US Business Culture

In Scandinavia, we don’t micromanage. The boss simply trusts his or her employees to use working hours in the most effective way possible. But Americans expect a lot more monitoring than Scandinavians do. If you don't check up on them regularly, they may think you don't care, and some employees will start to take advantage. Ask your American team – “How much guidance do you need from me?” It’s probably more than a Scandinavian employee would want or accept. --- Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at amerikansk.dk .

When the Americans have bad news, they don’t want to be the bad guy, they don’t want to be a jerk, so they “do a hamburger”. That means they tuck the meat of the criticism inside a lot of soft words. “Thanks for your proposal – I love your initiative. It’s not going to work for us. But always come to me with your ideas.” Non-Americans aren’t really sure what’s being said. Are you saying, good initiative, or that my idea is bad, or that I should try again with something new? --- Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at Amerikansk.dk.

A Danish manager once told me he’d go through all his US marketing materials and take out the exclamation marks. They sound like shouting, he said. But Americans love exclamation points. For them, it means enthusiasm and excitement. This is also why they love words like Awesome! Fantastic! Wonderful! Danes often find these words hard to use, because they don’t like hyperbole, but in a US context if you say something is...OK...people will assume that you don’t really like it. ----- Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at Amerikansk.dk.

Americans have a terrible habit of trying to cut off an overlong conversation by saying, “Let’s have lunch sometime!” This sometimes has variants, like, “Let’s have a beer sometime!” or “We should definitely go for a hike sometime.” Danes don’t always understand that these are very fluffy promises. The speaker doesn’t always have the intention of actually making plans for these activities. If you really do want to get together and have lunch, you may have to follow up yourself. ----- Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at Amerikansk.dk.

Vacation season is on the way, and it’s one of the top stressors between Danes and Americans working together. Danes want to enjoy three or four weeks off in the summer to relax, regain perspective. Americans say, I have a customer on the line right now, and he’s angry, why won’t you pick up the phone? What – three weeks from now? If you’re serious about doing business in the US, leave at least one person in the Danish office who can answer questions and make a quick decision. ----- Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at Amerikansk.dk.

In Denmark, people love planning in advance, and sometimes they’ll set a work deadline far in advance. Let’s say it’s May now, and a Dane says, I need this report done by September 1. He may not follow up at all in the meantime, simply expect the report to be delivered on September 1. But Americans think that if you haven’t followed up, you’ve forgotten about it, or other priorities have become more important. If you give Americans a long deadline, keep reminding them, or I can promise you – it won’t get done. Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Book Kay for an in-person or virtual event at events.howtoliveindenmark.com. Learn more at Amerikansk.dk.

Danes rarely use their job titles. It seems rather pompous to them. But Americans love their titles. So do their mothers, who like to say, “My daughter is a vice president.” Well, half the firm’s employees may be vice presidents. It’s common to give someone a better title instead of a raise. When you’re doing business in the US, do pretend to care about someone’s title – it probably means a lot to them. But it might not always really indicate their place in the hierarchy, or their ability to sign off on a business deal. Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory and BookBeat.

"They don’t take any initiative!” That’s something I’ve heard Danish bosses say about their US employees. In Denmark, good employees finish their tasks and then look for more ways to help the company. But US workers at big companies can’t do this for legal reasons. If an employee takes the initiative, goes outside her area of expertise, and makes a mistake, the company might get sued. So keep in mind, US employees might need your “permission” to take the initiative and try something new. Kay Xander Mellish is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory and Bookbeat. Learn more at amerikansk.dk .

Today’s 33-second video takes on a social aspect of doing business in the USA: Spouses are often invited to business social events, particularly holiday parties and weekend events. Several Danes have told me that they have trouble knowing what to say to spouses who are stay-at-home parents, who these days can be male or female, gay or straight. “What is this?” they tell me. “Some kind of 1950s housewife type of situation?” On the contrary – in the US, having one parent stay home to focus on raising school-age children is a status marker. You can afford it! Few areas of the US have the extensive public day care options available in Denmark. When the kids get a bit older and have sports, drama, and other after-school events, someone has to drive them there: public transport in the US is often dirty and dangerous, and in many suburban areas simply unavailable. In addition, “home schooling” one’s children has become a popular option in areas where schools have been shut down for long periods during the COVID pandemic. Home schoolers are often but not always politically-conservative parents, and they often form networks so that the kids can have social contact with other children their age. Bottom line, stay-at-home parents are often highly educated, sometimes even more educated than the working parent. In addition to their child raising, many run small businesses on the side. You can be confident that they’ll have plenty of conversation to offer.

Here's another 33-second video! If you're a European company looking for a US partner, consider time zones as part of your selection process. The six-hour time difference with the East Coast is a lot easier to deal with than the nine-hour time difference with the Pacific Coast.

33 on Thursday is back! In today’s 33-second video, we talk about how Danish bosses sometimes assume their US teams are 100% behind them when it comes to strategy…but it ain’t necessarily so. While Danish teams can be counted on to challenge their managers directly, Americans are less likely to do so. This is in part because US business culture is more hierarchical – the boss is The Boss – and partly because American employees don’t want to get fired and find themselves on the street. The US has very little safety net. Danes often underestimate the role of the welfare state when it comes to their willingness to hold the boss to account. If you know that your medical care and your kids’ education isn’t dependent on your continued employment, you’re much more willing to tell the boss that her new idea is about as well-chosen as a flaming dessert on the Hindenburg. Read more – and see as-yet unpublished 33-second videos – on Amerikansk.dk.

In the debut episode of her "33 on Thursday" series of 33-second how-to videos, Kay Xander Mellish offers some quick tips for Europeans on making small talk with Americans. Kay is the author of "Working with Americans: Tips for Danes" and "Working with Danes: Tips for Americans," available on books.howtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Saxo Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook. You can also check out the audiobooks on Amazon Audible, Mofibo/Storytell, Nextory, and BookBeat. Learn more at amerikansk.dk .