Let’s take a minute to talk about time

One of the most notorious differences in the way that each country has in conducting business relates to time.

For example, American people are very reliable when they arrange a time for a meeting, even in the social aspect, so when somebody in United States arranges to meet you at 11:00 AM, you can be sure that she will be waiting for you at 10:59 AM. They also arrange the length of time that the event will take place, so it is a good habit to always verify how long the person has available to dedicate to the event right at the beginning.

On the other hand, the Latin-American person is not as punctual. It is common that a meeting that was arranged to start at 11:00 AM, for example, actually starts at 11:30AM, and if somebody arrives late nobody feels offended. This habit is particularly observed in social events, where it is considered not only unfashionable to arrive on time, but it could even be impolite since the hosts do not expect anybody on time, and may not be ready.

European people are different. Northern Europeans are very punctual, and also plan and announce the length of time that each event will take. Southern Europeans, especially Spanish people, tend to be a little more relaxed about time, but not to the extreme that is observed in Latin-Americans. However, they will actually feel disrespected if you arrive late to your appointment. The main difference is the time of the day that a work day starts. Even though Italians and Portuguese people start later than Americans, they do not start as late as Spanish people. It is very common to start working around 10:00 AM, have lunch around 1:00 or 2:00 PM, stay 2 or even 3 hours in the restaurant, and leave the office at 8:00 or 9:00 PM, sometimes even close to midnight.

If you plan to do business internationally, you may want to take this cultural aspect into consideration.