Hello everybody,
As you know, professional habits may differ from one country to another. In order to help newly arrived expats better understand their new professional environment in Italy, we warmly encourage you to share information and insights about the do's and don'ts in the workplace.
For instance, are there office manners? How do you greet your co-workers? Do you greet your management differently? Is there a dress code? Particular rules to observe? Maybe a professional body language?
On another level, what is key for a successful professional meeting? Are there any steps to follow? How do you a start a negotiation?
In other words, what are the most important things to know for a successful professional integration in Italy?
Thank you in advance for sharing your experience!
Julien
Business etiquette in Italy
In dealing with professional organizations in Italy, my experiences have been widely diverse. Being a banker from Boston, I expect professionalism in dress and comportment in business offices, be they banks, insurance companies, doctors , lawyer etc. In the USA, England, Scotland, etc., businessmen drsss and carry themsdelves with dignity and aplomb. My experiences in North Italy, and I stress the NORTH, has been shocking. Doctors, lawyers, bankers etc. dress like tramps..or at the very least I would say they do not dress properly for a business environment. I would say that they dress as if they are going to a pic nic or a golf game. The secretaries are in jeans! In a business office!! They have no concept of office protocol, how to answer the phone, how to announce visitors in a professional manner, etc. This behavior would be totally unacceptable and not tolerated at most business offices in a major city in the USA.
At the other end of the spectrum, South Italy, i.e. Naples and Palermo, is a bit more organized and dignified. Businessmen and their secretaries dress professionally and seem to understand office protocol.
In accordance to what my experience as an Italian, temporary sales & marketing manager for small- medium firms around Europe, I'd say generally Italy lacks in professionalism and distinctively has a reputation on not having excellent problem solving worker teams.
It is common to find stubborn and individualist colleagues, arguing loudly and taking things personally rather than thinking impartially for a peaceful professional solution, for the sake of everyone.
You will find team building practices and approaches on lean thinking only in big organisations and multinational firms. Often tasks and professional figures are not distinct, environments tend to be multitasking and chaotic.
As organisation, laws and bureaucracy are complicated (rather than simplified over the years, as in other european countries) workers don't have much time, tend to avoid social extra-working relationships and don't care about establishing creative work-related venues, (example: casual Fridays in England etc)
Jobs with higher academic preparation and small-medium sized firms notably do not have office protocols, but is good practice for them to dress professionally, depending strictly on what the business is about. (example: an engineer on a construction firm will be casual-sporty; the same professional will be dressed classy at an architectural firm)
Finally there isn't a consistent approach as regards corporate attitude.
Since there is a huge range of variants, from firm to firm, from north to south, from east to west, the keywords for a successful professional integration in Italy, in my opinion are: patience, observation, modulability, non-invasive interaction and a strong personality. Simple is not for this country.
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