关于时间的谚语.ppt

关于时间的谚语 Punctuality Pays! 守时会有回报 One of the cultural differences that tends to annoy Americans has to do with understanding of punctuality. Getting ahead at work starts with getting to work on time! If you come from a culture that has a more relaxed view of time, you’re likely to be surprised at how serious Americans are about time. While not all Americans are punctual all the time, the society as a whole operates on the basis of well-kept schedules. This is true in personal and community life as well as in U.S. business culture. Here’s a real-life story that happened to me recently. I had scheduled a business meeting with a team India, but had somehow forgotten to log it into my schedule. Arriving at my office 30 minutes after the appointment, I found a voice message telling me the tem was waiting for me in the meeting room. Being afraid that I had missed the appointment, I hurried in, and found them happily chatting together. Their attitude was “Ah! You’ here! We can start now!” If the team had been American, it’s likely they would have been annoyed, and unlikely they would have waited more than 10 minutes-at the most. They would have left me a message asking to re-schedule the meeting. Why? Because American-style appointments have a firm end as well as start time, and if you start late you won’t be able to finish the business at hand without running beyond the scheduled ending time. If you’re new to working in the United States, doing business with the U.S. , or working for an American company overseas, here are a few tips for your everyday behavior around appointments and punctuality. They are sure to help you get ahead with your American colleagues: Schedule meetings and appointments in advance-a few days, a week, even a month in advance. Always make appointments for in-person meetings. Don’t just show up and expect people to make time to talk with you. If you think you’re going to be more than a few minutes late for any appoin