{"id":10133,"date":"2015-02-04T14:15:25","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/?p=10133"},"modified":"2015-02-04T14:03:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:03:02","slug":"sequential-synchronic-views-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/sequential-synchronic-views-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Sequential and Synchronic Views of Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Originally published on 20.03.2013<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>&#8222;Are we on time?&#8220;<\/h2>\n<p>The question seems simple enough but that seemingly simple question can unlock different ways of viewing time and the commitments associated with our view of time. My experience with intercultural training has made me think about that question a bit differently.<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cOn time\u201d in Ghana<\/h2>\n<p>It reminds me of the story about a German businessman traveling in Ghana.\u00a0 He set a meeting with his Ghanaian counterpart for 1 p.m. Since \u201con time\u201d for the German businessman meant arriving early enough for the meeting to begin at 1 p.m., he made sure he arrived at the Ghanaian\u2019s office 10 minutes early to account for things that could go wrong.\u00a0 After his arrival, he was greeted by the secretary of his Ghanaian counterpart and told to take a seat. 1 p.m. came and went and his Ghanaian counterpart wasn\u2019t there. 1:10 p.m. came and went, and his counterpart wasn\u2019t there. 1:20 p.m. came and went and his counterpart still wasn\u2019t there. At this point the German businessman asked the secretary if everything was OK. Had there been an accident preventing the arrival of his counterpart? The secretary simply smiled and said she was sure everything was OK and that the Ghanaian businessman should be along any minute now. The German businessman returned to his seat and continued to wait, becoming angrier as each moment passed. As the clock struck 1:45 p.m. the Ghanaian businessman entered his office in no particular hurry, chatted with his secretary and invited the then angry German businessman into his office.\u00a0 After closing the door, the German businessman could not contain himself any long and he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what kind of outfit you\u2019re running here but we clearly said we would meet at 1:00 p.m.\u00a0 According to my watch, it is now 1:55 p.m.!\u201d The Ghanaian took a seat behind his desk and said \u201cMy good man, you have the watch but I have the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Sequential v. Synchronic views of time<\/h2>\n<p>The story above is an illustration of two different ways of seeing time, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/carolkinseygoman\/2011\/11\/28\/how-culture-controls-communication\/2\/\" target=\"_blank\">sequentially and synchronically<\/a>. According to Fons Trompenaars Seven Dimensions of Culture, cultures with a preference for a <strong>sequential<\/strong> approach to time tend to treat time as a commodity. Time is something to be saved, spent or wasted. Time is used to bring order and set limits, like the counsellor who says your time is up even if you are in the middle of revealing a deep insight.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, those cultures which tend to see time <strong>synchronically<\/strong> see time more holistically and interconnected. Time doesn\u2019t drive the task.\u00a0 If I am meeting with my manager and the meeting goes longer than expected, I probably won\u2019t stand up at the appointed hour and leave! If he decides it is a better use of my time to meet with him than to do the other things I planned to do, then I would shift and cancel other commitments. Synchronic cultures tend to value priorities more than a predetermined time limit. They will do what is right to do at the moment, not follow a strict schedule.<\/p>\n<h2>When different cultural perspectives of being \u201con time\u201d clash<\/h2>\n<p>Typically one view can accommodate the other. I can bring a book or work with me to appointments in case someone is late or add time to the appointment in anticipation of the other being late. On the other hand, I could clear time before an important meeting, account for what could go wrong and leave in plenty of time to be there at the appointed hour.\u00a0 If I\u2019m early, so be it. Reconciliation is something different than simply tolerating and accommodating the tendencies of others. In reconciliation we can negotiate with each other to find a way that works for both of us. Being aware of our different tendencies and caring about our relationships leads to solutions beyond compromise.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if I am more synchronic and you are more sequential, instead of you needing to bring a book with you to our meeting, I\u2019ll commit to a longer time together and provide you with a meaningful activity before we meet. If we need less time, you will have saved time and if I am delayed you still can do something worthwhile and productive before we begin. No time is \u201cwasted\u201d and you will have my undivided attention during our meeting until our goals are met.<\/p>\n<h2>More Intercultural<\/h2>\n<p>The focus on reconciliation is why Target Training integrates <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.thtconsulting.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Trompenaars Hampden-Turner\u2019s <\/a>experience and research into our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/the-seven-dimensions-of-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\">solutions<\/a>.\u00a0 Through reconciliation, clients will find better solutions to the intercultural\u00a0 problems they face.\u00a0 Target Training is a licensed supplier of\u00a0 Trompenaars-Hampden-Turner\u2019s\u00a0 Intercultural Awareness Profile and Cultural Competence Online Products. Target Training provides intercultural training based on the Trompenaars\u2019 Seven Dimension Model alone and as part of business communication skills training.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/tag\/intercultural\/\">More intercultural insights&#8230; <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published on 20.03.2013 &#8222;Are we on time?&#8220; The question seems simple enough but that seemingly simple question can unlock different ways of viewing time and the commitments associated with our view of time. My experience with intercultural training has made me think about that question a bit differently. \u201cOn time\u201d in Ghana It reminds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-10133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intercultural-2","tag-intercultural"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sequential and Synchronic Views of Time | Target Training GmbH<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/sequential-synchronic-views-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sequential and Synchronic Views of Time | Target Training GmbH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Originally published on 20.03.2013 &#8222;Are we on time?&#8220; The question seems simple enough but that seemingly simple question can unlock different ways of viewing time and the commitments associated with our view of time. 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