long as they receive what they have ordered, or better. Germans expect completeness and quality.

Germans respect – and enjoy – work completed properly and presented in good form. For they are critical people always looking for what is not quite right, even if it has little to no effect on the purpose of the work: Spelling mistakes, scratches, inconsistent file formats, unclear graphics, creaky joints, unnecessarily sharp edges, dripping faucets. A job completed and well done requires no rework, no improvement, deserves only praise, is a work of art. Satisfaction.

No news is bad news

No one likes cancellations or major modifications. Certainly not Germans. But they deal with them openly and quickly, making the necessary adjustments, including informing as soon as possible any and all people whose work is effected by the change. Colleagues who hear about cancellations, changes, or modifications late or via third parties feel insulted, and that their work has been degraded.

Particularly in German politics bad news is often communicated via the media. A politician who is failing or has become unpopular and is to be fired from their position might hear about it from the news media first. For them it is doubly hurtful. To inform people quickly is a sign of professionalism and respect for the other person. Delays are interpreted as tactical maneuvering, as a loss of trust.

Figures of speech: Einem Information aus der Nase ziehen. To pull information out of the other person’s nose. Wissen ist Macht. Knowledge is power. Information bunkern. To bunker or hoard information.

Angry shop owners. A brief article in a German regional newspaper. “Hardly any of the townsfolk are angry about the construction site. Traffic has to be redirected. Parking spaces have been reduced. The citizens of the town take it all in stride.

What makes them angry, however, is the lack of information communicated by the town government. Particularly the shop owners are angry whenever they are informed late about construction work done in their street. And some residents are irritated because they could not inform companies from out of town in time who are delivering furniture and such.“

“Communicate immediately!“

Germans expect to be informed immediately about any changes which impact the agreements they have entered into. From their perspective all agreements, large and small, involve interconnected activities among colleagues, including at times business partners and customers. A change in one area has immediate effect on the others, thus helping or hindering those colleagues in their work.

Although the majority of German work is based on time, they do not like to work on anything which will not be used. They expect to be informed as soon as possible about any changes to an agreement which affect their work. There is also the potential that they will suspect people of being political with important information. The sooner changes to an agreement are communicated to all parties, the better.

Figures of speech: Etwas ist zwecklos. Something is purpose-less. Ohne Sinn und Zweck. Without meaning and purpose. Für den Papierkorb arbeiten. Working for the trashcan.

Germans also strive to understand their work in the broader context, what impact their results have on those of other colleagues. They often say Alles hängt mit allem zusammen or everything is connected to everything else. If a colleague is on vacation, their tasks are divided up among a few other team members. Potential problems are discussed and prepared for beforehand. Responding to inquiries with the colleague is on vacation is a sign of incompetence and unprofessionalism.

“Good things need their time”

The German expression Gut Ding will Weile haben – good things need their time – states that things which are supposed to turn out good will need some time. This becomes clear especially when important decisions are to be addressed:

“Quality before speed: Merkel pulls the brakes at the introduction of new supervision of European banks.” (Handelsblatt 17.2.2015)

“The German Handball Federation President Bauer: “Quality comes before speed.“ (Lahner Zeitung 20.6.2014)

“NPD-Ban: Quality before speed.” (Hamburger Abendblatt 9.12.2011)

When follow-up is ok

Despite German reluctance to use follow-up, there are situations in which it is unavoidable: In order to stick to a well-defined plan; when the customer requests information; if work results are not delivered on time. The Germans prefer the term nachfassen – literally, after hold. Or nachhaken – literally, after-hook or -check.

Follow-up in Germany can be either negative or positive. Negative in the sense of control. Positive in the sense of support. Follow up – negative – questions one’s ability and willingness to produce good work results. At the same time – positive – it is essential to checking technical details, getting necessary information, verifying due dates.

Organizations which are time-driven rely on follow up. News organizations are just one example. Any and all forms of logistics is another. Timing is critical. Schedules need to be met. Employees are under pressure. Deadlines are deadlines.

Follow-up can be supportive. An older, more experienced colleague can inquire in a friendly way about the status of another’s work. A team lead who coaches her team well knows when and how to follow up by simply asking “How are things going? Can I help in any way?”

Follow-up by colleagues on a report, speech, or published article is positive. It means that they have taken sincere interest in your work. It also gives them an opportunity to demonstrate their competence by asking intelligent questions.

In German team meetings follow-up is the rule, not the exception. Open action items can be addressed directly. Team members establish a common baseline of information.

Finally, there is another very legitimate reason to use follow-up in Germany: If things are not going right, if an error has been detected, if the work is being performed improperly. In such cases there is only one course of action. Follow up, and fast!

Mistrust, a Virus

Follow up in Germany is a sign of mistrust, of doubt in one’s reliability, in that person’s ability to deliver what they have promised. For Germans typically only commit if they are close to absolutely certain that they can execute.

Germans are very sensitive about mistrust, and do not deal with it well. A fictitious example: Small team. The members have their individual tasks, but need to collaborate at certain points. They work well together. The team lead can pay less and less attention to them. A new team member, though, begins to take advantage of the lead’s hands-off management style by looking for personal advantage.

The other team members become a bit unsettled. A few others also begin to think only of themselves. Mistrust creeps into the team, the points of contact become strained, collaboration more difficult. Their boss sees the signs and reacts by scheduling team meetings more frequently, checking on each team member’s work. Then come the emails and phone calls going into more detail.

The increased follow up strains relations. Several of the team members begin to look for alternative jobs within the company. A top performer is gone within a month. Others have sent out their resumés. Follow up can lead to mistrust, a virus with potentially deadly results.

Verkaufsscheu

Verkaufsscheu. Sales shy.

Companies with a monopoly are the only ones who don’t need sales and marketing. All others need to fight for new customers on a daily basis. In Germany, too. But Germans don’t feel comfortable knocking on doors, even less so following up on an initial contact if the first response was skeptical.

Follow-up means making that second or third call, writing that second or third email, reaching out again. What’s the problem? Germans don’t like pushing their product or service, especially if they sense that the other party may not be interested. Often Germans are too polite, too slow, not aggressive enough.

Perhaps this is related to Germans identifying themselves strongly with their work. They want to stand fully and totally behind what they do. Sales also involves uncertainty, unpredictability, and situations for which one cannot fully prepare. The interactions can be short, spontaneous, shallow. Germans prefer predictability and depth.

Too obtrusive

In 2011 Spiegel Online published an article on how to write a job application for the American labor market. The beginning of the article points out differences between Germany and the US.

“Asking additional questions is not considered bothersome and the marital status should not be in your resume. If you apply at an American company it is easy to trip over cultural differences. Here is an overview over the most important concepts.”

After turning in your application, the article suggests: ”You should not expect that he or she will get back to you on his/her own.”

Conversely, asking additional questions is interpreted as annoying in Germany. The potential employer will get back to you on their own if they are interested. Asking further questions is considered to be obtrusive in Germany.

BER

The Berlin-Brandenburg Airport is a topic surrounded by discord. There is no end in sight for this odyssey. The costs just continue to rise into incalculable sums. This caused the association of taxpayers to heavily criticize the politicians responsible for it in 2012.

The airport was a manifest of poor planning, mismanagement, incomplete construction plans, and expenses beyond the budget. The association of taxpayers blacklisted the overseeing committee of high-ranking representatives from Berlin and Brandenburg and the federal government, accusing them of political failure and blind trust in the underqualified management” of the airport.

Iteration

The term iteration has become common within American companies: to communicate several or many communications, back and forth, between two or more parties, in which information is exchanged, decisions made, activities (action items or more simply actions) agreed to.

Merriam-Webster online defines iteration as a procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result.

Americans iterate, some intensely so. It allows them to maintain flexibility, to ensure information flow, to discriminate between what is important and unimportant, to reduce risk. Like any strength, however, it can be inflationary: too much communication, too little action.

Instead of front-loading an agreement with in-depth discussion about the details, Americans iterate.