Influx

It’s great to see The Economist try its hand at giving advice for  businessmen traveling to San Francisco.

It reads a little like a field manual for a new potentially hostile territory.

Here’s what they say about meeting etiquette.

“Meetings and greetings

• It is important
to both start and end appointments on time. If you’re driving between
San Francisco and Silicon Valley, add 20% to your travel time and
always take highway 280 over highway 101 if you can—it is usually
faster and always prettier. When possible, schedule your meetings
between 10am and 3pm to avoid rush hours.

• Don’t be offended if
people neglect to shake your hand or take your business card in large
business meetings. Americans (and Californians) are more informal than
you may be used to.

• Having said that, carry as many business cards as possible, after making room for all the newest high-tech gadgets.

•
Be generous with your contacts. People here will remember and reward
you if you give them the name of someone who may prove profitable and
interesting for them to meet.

• Put your mobile phone on silent
during meetings and only take a call if it is truly urgent. Best
practice is to warn your interlocutor ahead of time that you may need
to break for a call.

•
If you are responsible for only part of a larger presentation it is not
considered rude to leave after your part (including the
question-and-answer session) is over.

• Resist your natural modesty. Promoting yourself and your company is expected. Just be gracious about it.

• For better or worse, Americans are an optimistic people. As the old song goes: “accentuate the positive.” Everyone else will.”

The last two points are especially important for the Brits, who tend to spend a lot of time doing exactly the opposite.

Posted by Ed Cotton