Business Builder: Is My Business Contact in the USA / UK Being Impolite?

If you are a business person and you are experienced with talking to mostly British or American contacts, you might ask yourself this question sometimes: Are they being impolite to me? Well, don’t worry, because Brits and Americans sometimes get a little confused about this too. Let’s have a look at the cultural differences that can make 2 polite business people think the other person is being impolite.

The Different Writing and Speaking Cultures in the USA and UK

In the UK, where I was born, we have a general culture of being more formal in our writing and much more informal when we speak. So when I’m communicating with the same client in an email and face to face, there can be a strange difference in my communication style for my American colleagues. I might seem far too formal, overly polite, and too official in my writing, and then much too personal and casual when speaking. For UK-born people, our American colleagues can seem too informal in their writing which can feel impolite to us too.

The Different Emailing Cultures in the USA and the UK

The second major difference between cultures is the business emailing style. In the UK, we have modernised our emailing style over the last 20 years, but we are still more formal and official in emails than when we speak face to face. When I think about why I do that in my emails, it’s because I feel like my colleagues can’t see my face, so without words telling them I’m polite, I’m worried I might sound rude or demanding to my emailing partner. In the UK, business people try to avoid being too impersonal or demanding in communication. In the USA extra long emails with paragraphs, unnecessary information, and fluffy polite phrases can often be frustrating and time-consuming for a busy working day. So my extra polite email is a pain for my colleagues to read, and all they want is the information!

Back in the UK, when I’m reading messenger or email communications from my American colleagues they can seem too short, lacking in friendliness, and sometimes feel disrespectful because they focus on the important information and nothing else.

So, Who’s Wrong?

Basically, no one is wrong. Both cultures are doing the right thing in their own country, and it only feels strange when we communicate across cultures. The best thing to do is to keep this difference in mind and give your business contacts your patience and understanding. It’s even a topic you can talk about in a friendly way when face to face, if your contact is relaxed enough to discuss cultural differences with you.