THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
It's often thought that the UK and the US have a number of things in common when it comes to culture and communication, but a new study by TollFreeForwarding.com suggests that when it comes to business, there's more to the phrase "two countries separated by a common language" than you may think.
The study spoke to 1000 US workers and 1000 UK workers, and asked a variety of questions on how American and British workers see each other in terms of business practices.
When asked to describe Americans at work in simple terms, the study found that Americans themselves are more likely to use words like "ambitious", "competitive" or "driven", while their British counterparts tended to describe Americans in terms like "brash", "confident" and "loud". By comparison, Brits describe themselves as "easy-going" and "friendly", while Americans describe British workers as "hard-working", "stuffy" and "polite".
The survey also delved into business communication on both sides of the pond, looking at how British and American workers may approach different scenarios, or how professionals from either countries opt for different methods of interaction. The study also cites other research looking at how Americans work and how Brits work, and how they work together.
To read the full study post, go to tollfreeforwarding.com/blog/uk-vs-us-understanding-communication-differences-at-work
