How To Get Off To A Great Start With Your Swedish Colleagues

Naturally, everyone wants to be well liked at work. How to to gain respect and appreciation varies from culture to culture. While being very chatty is appreciated in one place, extreme politeness may be essential in another. Being well versed in sports may be the perfect icebreaker in another location. Learning a little bit of what makes the Swedes tick is one way to get off on the right foot with the local team.

After learning from a Swedish manager in the next video, continue reading below...

Here are some pointers of what Swedes appreciate and what they don’t appreciate.

Swedes appreciate:

• Less talk, more action
• Swedes are OK silence and long pauses in a conversation. No need to fill the air with small talk.
• Happiness and a positive outlook. Keep it understated though, if you are too positive then they will become suspicious and think you are a fake.
• Don’t complain about Sweden or in general. While Swedes will politely listen to a complainer, smart co-workers keep their distance. Especially sensitive to point out flaws in Sweden, and it is better to talk about what you like with your new destination.
• Appreciation for all things Swedish.
• Punctuality, DON’T be late - even by a minute or two. There is no 8ish. There is only 8:00 or 8 Sharp.
• Strong contribution to the final product.
• Helpfulness
• Pleasant and kind approach.
• Structured work methods.
• A sense of humor.
• Be accountable for your own actions and be responsible.
• Personal hygiene is important. Make sure you shower and you clothes are clean.
• Be on time and come prepared to meetings.
• Deliver projects on time.
• Don’t talk about other co-workers.
• Conversation not gossip.
• If you listen to others.
• Praise of good performance.
• Be very precise with flex time. If anyone thinks you are cheating even just with minutes they will distrust you.
• Don’t talk at the same time as others and don’t interrupt.

Swedes don’t appreciate:

• Co-workers with a negative attitude to work.
• People that are too talkative or loud.
• Co-workers that don’t pull their weight.
• Picking up after co-workers.
• Waiting for people or things.
• Messy/smelly bathrooms.
• 60% of workstations are in a shared space which can cause some friction. Hence, keeping your desk clean and noise down is essential.
• Co-workers that disturb others
• Lateness
• Noises from phones, etc. notifications, etc. on your smartphone or computer should be turned off.
• Loud private phone calls at work.
• People that leave dishes in the kitchen or dirty cups, et. on their desks or elsewhere.
• Managers that give too many orders.
• Frequent absenteeism, sick days, etc.
• Noise like sighing, drumming fingers against desk, tapping of feet, etc.
• Forming or being part of alliances at work that sides for or against others.
• Yawning at meetings, not being well rested for work is irritating to co-workers.