Source background
According to, "Do the Japanese run the best meetings?" (2016), Alina Dizik reports some business across culture meeting and what do the the long silences, idle chitchat and serious faces really mean in context in. Dizik tells us that, unlike others, Japanese are more likely to create a detailed agenda and pass out supporting documents several days prior to a meeting than meeting goers in any other countries. It’s expected that you’ll understand the written materials ahead of the meeting.
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My Yes/No question is:
Do the Japanese run the best meetings?
My answer is:
No, I don't think so.
If someone say "Japanese", people might probably think about their honesty, punctuality, discipline and affection. So do I.
From Dizik's report, the Japanese "are cognizant of how much time remains and don’t go over" and the more extra time meeting ,the more gathering might be considered as unproductive. At the end, the participants may be seen as inefficient. That's sound very practical for me. It's really efficacious that everybody have the important detailed agenda, as well as read the all necessary documents,a several days before the meeting start ,because we can discuss all the points without wasting time explain things from the beginning.The Japanese's punctual meeting style also shows the respect to others; their time is too valuable to wait for us being late claiming about how sucks the traffic is. With these strengths, the Japanese seem to create the perfect meetings.
But, after those above, why don't I just say "Yes" to the answer? Here are my reasons.
Although the Japanese's meeting style is great, it's not good enough to be the "best". There's the strong weakness which can unconcernedly ruin the meetings. Apart from the punctuality, the Japanese also well-known for their circuitous. A friend of mine, has a Japan boss, once told me that it's really challenging working with the Japanese because they normally don't express their inside feelings or emotions. When her boss say something is good, it may not good for real or when the boss say it's bad ,it may also means not that bad. To know the truths, she has to observe them from her boss's visages, gestures or tone of voices.
It might be fine if that meeting's point is too create some project plans or make an announcement. However, if that meeting purpose is to discuss about the quality of the work or find out the better solution for a problem, it is not gonna work if you don't say what the problem is, what do others need for better work or even what exactly do you want it to happen. Shouldn't you make it simple and straightforward? How can you expect others to know what do you really think and feel? Hence, though I do admire most of the Japanese's working style, I can't agree that they run the best meeting.
Don't get me wrong!(especially for Nori) I certainly like the Japan for many reasons, one of them are the people.
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Reference
In fact, I have never worked in Japanese company or with Japanese friends before, and thus I would not be qualified to judge them. One thing I feel like you is the personality of Japanese. That’s so respectful. I couldn’t agree more.
ReplyDeleteBased on what Dizik reports, I am convinced that it might be true that Japanese are very good at meeting. But your reasons sound plausible as well. Who should I support more, You or Dizik? Do you think your friend’s Japanese boss and colleagues have personality like other Japanese? What I mean is the characters of them, which are likely to conceal their inner emotions and feelings, result from the company’s culture and manner or are the same as that other people in Japanese society.
Thank you for sharing new viewpoint about Japanese culture in meeting.
Your blog post makes me become interested as although I never go abroad, I like to learn new things like foreign's cultures or manners. Regarding Japanese people, I really like them because of punctuality, discipline and preparation.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of punctuality, actually, it's very different when compared with Thai people. some Thai people often go to the meeting late. Furthermore, some Thai people don't go to the meeting like my father. When he is invited to listen to professors, he don't usually come to that class.
Talking about discipline, I believe most people in the world know about Japanese people's discipline. For example, they wait in line until they get stuff or life bags after Tsunami crisis.
The most thing I love when I read your article is Japanese people's preparation. They always peruse important detailed agendas before the meeting begin. That makes me think that I should read some lessons before studying, may be, I understand in the class more than I did before (didn't read anything before learning in classes).