Germany – Page 2 – understand-culture

Strengthen their bond

hralliancedc(dot)org. January 21, 2015. A blogpost: Feedback: Its All Personal and Why That Matters.

Performance Reviews. “There aren’t many scheduled professional activities that can generate such an array of feelings for managers and employees alike…. Regardless of how one feels prior to and after receiving feedback, one thing is certain: Feedback is always personal.

Conventional wisdom and typical management training try to remove the personal aspect of feedback, even encouraging us to not take feedback personally. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Done well, the performance review is an opportunity for the manager and the employee to strengthen their bond, to commit to working on themselves individually and together, to continue to strive toward desired results.

Captain Holt

Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Context: Police procedural comedy. Illustration: Captain Holt’s feedback, while often deadpan, is ultimately personal and supportive, and the show frequently explores how praise, criticism, and mentorship affect the officers’ confidence and relationships.

profession and personal

The Evolution of Performance Reviews in the Workplace. By the 1960s, around 90% of U.S. employers had implemented formal performance review systems. These reviews were not just about evaluating results; they became a primary means for managers to provide feedback directly to employees about their individual contributions, strengths, and areas for improvement. The process was designed to be personal – feedback was delivered face-to-face, often with attention to the employee’s feelings and professional development. This approach reflects the American tendency to connect feedback on work with the person, making it both a professional and personal matter.

self-esteem and identity

The Devil Wears Prada (2006). The movie portrays a young assistant (Anne Hathaway) under a demanding boss (Meryl Streep). Feedback is often harsh and personal, affecting the protagonist’s self-esteem and identity. It highlights how feedback in American workplaces can be emotionally charged and closely tied to personal development .

career trajectories

Mad Men. Context: Follows the lives of advertising executives in 1960s New York. Illustration: Feedback on creative work is highly personal, often delivered in emotionally charged meetings. Characters’ self-esteem and career trajectories are closely linked to the praise or criticism they receive from superiors and clients.

Leslie Knope

Parks and Recreation. Context: Centers on the Parks Department of a small town. Illustration: Leslie Knope, the main character, gives and receives feedback that is always considerate of feelings and personal growth. The show highlights how encouragement, recognition, and even constructive criticism are tailored to the individual, reinforcing bonds and motivation.

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso. Context: Follows an American football coach leading a British soccer team. Illustration: Ted’s feedback style is empathetic, supportive, and always considers how his words will affect each player personally. The series is a masterclass in emotionally intelligent, personal feedback that drives both performance and well-being.

protect feelings

“Let’s put a positive spin on it.” Meaning: Even when giving negative feedback, Americans often try to frame it positively to protect the individual’s feelings.

Critique and Humour

German colleagues will at times communicate critical feedback with irony, hoping to gain a smirk or a smile. This is not meant to make fun of the colleague whose work is being criticized, but rather to add a lightness to the criticism.

The person criticized is given the opportunity to accept the feedback with a sense of humour and light-heartedness. The Germans value the ability to maintain a healthy, objective distance to one‘s own work.

Humor: the ability to accept with lightness personal imperfections and those of the world, as well as the difficulties of daily life.

Impersonal Critique

In the German context feedback about one‘s work is in and of itself not personal. Germans – team leads as well as members – can argue vehemently about business topics and at the same time have a friendly, collegial working relationship. German management can criticize harshly an employee but still respect and personally like that individual. In Germany feedback is not personal.

In German team meetings open, honest, direct feedback is not only permitted, it is desired. Weaknesses in individual performance are addressed by team lead and members alike. The criticism, however, is not meant, and is not taken, as a personal attack, not jemandem etwas ins Gesicht sagen (to tell them off), but more to „get a it on the table“, in den Raum stellen.

Jemandem etwas ins Gesicht sagen: to say something critical to another person‘s face; to say something mean, unfair, provoking; to tell someone the unadultered truth; to give another person „a piece of your mind.“

Etwas in den Raum stellen: to put something in the room; to raise a question, a problem; to comment on, to make an observation; to bring a subject into the discussion.