Hi again and welcome back to Across the pond. In the previous episode, we have got James and Anlan talking about different work situations and how they would respond, and today we continue with that discussion.

Moving on from colleagues to bosses. Imagine your boss comes to your desk and says "Can I have a quick chat? " What jumps to your mind first? What’s your first impression? What do you think he wants to talk about? Let’s have James first.

He probably wants me to do something.

Why wouldn’t he just say, "James, can you finish this report? " if he says "Can I have a quick chat? "

Well, they might just say kind of finish your report, but usually when they’re doing this come to my desk, let’s say ‘can I have a quick chat’, means they’re gonna want me to do something above and beyond, something outside of my normal job description, so they may need to discuss something most likely in America is like "Sure,what do you need or what’s up?"

So you wouldn’t really assume it’s like bad news or good news.

No. If it was bad news, the situation would be "James,can you come to my office, please?"

And that’s when you know when you’re in trouble.

Yeah.

Sugar, what about Anlan? I sense that British people would have a different sort of reaction to this.

"Can I have a quick chat? " is germany always negative in the UK. Lots of people, lots of bosses, managers, they don’t actually have their own offices, so lots of the workplace is open plan. For example, if there was a problem, probably the manager would come and say "Can I have a quick chat?" , and lead you away somewhere quietly?

And then you’re thinking, I’m getting fired today.

Maybe not getting fired, but whatever happens at the end of that conversation is not to be something that you are going to like.

I see, but what kind of signals would British people think it’s like positive signals? What are the things that bosses might say to you if they want to announce to you that you’re getting promoted or you’re getting a raise?

"I’ve got some news for you" or "I’ve got some good news for you. "

So they directly would say I’ve got some good news for you, okay. The next one also about bosses. You are just about to clock off, so it’s the end of the day you’re about to leave, you’re packing your things and your boss pops out and asks if you’d like to go for a quick drink after work? Being British…?

Being British, I think I would probably just go for a pint, go for a drink. It’s not that uncommon to go for a drink with coworkers or go for a drink with your boss or even your manager.

I always want to ask, does it make a difference when you’re a different gender? So if you were my boss, you’re a man, I’m a woman and then if you say "Well,Lulu, would you... "

Yeah, I would say that is a bit dodgy.

That is a bit dodgy.

But if it’s a group of people, so if I say to you "LuLu, we’re all going for a pint or we’re all going for a drink. " That’s fine.

I see. And if it’s two guys also fine. What about James? Boss asks you to go for a quick drink after work?

You’re paying?

Are you serious?

Partially. So in America, if your boss is asking you to go out to drink with them, culturally they’re paying for it.

Really?

Yes. Because they’re your boss, they make more money than you.

And they, I mean, they initiated it.

And they initiated it. So they are going… at least they’re buying you a drink. But Americans are free to turn this down. They’d be like...

It’s not their duty.

They’re not duty bound or obligated to go.They might say like "I have to get home or I have things to do this evening. So it is outside of work. "

No hard feelings.

No hard feelings. Cuz if he just wanna go and have a chat with you, or get to know you better, there isn’t any hard feelings; if it’s some kind of event, maybe.

Are you like culturally expected? Though, I know, there are no rules, but are you at least culturally expected to go out with your colleagues to socialize over a drink after work?

No. No.

I think we talked about this before.

Yeah, cuz in the UK, it’s quite common to go for a quick drink with your coworkers.

Moving on from casual drinks to actual project management. And now this is bit of a major issue. So despite your repeated concerns about the direction of project is taking, even though you gave a lot of opinions saying that we cannot do this project this way repeatedly, but they didn’t listen to you and you are inevitably blamed when it all goes wrong, being British, being American,what would you do, James?

Most likely the American would quit.

Really?

Yeah. Because they would feel unappreciated. They would… when in the exit interview cuz when you quit you’re allowed to have an exit interview.

Mhm.

They would share their concerns with the HR, and most Americans realize that even if they do complain and have documented everything, they know nothing will happen, the management will never admit their mistake.

But what if it’s, say it’s not the management, it’s someone you are collaborating with on this project. If it’s your colleague, someone roughly sort of like the same level.

Most Americans just tend to quit if they’re in an unappreciated or get blamed for stuff that isn’t their fault.

Would British people quit?

Probably not. The thing is that in most British companies you wouldn’t be directly blamed for a mistake.

Okay.

For example, if you did play a lead in role in this project and it didn’t work, then I would kind of show kind of the evidence and by having repeated concerns as well, there’s gonna be a paper trail, there’s gonna be records of you and what you said.

So you basically will gather the evidence and stand your ground, defend your position.

But I would say in this type of situation, it’s gonna be less about blaming. Management structures in the UK, if you start blaming colleagues, then that’s gonna cause huge problems in the future.

I think that’s less cultural, that’s more like business effective management.

Yeah.

Really. OK next situation really really bad, really embarrassing.You send an email making derogatory, so really bad sort of assaulting comments about a colleague, about how bad he or she is. But you accidentally send it to everyone in the company, being British, being American, you would… James?

Be fired, instantly.

Really?

You’re saying derogatory comments about a colleague.

Even if it’s derogatory about his performance. I’m not saying he’s a bad person, I’m just saying the work he delivered is rubbish.

Well, but the term derogatory comments isn’t just meaning that they did poor work.

If I say he is a moron.

You’re actually insulting the person, you will be fired, no if and all buts.

What if you just send to one person?

If you just send it to one person, if that email got leaked, you would be fired. It’s just not wise to do this.

And would you get fired in the UK?

Maybe not fire straight away, but it would definitely make the Friday night drink very awkward.

You won’t even be invited.

No, probably not. And in this type of situation, I wouldn’t say that most people would or they should make all those comments; if you’re gonna make derogatory comments, do it face to face, no record.

Okay.

So the age of the cell phone, they could always be recording you.

Exactly. There’s nothing is off the record. Last question really awkward, a frequently challenged coworker, basically someone who smells, sitting close-by, makes your life a misery through their lack of personal hygiene. For example, they don’t wash themselves for days and they start to smell. Would you remind them that they need to wash? What’s gonna happen? Let’s hear from the British side first, Anlan.

Find somewhere else to sit quick.

Non-confrontational, I see.

We wouldn’t be able to say very much.

Can you not even say that hint at it? Like, I would probably say, "Wow,you really must like this T-shirt because you’ve been wearing it for 10 days straight. "

That just cause a massive argument. To be perfectly honest, if it was me, I would just find somewhere else to sit and hope someone else would raise it.

But every other British person in your company thinking exactly the same then no one’s gonna ever mention to him.

Maybe it’s a tactic so they can have a whole table all to themselves.

It could be, in America, James?

Report to HR, they will be fired.

Because they smell?

Poor personal hygiene. Most companies require you to have good personal hygiene.You need a shower and fresh clothes, you need to be presentable. And having poor hygiene, cuz lack of hygiene is not presentable and they will fire you for it.

It seems like you get fired quite easily in American companies.

You can get easily fired. So when I was back in America, I used to work for a doctor’s office doing record keeping, and we actually had specific rules about hygiene, about our hair, about shaving, about cologne, about deodorant, everything, if you don’t follow the rules, they will just fire you.

I see. Okay. So that wraps up today’s Across the Pond - talk about workplace. If you are interested in any of these work situations, if you have a different response other than what you have heard, share with us in the comment section, we can have a discussion.

And thank you Anlan, thank you James for coming to the show.

Thanks a lot.

See you next time,

Bye.

Bye-bye.

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