Bonjour from Paris. I promised to share some quick impressions from my latest business travel to Europe. I have always been - and remain - a huge fan of working and collaborating with colleagues in Europe. There are so many cultures from a variety of countries living so close to one another. As a result, business meetings in Europe through my experience are very often filled with colleagues from multiple countries with the ability to speak in not one, but regularly 2, 3 even 4 languages. For those of us not so fortunate to speak in more than 1 language, it is a quick reminder of the imperative in Europe to work and communicate across cultures.
There is a balance of very focused business discussion with collegiate and personal interest discussion. Unlike our typical business meetings in the States, meetings in Europe always include regular and somewhat lengthy by American norms, coffee and tea breaks. The uninformed typically assume these are truly breaks where productivity stops. In fact, I've always found it is quite the opposite. The "breaks" are opportunities to form and improve relationships, further discuss the topics at hand, but sometimes in a slightly more casual manner and always with excellent European-style, strong coffee. There is something just a bit more polite and traditional about these multiple, mid-meeting pauses throughout a normal working day.
Anyhow, getting ready to head back home. Talk to you soon!