This is part two of cultural differences in work life in the Netherlands vs in the US. If you are looking for part 1 you can find it here. Happy reading!
- Dutch direct culture. One of the cultural stereotypes for for Dutch people is that they are quite direct. They don’t like to beat around the bush or soften things the way that Americans (especially like Minnesotans do). This appears often in work setting. For example, on a Monday at the office when everyone was talking about their weekends my Dutch coworker bluntly said ” My weekend was so nice and, wow, I really don’t want to be at work today.” I don’t think you would every be so blunt in the States about your feelings like that. Another example is in regards to feedback. When I first started, my team did group constructive feedback. For example, we went in a circle and shared what everyone could improve on in the team. Americans (and me) are so uncomfortable with constructive feedback in a group setting! I still cringe thinking about this group feedback session.
- Office attire. In the Netherlands it is very common for people to bike to work no matter the weather. The Dutch like to say “I am not made of sugar” to explain that they won’t melt in the rain. There are showers on-site, but honestly I feel like most people just take off they rain jacket and rain pants, put on some deodorant, and call it a day. Because of this, most people are a bit more casual in sneakers, pony tails and less makeup vs the states. Not worth putting in all of the effort if you have to bike in the rain first!
- 3. Consensus Decision Making. This is fairly similar to the first point, but with an extra layer! In the US, we are proud that workplaces are not hierarchical. For example, if I have a great idea, I can go to the Vice President and share my great idea. The same is true in the Netherlands. But, the extra element is the US abides by top down decision making vs the Netherlands follows consensus decision making. Once I understood the difference everything started to click for me! I have two examples of this. Also, pro tip to read the Culture Map by Erin Meyer as that is what helped me put these things together.
- In my first job here, it was relatively similar to the US in the types of projects I worked on so I was familiar with the process. In the US, the director would make direct edits to a final project or leave specific comments on the report. Here, despite similar work/projects, the process was quite different and more based on consensus decision making. In Europe, at 4 pm the day that the project is due the analyst, manager, and director would meet to discuss and align on any outstanding comments. This would ensure that we agreed together and that everyone’s opinion was concerned and we aligned together. Honestly, this drove me crazy as these meetings would end around 5:30/6 and I still had to do a quick read through and then send the project to the client. Consensus decision making sounds perfect in theory, but personally in many cases I would just preferred the director to just make the final decision and be done with it. Pros and cons to each way of working I guess!
- Another example is when I started my new job in the Netherlands and it was the time of year for setting objectives and goals for the following year. As a team, we had several sessions to discuss our plans and set objectives for the team. It was a very collaborative process and even though I had only worked at the company for 2 months I was expected to participate and share my viewpoint. In the US, this is something that would be mostly done my the team lead and then cascaded down vs aligned on the teams objectives in a consensus fashion.
- 4. Direct Culture Pt 3. Along the lines of the direct culture, the Dutch aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions. For example, it is quite common to discuss politics or even religion at lunch. For example, I am regularly asked what I think of US politics, Trump, VP choices for president, etc. People are always curious what I think as an American and my point of view on what is going on. Also, I remember a lunch conversation with my team about going to church, what our beliefs are, if we believe in god, and religion. Plus, even at a Happy Hour (see point above) it came up what hard drugs everyone had done haha. Not sure that would come up at a company in the US. 🙈
I hope you enjoyed the post and learned something new about work culture in the US vs in the Netherlands! This of course isn’t an exhaustive list, but things that were most top of mind. Are there anything you are curious about? Something you think I am missing? Let me know in the comments below.
❤️Melanie
Smiles from Miles Away 