Swiss Teams

Swiss Teams

As in all countries the Swiss will celebrate the benefits of team working and warn of the threats of ignoring a team-based approach. It is doubtful, however, whether the Swiss approach to team working would be understood or approved of in certain other countries.

In Switzerland, people prefer to be allowed to have the freedom and individuality to be left alone to perform their allocated tasks, free from external interference or close supervision. ‘If I am technically competent and diligent, then I can perform the tasks you give me to the required standard.’

Thus, the idea of a team leader using his or her interpersonal skills to motivate individuals to work together to achieve a common goal sits uneasily with this Swiss penchant for being allocated a task and then being allowed to complete it in an unaided and unsupervised manner.

This approach to team work seems to work because all the individuals in the team can be trusted to perform to a high level and have the required depth of technical knowledge.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Switzerland only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.