Transcript North American Etiquette: How North American interact and why

North American Etiquette:
How North American interact and why
Corina Mihaela Paraschiv,
Marketing & Communications Director
for Rotaract in USA, Canada and Carrabean’s
[email protected]
Understanding North Americans
• How we communicate
• How we make decisions
• How we assign tasks
• How we relate to time
How We Relate to Each Other
Less concerned with self-categorizing
 Less influenced by group membership
 Greater skills in entering and leaving new
groups
 Engage in more open and precise
communication
 Willingness to respond to ambiguous
messages

Easier to trust others in computer-mediated
communications
How We Communicate

Democracy heritage
◦ Expressing your opinion is a form of
participation
◦ Needs must be expressed clearly

Discussion style
◦ May come across as rude
◦ May come across as uninterested
◦ May not notice “subtle hints”
How We Make Decisions

Participative & Team-Oriented
◦ Involve everyone in decision-making
◦ Leaders are facilitators and coordinators

Democracy Tradition
◦ It is ok to constructively criticize a superior’s
idea
◦ Seeking answers from peers is valid
How We Assign Tasks

Task-Based
◦ What/Why vs Who
◦ Take deadlines & schedules seriously

No face-saving
◦ Guarantee for leader
◦ Assignment through potential vs ancienty
◦ Initiative is valued
How We Relate To Time

Monochronic Time Orientation
◦ Do things sequentially
◦ Relationships are subordinate to present
schedule

Short-Term Orientation
◦ Emphasis on results
◦ Status is not an issue in relationships
◦ Universalism
We‘re Different… Now What?
• Content
• Form
Encoding
Noise
• Confusion
• Content
• Form
Decoding
Where Does RYE Stand?
Long-Term Collaboration
Past & future history fosters trust
 Belonging to Rotary build common
ground

Diverse Culture

Shared Situation Awareness
◦ Knowing what’s going on so you know what
to do
Electronic Communication

Less non-verbal cues
◦ Favors direct communication style

Overall conflit in distributed groups is
lower than in colladed groups
◦ Distributed groups are unaware of differences
Some Final Thoughts

RYE works with a diverse, virtual team
◦ What a Challenge!

What’s the first step towards success?
Some Final Thoughts

Research shows that…
◦ Managerial Skills only ranked #4
◦ The #1 Skill : Empathy
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

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Cultural Awareness & Understanding
Respecting Others’ Values
Treating People as Individuals
Using a Different Cultural Perspective
First Step to Success
Cultural Understanding, which is what the RYE
program is all about!