Monochronic and Polychronic Cultures - Manage Time Across Cultures
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
- Studies show that people living in monochronic and polychronic cultural contexts perceive and manage time differently. Learn how to manage time when working with people from different cultures in international teams or with business partners across borders. Become a more empathetic friend and global citizen with an open mindset, who is ready to adapt to build bridges.
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Thanks to Chalisa Trakarn for sharing a real life case and design ideas.
Test to find out if you have a polychronic or monochronic orientation of time using scales developed and validated by scholars.
Rate the following statements from 1-5, 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree. Add up your scores. A higher score indicates polychronic orientation and a lower score a monochronic time orientation.
45-40 strongly polychronic, 39-28 polychronic, 27 neutral, 26-15 monochronic, 14-9 strongly monochronic
1. I like to juggle several activities at the same time
2. People should try to do many things at once
3. When I sit down at my desk, I work on several things at a time
4. I am comfortable doing several things at the same time
5. When I work by myself, I usually work on one project at a time
6. I believe people do their best work when they have many tasks to complete
7. I don't think it is important to complete one task before beginning another
8. I believe it is best for people to be given several tasks and assignments to perform
9. I would rather complete parts of several projects every day than complete an entire project
Use this shorter scale to assess your polychronic or monochronic orientation at work, the higher the number the more monochronic you are. Score each from 1 to 5, 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree. Add up your points
25-21 strongly monochronic, 20-16 monochronic, 15 neutral, 14-10 polychronic, 9-5 strongly polychronic)
1. I use call forwarding when I am in a meeting
2. I use a do not disturb sign when I am in a meeting
3. I work with my office door open. Reverse scored, e.g. count 5 as 1, 4 as 2. points etc.
4. I have the department secretary screen my calls
I loved this video. It gave me a clear understanding of how two cultures can interact even with a time perception barrier. I myself am a polychronic person and had a hard time turning in assignments on time. It took me a while to transition to a monochronic perception.
Thanks Alexandria. Happy that you can relate. Yes transitioning can take time, especially if we learned one or the other orientation throughout our life. What fires in your brain wires but luckily all can be changed if necessary/wished (in the end neither orientation is right or wrong but its up to us to decide). Happy that you found a way for yourself. 💕💕
Thank you for sharing. Good video❤
I come from polychronic culture. Time is not taken too seriously which at times I personally see as a shortcoming.
Yes it's difficult if it conflicts with one's personality or upbringing. If empathetic assertiveness works one could communicate but then if it's a high content culture as well people may feel offended by "direct feedback". I sometimes just tend to just schedule meetings earlier, so people come in time 😅
I'm monochronic. From United States
Is this really a binary divide or is it more about a continuum of how much people value time? Obviously a slower-moving society will value time less since they “have” more of it. That doesn’t mean they perceive the passage of time differently, are non-linear n their thinking, or respect others less.
I don't think it's about how much people value time, as much as it is how much people value doing certain things with their time over others.
Everybody used to be polychronic, it is through the regulation of time, amongst other things, that successful nations became so successful (think trains and manufacturing). Even in monochronic cultures, the tendency is to be more relaxed and flexible in social situations, but in work situations, it is not tolerated, this is not a coincidence.
Even within Asia, the more monochronic the culture, the more prosperous (think Japan, Korea, Taiwan vs SE Asia).
To value time, and to value others time is a sign of respect, it is a depth that is lost on polychronic cultures, (and therefore could not be seen as disrespect from those individuals).
The monochronic way of thinking is a clear evolution. Obviously at its extreme it's rigid and not adaptable, but I have yet to meet a person to ask the specific time a party ends in a monochronic society, maybe in Germany or Japan.
However all those cultures you mentioned have incredible stress lives and high suicide rate. There are several way to measure a successful nation. Like the video said there are benefits to both cultural practices.
It's almost like men (masculine) are more focused on work and things that have to be done... and women (feminine) are more focused on building and growing relationships... I think I had this figured out by the age of 10
So winners vs lazy
More like stressed and depressed vs chilled and composed
Sounds like "monochronic" means you actually have things to do.
🙂 that's probably what people with a monochronic orientation would say/support. Thought the same at times as someone from a monochronic culture (Germany) who has been living for a while now in a polychronic context (Thailand). Someone with a polychronic orientation though would likely say that she/he still ticks of to do lists but is more flexible, not as linar and stressed when doing so.