In my time in China, I have had seven different jobs and so encountered a wide variety of colleagues. Working with Chinese staff has, on the whole, been a pleasurable experience; nearly all have been affable, diligent and helpful. However, there are some differences in approach and behaviour which can fail to span the cultural bridge, reminding you that this is indeed a different country. Here are some of the pointers I have picked up in my time here:

1) Humour

Most people like to lighten work with some jokes and bantering. It helps to develop team spirit, and dissipates the post-lunch ennui that can come creeping in. But humour is a highly subjective thing, and if you are part of a group of foreigners joking about Western music, film, TV or sports, don’t expect your Chinese colleagues to be amused. They might be smiling, but they’re not laughing with you. Similarly, punning bantering is an acquired taste, and one which might go over their heads entirely.

2) Socialising

We foreigners are often keen to have staff nights out – they’re good fun, help you to get to know your workmates, break cultural barriers and all that jazz. But mostly we suggest activities which revolve around alcohol – KTV perhaps, or just going to a bar, which tends to pare Chinese participation down to roughly zero. The main staff socialising I have encountered have been company organised staff dinners, team-building events etc. Such events tend to involve comical activities and events which we foreigners shy away from (unless uninhibited by alcohol, of course). For example, I once was invited to dinner by an adult class I had taught; each person in the table performed a little song, poem or routine, where most waiguoren would shy away from such an exhibition. These may be fun for some people, but on the whole they’re just not what we’re generally used to!

3) Forewarning

I have sometimes found that Chinese colleagues aren’t so hot at giving notice when events are afoot. Perhaps this is a function of the top-down economy where information is passed down when you need it, but it can be agitating. For example, when I was a university English teacher, I went to the classroom as usual only to find it had become a building site. This was puzzling, as I had already picked up the key for the computer and the microphone at the audio-visual room, but no-one told me that room was being refurbished. I eventually found the classroom where my students had been redirected – they had been told, but no-one had thought to inform me! Another time, I received a phone call saying that a photographer was going to take some pictures of me for publicity purposes. “When?” I asked. “Now, can you come back to campus now please?” And on another occasion, when copyediting for a publication, they sent me 19 articles to work on “by tomorrow, thanks”. So be prepared for sudden changes to your own plans!

4) Interviews

So you’ve gone for a job interview. The manager is Chinese. You’re in your smartest clothes, have prepared well and answered with some fluency; it seems to be going well. Then the question: “What are your salary expectations?” You don’t know what to say (online research failed to give any specific figures for similar jobs; they all said “Salary dependent on experience”), but suggest X RMB a month. She frowns. “Oh, we can only offer Y RMB a month,” she says. Why not just say what the salary is, then?

5) Matters of Delicacy

Say there’s a problem of some kind which needs to be addressed. With Chinese workmates, you tend to find that these matters are not addressed directly, leaving you uncomfortably aware that things aren’t quite right but not much clearer on what exactly the problem is. The concept of “face”, while admirable in its consideration of the feelings of others, sometimes prevents you from getting to the root of the matter. For example, when I first arrived in China and was teaching at a university, I had never taught ESL before, having been a high school English teacher beforehand. My approach was thus that of a high school teacher, which wasn’t what the students needed or wanted. But while my teacher-sense picked up that something wasn’t right, no-one told me what I was doing wrong. I ended up stumbling onto the right approach some weeks later, but it rather spoiled my first semester.

6) Meetings and Conferences

Chinese organisations are rather top-down, whereas Western managers usually try to show that they just like you, the worker - even if it’s just an act. So meetings are prone to overlong speeches by executives and managers, sharing information as though it is a gift from them rather than the lifeblood of a company. Meanwhile conferences are ghastly enactments of corporate group-think, the organisation insisting “We are your family” while executives give self-congratulatory speeches and exuding an air of noblesse oblige. And this seems to be the social highlight of the year for your Chinese colleagues!
 

Related links
Working in a Chinese Office: Five Keys to Success
7 Tips for Surviving the Chinese Workplace
Chinese Business Practices – 3 of the Biggest Cultural Differences

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