Sweden: Let's Make a Deal!
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Let's Make A Deal
Agreement about Time and Place
▼ Book and confirm the appointment well in advance. The Swedes are a planning nation, moreover they are “long-termers”. That means that their schedules are likely to be booked 3-5 weeks from today. Abruptly changing the time and place would be a mistake – the risk is that the Swede simply has no other time in a foreseeable future. This is of great importance in Sweden and should not be underestimated.
▼ Once you have made an appointment with a Swede you do not have to send her reminders, even if you made the appointment two months ago.
▼ Swedes believe in promptness, so it is important that you arrive on time. This nationality also believes in following the scheduled beginning and end times of a meeting.
Preparations for the negotiations
▼ All correspondence with Swedish colleagues should be businesslike, with few references to personal matters. There is just one non-business subject that you can shortly refer to – weather. An example of that can be “Dear Jan! Greetings from rainy London!”
▼ Spend time on preparing a well-structured agenda for the meeting and send it to the Swedes in advance. It will help them to prepare for your visit and focus on the issues that you indicate as important for negotiations – respecting your time, the Swedes would like to optimize the meeting time for both of you.
▼ Women and men are generally treated as equals in this country, so expect decision-makers to be of either gender, and that all members of a team should be involved in the decision making process.
▼ It will be helpful for you to become acquainted with the hierarchy and understand that even if you are meeting with individuals who are in the bottom level of management, they may be key in communicating the decision making process. They may very well have the mandate to make a decision [after having conferred, of course, with colleagues and management].
▼ Most Swedes speak and understand English, so it is not necessary to have your business cards translated into Swedish. Titles and education on your business card are not too important in Sweden. However, your role in the context should be clear to its participants – so choose the relevant ‘title’ for this particular occasion.
What Swedes value when under negotiations?
Objectivity and Matter-of-factness
Swedes respect someone who comes to them with established knowledge and experience. Objective facts rather than subjective feelings form “the truth”. Swedes are taught to think conceptually and analytically, and they tend to look to universal rules or laws to solve their problems.
Facts and figures are crucial, and must be clearly outlined and detailed. Presentations should include handouts and overheads.
Swedes are very detail-oriented, and a meticulously planned, logically organized proposal is instrumental in getting Swedes to accept an outside idea.
Swedes emphasize the content of a presentation and not its colourfulness or flashy appearance. The content should be short, concise and easy to understand - a matter of fact presentation without elaborate language that tends to be overly positive. Often Swedish presentations are lacking in these aspects and do not emphasize them when dealing with foreigners.
Sincerity, Seriousness, Dependability
… rather than friendliness and compliments. Generally, Swedes get right down to business with little or no small talk.
The ability to be a stable, functioning member of the negotiating team is a key.
Consensus and Compromise
The Swedes value consensus as the only way of making decisions and always avoid confrontation. While in many cultures, compromise is perceived as a result of weakness, for Swedes it is the main aim – bringing the positions as close to each other as possible, and finding a solution suitable for both parties. Anything less than a win-win solution would be not worth negotiating.
Character of the meeting
The first meeting may be very low key and matter of fact, with the Swedes evaluating you, your company, and your proposals. The first meeting is typically conducted in the office – to minimize possible distractions from the matter. As a rule, several meetings are necessary before all the details are cleared and questions answered.
Do not show too much emotion during negotiations. Appearing reserved but friendly can leave a positive impression with your Swedish counterpart.
Keep in mind the main Swedish assumption on what successful negotiation is – it is when the parties are benevolent, generous and understanding towards each other’s position. Finding a win-win solution is the goal! The Swede does not want to win at your expense – this is not the point. Listen rather than talk –intelligent listening with mind at peace will take you long!
Raising your voice, showing signs of aggressiveness or (God save!) losing temper produces an effect opposite to what you might anticipate - the Swede would perceive you as immature and unable to keep up an intelligent dialogue.
Humour usually does not have a place in negotiations. Use humour only if you are totally sure that both parties are on the same “wave length”. If in doubt – leave it alone. Irony is another thing you should probably avoid. Being ironic or, even worse, sarcastic could make you appear unfriendly and, even worse, arrogant.
A Good Decision is made by consensus of equals
It is important that everyone involved in the issue is well informed and has been given a chance to express her opinion. Consensus is important – but it takes time. A decision will seldom be made in the first meeting. The good news is that the time spent on making the decision is the time won on the implementation!
You may be surprised to learn that decision making falls to the lower parts of the hierarchy in Sweden, where there is an emphasis on teamwork and compromise. Do not put all of your efforts into ingratiating yourself with top-level executives. In many cases, they will turn over the power to make a decision to their middle managers, who may even pass it over to lower levels. Managers are respected for their knowledge and never by their position.
The role of the boss is to dispense information, provide guidance, and be the key coordinator of the decision-making. Subordinates are colleagues and will follow a decision that has been made within the group in consensus. They will not follow a decision made by a superior. All parties are expected to work alongside each other as equals. There is no real hierarchy; a superior is usually quite accessible and there is a preferred air of informal respect among superiors, staff, and workers.
Decision made
Once decisions are made, they can be confirmed in writing, but you may consider the agreement to be already active. Oral agreement, provided it is witnessed, has the same legally binding power as the written one. Once a deal has been made and signed, you can rest assured that the Swedes will uphold their responsibilities.
