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Personal relationships
And who are you?
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Alison Mannion
Lingua Business
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I've gone to companies, say the first time, and I've barely been given a glass of water. There was a minimal amount of small talk but really not that much. And then when they sort of got the feeling that they could trust me and that I was sort of - dare I say it - worth it, then since I've gone to that company I've been barely through the door and they've been making coffee or making English tea for me, rushing out to get milk that I like and - a complete change.
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You develop the best relationships by being co-operative and very positive and helpful and showing some team-oriented behaviour. And then something happens automatically. It just takes slightly more time because there is not an innate mixing of business and pleasure and because Germans are more formal.
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Elisabeth Marx
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Elrick Newbigging
Head of Service, Adlon Hotel
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They believe in their system. You are there to do a job - do the job. And later on you can go out and socialise. Business comes before pleasure.
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The pleasure component may come in after you've been working together for a long time, or if you're working on a deal once you've had a success. But you don't automatically assume that you work and then you socialise together.
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Elisabeth Marx
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Alison Mannion
Lingua Business
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The Germans are like a coconut, so they've got a very hard shell on the outside and it can seem very hard to a British person, when they are saying: Ja, Frau Mannion, was möchten Sie? But once they've let you in it's a very, very soft ... they are very, very friendly. And I think if you have good friends in Germany they really are 100% excellent friends.
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Elrick Newbigging
Head of Service, Adlon Hotel
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It takes them a little while to get used to you, to get warm to you and they always have this distance. But when they do warm to you then everything is OK. And that is the main thing.
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It's relatively easy to make contact in Germany. There is a lot of structured leisure activities from various clubs. Sports are very good. It's very easy to strike a rapport in pubs as well. And that goes both for city life as well as village life. Also, involvement in associations in the city or the village or wherever you are.
I think the main criterion is whether you have a positive attitude and you make the effort yourself. I think it's up to you really to make it happen. I think the Germans are very receptive to foreigners participating and are generally quite keen to show foreigners what Germany is about and to make them welcome.
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Elisabeth Marx
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- You will establish closer relationships by gaining respect for your professional conduct and knowledge.
- It's paramount to learn the language, at least a bit, even if one isn't there for a very long time.
- It takes much longer to get to know German people, but once you do, they show a lot of loyalty and commitment.
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Being there index |
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Being there