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Participation styles
Agenda
Gaining agreement
Timing
Socializing
Choice of language
Follow-up
Figure 8.2 Multicultural meetings – critical areas
Preparation
Good preparation is important for all meetings and for all cultures, but for 
some it assumes a greater degree of importance. This, for example, is the case 
with the Japanese, who call it ‘nemawashi’: preparing the ground. Germans 
put much emphasis on ‘gute Vorbereitung’ (good preparation), whereas the 
French often see a meeting as an intellectual exercise to test a hypothesis. The 
British, the Italians and the Spanish tend to do less preparation, in the worst-
case scenario reading the brief on the aircraft. They will expect what is actually 
discussed at the meeting to be the most important aspect. With such a variety 
of approaches, it depends on the chairperson and the secretariat to issue the 
meeting papers well in advance, with requests for comments before the date of 
the meeting. In any case, it is most likely that at least twice as much time will 
be required for an international meeting as for a purely domestic meeting. At 
the beginning of the meeting, the reinforcement of the ‘getting to know you’ 
time is very important to help build relationships within the team.
Clear objectives
It is essential that the aims and objectives of any type of meeting, and 
particularly for multicultural meetings, are clear from the outset to avoid 
any confusion. There is a need to have a common sense of purpose. The 
main principle is to avoid any surprises on the actual day of the meeting. 
The Chinese and the Arabs, for example, in particular do not welcome any 

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International Team Building and Teamworking 151
surprises regarding the finalized agenda. These cultures do their homework 
in advance of the meeting particularly carefully.
Expectations
In multinational meetings, expectations of outcomes can cause difficulty. 
It is important to understand the type of meeting and its anticipated out-
come in order to ensure the right level of expectation and intervention. In 
British and American meetings, the aim is to obtain agreement on a range of 
actions, distributed after the meeting in minutes or a meeting report which 
lists action points, who is responsible and the dates when action has to be 
taken. In many Latin countries, on the other hand, the function of meetings 
is very often simply to gauge the mood of the group. Decisions may not be 
taken at the meeting, but the meeting’s atmosphere may well be taken into 
account in the decision making undertaken elsewhere.
The French will differentiate clearly between meetings held to discuss 
policy, those to decide on a specific course of action and meetings to allo-
cate functions and responsibilities. It is important for foreign participants 
to recognize these differences. In the first, the free discussion of ideas is 
welcomed, while in the second, it is the department directors who will 
decide how to proceed, and in the third they will allocate responsibilities 
and give instructions.
Meeting layout
The layout of the meeting should be as non- confrontational as possible, 
avoiding a strictly formal and hierarchical structure. A round- table layout is 
often the most suitable. There is a need for easy access to telephones, light 
refreshments and the entrance as some participants will come and go during 
proceedings. It should also be borne in mind that most Westerners require 
more personal space than other cultures, for example, Arabs and Africans, 
who will be happy to stand or sit closer together.
Agenda
The agenda is the most important organizing principle of the meeting, but 
attitudes to it can differ a great deal. For some cultures, an agenda is simply a 
list of things to discuss in no particular order and may even be created when 
the meeting actually convenes. In other countries, for example, the UK, the 
USA and Germany, the agenda is strictly followed as it is considered that a 
pre- agreed agenda circulated before the actual meeting should be adhered to 
in the meeting. The resulting action points which are circulated afterwards 
and followed up are considered the most efficient way of running a meeting. 
Such an approach may cause frustration among participants who need to 
have a more wide- ranging discussion at greater length and depth.
The agenda should be sent out in draft form well before the meeting 
and, once agreed, should contain no surprises on the day of the meeting. 

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152 Cross-Cultural Communication
The agenda must have a structure which includes the key points, but it 
must be flexible enough to allow time for discussion and summarizing. 
The agenda must be logical, with individual items as specific as possible. 
This is very important as some cultures (for example, Arabs) have a circular 
attitude towards an agenda with a tendency to jump from one item to 
another. Sufficient time should be left for summarizing and discussion of 
‘any other business’, although care is needed if such discussion includes 
points which cause concern or surprise as they have not been included in 
the main agenda.
Timing
Apart from taking into account different time zones and travel time, multi-
cultural meetings should avoid religious days. Misunderstandings about time 
can cause major problems, with participants having to leave early because of 
other commitments or arriving late. Other important considerations include 
different cultural views regarding punctuality and those cultures who con-
sider it generally acceptable to leave a meeting to make telephone calls or 
to attend to other matters if the discussion is considered not immediately 
relevant to them. A possible solution is to have breaks at regular intervals for 
refreshments, informal discussion and telephone calls.
Another area to be considered is that of internal timing, particularly if 
it is decided on a ‘timed agenda’. According to this area, a limited time is 
allotted to each topic. If this time is exceeded, the discussion is halted by the 
chair and the meeting moves on to the next point. This can be extremely 
frustrating for participants who feel the need for lengthier discussion. The 
scheduled end time can be equally controversial as, for example, the French 
believe that a meeting should continue until all items have been satisfacto-
rily dealt with, whereas other cultures such as the Swiss and the Germans 
make a point of keeping to exact times.