sensitivity to time in the negotiation and culture

In a multi-cultural country like Canada, the differences are usually at the region level. For example Québec people's are much more like South Americans in their concern for time. On the other hand, Ontario people are closer to our southern neighbors in their concerns. If you go all the way to British Columbia, the Asian influence is very prevalent in talks and negotiations.

Culture is a very important element of time. In our culture time is unlimited. The saying about 'Indian Time' is mostly derogatory because it seems like we are always late. The foundation is based on our nomadic, hunter-gatherer customs. Our survival depended on staying until all of the work was completed. Sometimes that lasted for months. You do not abandon what you are committed to until your responsibility is complete.

Everything else become secondary and can wait.

In modern times that culture has survived and has not fit into the 'modern world'.

Too many corporations have sent out their consultants or employees and expect to get to the 'business' right out of the gate. Our way is to first get to know each other. Family is important. We want to know who you are and what kind of family you come from so we can determine what kind of environment you grew up in. What formed your present outlook and way of living.

We get to the business when we have a relationship - however long that takes.

It is important when entering into consultation that you take the time to allow the foundational work take shape which means business in the first meeting is impolite and rude.

We are an oral culture and place more meaning on what is said. To place value on your word, it takes time to figure out what your ethics and morals and how that relates to your integrity.

Many Crown and corporate agents have failed because they forget to pay attention to the subtleties and make the wrong decision or give the wrong answer at the wrong time. It is even worse when you give no answer and say you will get back. If you fail to get back the answer your credibility is gone forever.

When you get down to business you say what you mean and mean what you say.

It is ok to make mistakes because we cannot expect you to be aware of our culture in its entirety. When you make a mistake admit it but be careful to not keep making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.

In my experience there have been crown, corporate, environmental, lawyers, and consultants who believed they were doing great and were greatly surprised when they got the wrong answer.

We are mostly patient, but after a few hundred years of not being heard and listened to some of us have little faith in other people and no trust and we can be a little angry.

In closing, I am reminded of the US history of migration to the West. The army was not successful until they hired guides from among the Indians. The saying, "...it takes and Apache to catch and Apache," is still relevant yet almost every corporation hires people who know just enough to be dangerous and when the risks become apparent, it is too late.

For the past 4 years I have been completing the reconciliation modelling that is based on First Nation Social Innovation, Trades and Management Accreditation, Culture Based Assessments, Academic Structure, Strategic Partnerships, and legal instruments. The research that has gone into it has been quite extensive. Now that I am applying the results to project management I am understanding why the failure rate is extremely high in respect to consultation and accommodation elements of negotiations. The risk elements explode off the charts when you factor in the various requirements. The scope changes drastically and the cost increases due to things that were never contemplated because the expert advice was way off the baseline.

Ciao Fosco. I have worked for years in multi-cultural muli-national projects with people belonging to USA, Central and Latin America, East/Central/West Europe, Asia, Africa. The answer is YES, the timing is because the culture. For example you will find people belonging to some cultures that say "yes" but it is not because they agree with you it is because they understand your point but they have to think about it to decide if agree or not. So, the timming is about the time to take a decision but more important is to understand what they say when they say "yes" or when they say "no". About my country, I was born in Argentina, South America. Because most ot them have grandpas or parent from Italy and/or Spain between other countries (several countries, believe me) then you can understand our style due to you are from Italy.

The cultural dimensions of Trompenaars include a time dimension which may indicate the relationship to punctuality per national culture.

In negotiations though, using time is also a common tactic.

In the US, the concept of time or timing can often be "regionally adjusted". Many companies in California and the west are less rigid with time. You may find that a 10am meeting doesn't really start until 10:!0, while a 10am meeting in New York City might well be over by 10:10. Being 5 minutes late in the south may be frowned upon, but not necessarily a major problem. However, in NYC or Boston, it might be considered rude and unprofessional to be even 2 minutes late.