Cultural differences are highly underrated, I think. Despite rising trends of some countries wanting the opposite, we live in a globalized world and it does not seems like it will stop in the near future. Why? Because of declining populations in many countries, for example Japan, Italy, China, Iran, Brazil and India. Hungary is no different, and as in many countries, it needs foreign labour force. Thinking in an objective manner, the more mixed an organization is, the more they should understand and apply cultural differences related knowledge. In some companies they put some effort in this, as they know how diverse is their workforce. Some others do not (perhaps the majority), and that hinders communication, processes and projects. Many companies, mostly multinationals, not only have a diverse workforce, but also their suppliers and clients are from another countries. For example, I am from Panama but live in Hungary, the last multinational I worked for is British, my superior in the project organization was an Asian living in the United States, my colleagues were mainly from India and Hungary (including my local superior) and my client was and Asian working in Singapore for a Swiss multinational.
You can teach all those people from all those nationalities effective communication, but despite that super advanced effective communication mandatory trainings, if they do not have at least basic knowledge on cultural differences, they will exchange 78 e-mails a day instead of only 15 e-mails. Highly inefficient.
In this article however, I will write about the main characteristics of the working culture in Hungary. My article is based on my experience in learning and also in teaching about cultural differences. I learned and taught based on these theories: Geert Hofstede (Culture and Organizations), Richard D. Lewis (Cross-Cultural Communication), Andy Molinsky (Global Dexterity) and Erin Mayer (The Culture Map).
Disclaimer: In this post I am generalizing, which is something that some people vehemently dislike. They are in a way right, generalizing is not good, but at the same time, in a region, country or a culture, there are always some things that are common to everyone or most people, such as how they socialize with each other, their customs, way of thinking, beliefs or traditions. Having said that, I do not like if somebody judges me based on my culture without knowing me, but… I am perfectly aware of the fact that I have qualities that are common to latinos. For example, can you find latinos who arrive on time? Yes, of course, but we are very popular for always being late.
After this long introduction, I now will start the article:
Punctuality: somehow flexible
One of the most conflicting aspects in a multi-cultural environment, if not the most, is timing, that is why this point is the first one. Hungarians like to be punctual and like you to be punctual. Let me explain this in a practical way. You have a meeting with a Hungarian colleague at 10:00 in the morning. You both arrive at 9:59 and everybody is happy. Why I say somehow flexible? Hungarians expect punctuality, but they are understanding in case you will be late, it is only human to be late. But, there is a condition to the situation of being late. You need to communicate that you will be late. So, if at 9:30 or 9:45 you already know that you will be late, you need to let them know. You also need to communicate the new arrival time. If only 5 or 10 minutes, no problem, but say it. You can also communicate the reason why you are late and say sorry.
In other cultures all that is unnecessary, in other words, why to communicate so much only for being late 5 minutes? That is too much. And I understand, cultures are different. I only communicate what I know, if you want a better relationship with Hungarians, this is my advice.
Communication: its timing
I already mentioned communication in the previous point, so this point will be shorter. If you are going to be late with a task or late when arriving to a meeting, the communication is important but also its timing. Maybe the latter is more important. Imagine the task is for Wednesday. Do not tell the Hungarian that you will not have the task ready on Wednesday. Tell him or her on Monday or Tuesday. Similarly, if you know that for the 10:00 o clock meeting, you can only arrive at 10:10, do not write a message at 10:01, write a message at 9:45.
Integrity: keep your word
I will continue with the example of the task for Wednesday and the meeting at 10:00 o clock. You will be late with the task which supposed to be ready for Wednesday, best case scenario you let the Hungarian know on Monday that you will not be ready for Wednesday, but for Thursday. On Thursday, first thing in the morning, send the completed task to the Hungarian. Keep your word. In fact, if you know that Friday is more probable than Thursday, better say you will have it for Friday, but if you finish on Thursday you will send it then.
Same with the 10:00 o clock meeting. You let the Hungarian know at 9:45 that you will be late 10 minutes and you need to be there at 10:10, not at 10:20. Keep your word.
Process orientation: and details
Hungarians in general like processes and better if written. They will follow the process, and will always take a look at the instructions or process description if needed. If they get stuck, they will ask what to do in that situation. If details are missing, they will ask for those details. All in all, Hungarians like certain level of structure and to follow a process. Most importantly if the situation is new, or the company is new, or the team is new, they will expect structure. In case there are no processes and they are left in the new position, or company, or team without specific instructions, they will not feel comfortable.
There is a positive side to being oriented to processes and to structure, however there is also a downside. Some Hungarians feel that details are more important than the big picture, and ask too much about many things that might be unimportant in the eyes of people from another culture. In general, Hungarians do not like uncertainty or spontaneity.
People orientation: as important as tasks
Cultures for example in countries in Northern Europe are mainly task oriented. For them, in a working environment, the task needs to be done well and on time and they expect that regardless of whether they like you personally or not. On the contrary, countries closer to the Mediterranean sea, Southern countries, in general are more people oriented. They can be very flexible with tasks and care much more about people. This does not mean that in Southern countries people do not work, neither that in Northern Europe they just do not care about employees. The difference is in the focus.
Hungary is in center of Europe and so it is its people vs task orientation working culture. Right in the middle. Hungarians are as much people oriented as they are task oriented. Some people or some companies will be more leaning to people orientation and others more to task orientation, but in general there is a good balance between the two.
Trust building: back to the first three points
I will not explain much here. To build trust with Hungarians be punctual, communicate and keep your word. Also have coffee with them once in a while. It is a ritual which shows a Hungarian sympathizes with you. Warning: if they like you personally, but you are not punctual, you do not communicate, neither you keep your word, it does not matter how many coffees you have with them, there will not be trust.
Organizational structure: flat or hierarchical
Broadly speaking, I would say that you will find companies with flat organizational structures and also hierarchical ones. It will depend most times on the type of company, if it is a 50 years old company, most probably it will be hierarchical and decision making will always take place with the management, very slowly. At times many decisions will get stuck and be pending in an invisible queue, in other words a bottleneck of pending decisions. In case you are joining a 5 or 10 years old company, the chances are high that you will find a flat organizational structure, with everybody having a high level of autonomy. Most decisions will be taken by a Senior Expert or a Middle Manager, in other words decisions will flow.
And then, there are many companies with a big mix of flat and hierarchical organizational structure depending on the team, or problem to be solved, or decision to be taken or whether budget is required. You will find this environment mostly in huge companies, regardless of whether they are Hungarian companies or Multinationals.
Short or long term orientation
Although I am 100% sure that many Hungarians will disagree with me, I believe that Hungarians are rather midterm oriented. They will say about themselves that they are short term oriented. Thing is that most of them have not live in Panama or in Latin America, we are really short term oriented. As for long term orientation, cultural differences literature mention for example Germany, Luxemburg and Switzerland as more long term oriented cultures.
Why does this matters in a working environment? If you tell a Panamanian that his or her working hours will change in 6 months, they will not even write it down, it will be forgotten. You will need to send a reminder 1 month before the change and then 1 week before the change, and then 1 day before the change. If you tell a Hungarian that his or her schedule will change in 2 months, they will ask you why do you communicate this so late. But if you do it 6 months in advance, they will like it and appreciate it.
Fun or rules oriented
There are some cultures more oriented to having fun and enjoying life while others will be more oriented to rules, structure and social norms. A Hungarian neighbour told me once: you latinos know how to enjoy life. I personally think Hungarians also enjoy life, but in a different way. I will use a real life example; that is better to explain. It is Friday, the whole team is in the office and at 4 o clock in the afternoon the Team Leader says let us have a beer in the pub close by. A Panamanian would not think about it twice. We latinos in general mix work with personal life, we would go for that beer to start the weekend in the correct way. If there was a pending task, we would think maybe mañana or on Monday and forget about that task for the whole weekend. No problem. A Hungarian would also go for the beer, although they do not like mixing work with personal life as much. The approach to the beer however would be different. If there was a pending task, the Hungarian would think, I go 15 minutes later for the beer, but I will finish the task first so I enjoy the beer better. In case the superior insists in going right away, the Hungarian would go for the beer, but would not forget the task, it would be there on the back of his or her mind.
Silence
And as the last point in this article, I will tell you the most important social norm in Hungarian society and it applies also for work: silence. If you live in Hungary, most probably you notice that Hungarians dislike noise. You are a good neighbour in Hungary if you never listen to loud music, never hold any parties in your apartment or house, never hammer or drill anything at home, not on weekdays nor on weekends, you do not mow the grass either and you never raise your voice or shout (and your kids either). This means, that you are a good neighbour if they never listen or hear you except for when you say good morning or when you chat with them in the building corridor or in the stairs.
This also applies at the office. I remember once a Hungarian colleague of mine complaining about another colleague being on calls and speaking loudly all day long. From his point of view, the colleague could have lowered his tone of voice. In a way Hungarians are right, if you search for the benefits of silence you will find for example that enhances concentration and focus. Although from the point of view of another cultures, silence is the opposite, they are so used to noise that without it they cannot concentrate.
If you visit one day the famous Hungarians thermal baths, in some of them you will see signs asking visitors to keep quiet. In one of them I read once that silence heals.
Now it is your turn, what do you relate to in this list? Do you have other experience with Hungarians? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Have a good day,
Renato
Sources:
Seven countries with big (and small) population problems – BBC News
bne IntelliNews – Hungary faces steep demographic decline in coming decades
