Finnish Business Meeting Etiquette

Meetings are important in the Finnish context and are essential for the sharing of information.

As individuals like to be allowed to get on with their tasks in isolation, a forum is needed for the sharing of knowledge gained and progress made.

Meetings can seem strange affairs to people not familiar with Finland or the Finns – long but quiet. As will be discussed later, (see Communication Style), the Finnish approach to discourse is almost unique in its sparseness and this can lead non-Finns to make all kinds of erroneous judgements with regard to the tenor and effectiveness of a meeting they might attend. It is definitely true to say that, in Finland, the quality of your intervention is of much greater significance than the quantity. Less is very definitely more!

Meetings tend to be structured, follow a pre-set agenda and are orderly with one person speaking at a time – often seeking permission to speak through the Chair. People will be well prepared, as you are not expected to speak unless you have something concrete to contribute. There is likely to be little social chit-chat before getting down to business.

Finns view overt enthusiasm and hyperbole with suspicion and it is better to understate your case than to overstate it. Your actions and words are the basis upon which your worth will be measured. Finns will weigh you up over a period of time, but once they have decided in your favour, you have a relationship for life.

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 Australia only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.

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 Finland only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.