The COVID-19 or Coronavirus has gripped the world and made its way to Norway, potentially impacting millions of workingNorwegians.
How can you stay safe and virus free even up in the cold north? Here are a few recommended tips to help you out in the workplace.
Avoid small talk with coworkers.
Avoid all personal interaction with colleagues, especially in the morning. Just take your seat and no need to say a word.
Go to the doctor even if you don’t feel symptoms. It’s better to wait in line at the hospital then risk infecting others at work. And hey, it’s mostly free thanks to socialized medicine.
Take another unnecessary vacation. Not so much to travel and further risk exposure but because you likely have the vacation time available.
Avoid individual praise of coworkers. Not only is it discouraged but it might require you to get within speaking distance of a colleague.
Cancel that meeting that was meant to plan a future meeting. There will be plenty of time for meetings when this all blows over.
Wrap yourself in no less than 3 layers of wool. As most Norwegians will tell you wool is always the answer.
Wear a face mask. Made of wool.
Gargle with Akevitt every morning.
When making your boring cold sandwich lunch use gloves (made of wool) to avoid touching the food directly.
We hope these tips are helpful and keep you both virus and social interaction-free. We’re all in this together. Except of course for those of you who have already retreated to your vacation home in Spain.
When asked about conflicts of interest John Doerr, a famous American venture capitalist, once reportedly replied:
“Well, no conflict, no interest”.
If his firm did not have a conflict or an unfair competitive advantage, they really had no interest in the deal. This simple and short statement well encapsulates the American ‘win at all costs’ attitude you find in some industries.
Businessmen and women in America like myself hear these war stories throughout their careers, along with grand tales of fortunes made by bending a few both ethical and legal rules.
Breaking the rules, especially in business, is not common in Norway. Those that do, regardless of the outcome is positive for their business, quickly lose respect in the public eye. The press seems also to take great pleasure in hanging those who do so out to dry.
Unlike in America, you’re not likely to get a second chance when your bad behavior becomes known.
The Norwegian’s memory of such bad actors lasts for as long as the fjords are deep…
Working in Norway as a foreigner you’re going to meet a wide range of different people and personalities. So it’s not fair to generalize, even in such a homogenous culture that is Norway!
Still, with that being said, I have found a few repeating archetypes within the Norwegian workplace. So here are some sweeping generalizations about a few Norwegians you might meet in the workplace.
Perhaps you recognize someone or maybe even yourself?
Typical
Norwegian Businessman
The typical Norwegian or dentypiske nordmann, is the proudest Norwegian you’ll meet. He’s proud of his country and proud of his cross-country skiing. He’s also incredibly proud of that one time he was successful in business 20 years ago and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. He’s a global traveler but somewhat skeptical of foreigners who come to Norway for business. He feels that business in Norway is best done by and with other Norwegians.
Miss
Follow Through
They are your modern empowered Norwegian businesswoman. She enjoys one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the world thanks to Norway’s emphasis on fairness and equal pay. She’s known in the office for always following through on her work, which earns her great respect. That’s due to her approach of under-promising and overdelivering to her colleagues. She won’t take that many risks in business as a result.
Mr. Gotta Go
A slippery one, they are the most difficult Norwegian to get to know either personally or on a business level. A master of slipping away to avoid small talk or business dealings, they are a tricky one to connect with in the office. Look for opportunities to connect over a hobby like skiing or doing dugnad (community work) away from the office.
The
Love Refugee
Not a native Norwegian but an ex-pat who settled in Norway many years ago. Like most foreigners who settle here, they came here for love. The rather attractive Norwegians have managed to keep a steady flow coming to Norway.
They will be much easier to get to know, both on a personal and business level. They understand how challenging it can be to form relationships here in Norway. They might even invite to drinks after work! Your other Norwegian colleagues run off to home and the barnehage (kids school) so quickly after work they don’t even bother to say goodbye!
That One Loud Ass Norwegian
One of the few loud voices you’ll find in Norway, they don’t respect the quiet sanctuary of the Norwegian office. They are known for squawking at meetings and around the office, much to the dismay of coworkers who prefer more peaceful surroundings. When Norwegian drinking culture comes into play, that loudness only intensifies with each shot of aquavit they consume. They are also usually from the west coast from areas like Bergen.
Super Sporty Scandie
They never stop moving and live a very healthy lifestyle. They will almost always be planning a hike, going skiing, swimming in a fjord, or just doing any other physical activity. They are super sporty and as a result, have exceptionally low BMI (and typically a very cute butt). They also don’t let work get in the way when the weather is nice, or physical activity can take them out of the office. Your best chance to catch them and build a relationship will be to join her or him in one of these physical activities. If they see a foreigner embrace Norwegian nature and exercise, this can help you earn their great respect.
The Gretas
This friendly and eager millennial is now established in the Norwegian workforce. Raised in a highly functional and fair socially democratic society, their optimism can only be matched by their drive to do good in the world. You’ll find them drinking from metal straws, posting Instagrams from Africa, and talking about reducing their carbon footprint all while they jet off to Spain for yet another holiday.
They are however thankfully less held back by the restrictive Law of Jante and as a result, represent great potential for Norway’s future. Now, if we could only get them to stop constantly staring at their phones.
The Old Timer
The old-timer has seen it all before and isn’t interested in doing business differently. Especially when that new approach is proposed by a foreigner. They will be most skeptical and address the outsider with an uninterested response, followed by the exhibition of a general lack of willingness to work together. Things are working well enough, why try to go and change anything?
No
Plan to Small
They create a plan for the plan and backup plans for both plans. They book meetings to plan a future meeting. They can whip up a plan with great speed because Norwegians take great pride in being able to do such an exercise. The output is generally considered less important than planning for the output itself in Norway.
By European standards especially, but even by American standards, Norwegian business dress code would be considered informal and casual.
In Norway it’s less important to display one’s wealth through fashion as you might see elsewhere.
In fact, wearing exotic or ostentatious outfits is usually discouraged in a business setting. Heaven forbid one stands out and attempts to bend the Law of Jante with a fabulous neckline.
Men typically wear conservative business suits in most industries: A blazer and trousers with no tie.
Norwegian business men tend to opt for a simple backpack (locally called a rucksack) instead of a traditional briefcase or more fashionable bag. The most popular brand backpack in Norway is funny named douchebag.
For women in most industries, a well-tailored dress, trousers or pantsuit works just fine.
For jewelry, it’s usually minimal and understated.
All of this is not to say that Norwegians don’t appreciate fashion! In fact, they dress very well and purchase a lot of clothing from their slightly more fashion-savvy neighbor Sweden.
So that’s pretty straightforward right? Norwegian women own plenty of amazing, high-end clothes, they simply rarely wear them. Men wear ties but no shoes to parties and don’t wear ties to work.
In most business cultures there’s some element of drinking-related activities.
“Work hard, play hard”, as we like to say back in America. However, in Norway drinking culture may come as a bit of a surprise to foreigners. That surprise may also consist of waking up in a hung-over daze, partially dressed and for some still unexplained reason covered in glitter and what appeared to be kebab sauce.
To say Norwegians don’t party hard would be like saying the tax is only a little high in Norway. It would be quite the understatement. No, in fact, Norwegians enjoy a drink or two or fifteen and those drunken adventures often cross over into business life as well.
With the cost of alcohol in Norway so high, there’s a local expression that covers Norwegians’ approach to drinking quite well and that is “being half drunk is a waste of money”. So in Norway they don’t go halfway when it comes to drinking, more like all the way and then some.
One of my first experiences with Norwegian drinking culture was after attending a business conference in Oslo. With the work day done and sights set on enjoying the evening, we set out not to a bar, but to a local resident’s house. Thus began the Norwegian pre-party, or as it’s known in Norway, the ‘forspiel’.
This is a critical launching off point for an evening of festivities. Again because of the high cost of alcohol in Norway it’s a common practice. One must try to get as loaded as possible at home first to avoid racking up a sky-high bill at the bar. Over time I also realized that when it comes to most things social, Norwegians usually needed a few drinks to get started. It allows them to loosen up a bit and be open to doing really crazy things, like talk to a stranger, or buy a bunch of bitcoin. To get to this point that means a pre-party can actually go on fairly long, without venturing out until well past midnight.
Bars and nightlife in Norway are typical to what you might find in other European cities, just significantly more expensive. Due to this high cost, there is no expectation for you to buy drinks for your colleagues, although you’ll usually be able to pick up one round for the group without too much protest. Otherwise, everyone is expected to be self-sufficient when it comes to lubricating oneself. For the reasons above, it’s also uncommon to find an ‘open bar’ at either work or social events. Tipping the bartender is also not required or expected in Norway, as service workers make a living wage even without your tips.
As we ventured from bar to bar and from club to club that evening, I started to make some new friends within our group. This is a side effect of a well-oiled-up Norwegian. They actually want to talk and get to know you! Here’s your chance to dramatically reduce the time it takes to build a closer relationship with your colleagues and Norwegian business partners. The hard exterior that most Norwegians wear cracks at this moment and new bonds and trust can be established. Many of the limiting factors of Norwegian social culture such as janteloven are put aside as well.
I made another new friend that night, who goes by the name Aquavit, the local Norwegian liquor that is similar to schnapps. As a foreigner you’ll most certainly be encouraged to try it even though most Norwegians seem to hate it. And for good reason: it tastes a bit like old shoe combined with spicy cough medicine, so the first shot is likely to be brutal. It will, however, earn you respect among your Norwegian colleagues with every gulp. After indulging in a few more shots, you may actually find you enjoy the stuff as I did.
That night and far too many shots later, the evening started to creep into the next morning. But the fun is not over yet in Norway: as I squinted my eyes hoping to find a taxi and my escape, a new friend put their arm around me and excitedly asked:
“Have you ever been to a real Norwegian nachspiel? I hadn’t but I had a feeling I was about to find out.
Not knowing what I was agreeing to, we were now on to the final journey of a common Norwegian night of drinking. The ‘nachspeil’, or the after party. At this point it’s getting late, or early the following day, depending on how you look at it. It’s too late to buy alcohol anywhere so you head back to someone’s apartment to raid whatever is left there. This is the point of the night where things are best described as “getting sloppy” or borderline absurd. Everyone has had far too much to drink and it’s a bit of a last man or last woman standing type of affair. If you’re a foreigner that probably won’t be you, as Norwegians have great stamina in the arena of marathon drinking. In Norway drinking tends to start at a pretty young age and is a large part of college life. Generally, this is accepted by society and in some cases even encouraged.
Norwegians young and old also tend to use drinking games as means of socialization. This gives them an easy framework for interacting with each other. That really helps as one waits for the drinks to kick in and more fluid social engagements can emerge. It’s also one of those rare moments when you can engage in some friendly competition with your colleagues or maybe even flirt with a Norwegian. Excelling at trivia, for example, can earn you extra prestige with Norwegians.
As you attend or host parties in Norway you may also notice things work a bit differently here with regard to sharing of booze. In many other cultures, it would be common to bring a bottle of wine for the host and everyone to share. However, due to the cost of alcohol in Norway, most gatherings follow a strict BYOB or Bring Your Own Booze policy. So as a foreigner, you should not expect to have a drink served to you upon arrival as you find in many other cultures. Norwegians may also remember you did not bring your own alcohol and probably feel unhappy about it.
Perhaps the most important to know in Norwegian drinking culture is how to toast your colleagues and all the new intoxicated friends you’ll be making. Grab your favorite drink, raise it up high and at any time proclaim “skål!” (pronounced “skol”) loudly. The word comes from the Norwegian word for the skull and hails back to Viking times when it was customary to drink from the skull of your enemy. It is also considered good manners to stare into the eyes of your companions while you toast in Norway. It may be one of the few chances to do such a thing with a shy Norwegian, so enjoy it. Thankfully they all tend to have very pretty eyes.
The Norwegian meeting room is a peaceful place, a calm room where grandstanding and chest-pounding is greatly discouraged.
Even aggressive hand motions are not recommended here!
This was tough for an American. I, am after, all more used to unfurling my feathers, much like a peacock, across the conference room table to make my point.
However, in Norway, you don’t see much peacocking in the meeting room. The scene is more similar to a flock of extremely polite songbirds chirping in agreement. You can perhaps thank Janteloven (the Law of Jante) for this.
Conversations are structured and well balanced between the participants, with no single participant getting a larger share of the agenda. This happens regardless of seniority in the organization.
In the flat hierarchy of the Norwegian organization, everyone has equal say. A good Norwegian boss will try to guide the conversion and let the participants work it out among themselves so it is common for them to survey the room to ask if anyone has additional thoughts on a subject. Given Norwegians’ shy nature, they almost never do – or at least they feel their potentially disruptive thoughts are not worth sharing.
Meetings in Norway start exactly on time as Norwegians value punctuality. To keep a meeting attendee waiting is considered a great disrespect. Those who deliver work on time and show up for meetings on time earn extra prestige in the workplace. At the same time, arriving early to a meeting is also discouraged as this can create additional stress for the meeting host entertaining you until the meeting starts or other participants are ready.
In Norway meetings also end exactly on time and typically not a second later. This hard stop gives Norwegians a much needed exit from the room, which of course helps them avoid one of their greatest fears: having to make small talk. When the meeting ends everyone quickly shuffles out of the room. You don’t linger, there is no smooth transition from meeting discussions to small talk. You sort of just look at your shoes and slink towards the exit.
In general it’s not appropriate to talk about one’s private life during meetings in Norway. This should be avoided. From personal experience, I can recommend not over-sharing about your complicated love life, that time you drank excessively and did something ridiculous, or your views on religion and politics in general. Any of those are likely to create discomfort with the meeting participants. Meetings are strictly business affairs.
It’s important you understand Norwegian meeting room culture as you do business here. That’s because in Norway you’re going to have a lot of meetings.
Sometimes you have a meeting to plan the next meeting.
While working in Norway you’re going to want to sleep withNorwegians, and that’s perfectly alright! After all, Norway’s greatest importer of foreigners is not through immigration or job placements, but through love itself. And there is no shortage of ridiculously good-looking people to fall in love with here, even if that’s just for one night.
If you are however lucky enough to sleep with a Norwegian, or two, or twelve during your business adventures, there’s a few social norms to understand. The first is that casual sex is fairly prevalent both in Norway and throughout the Nordics. So slow down there, tiger, and try to avoid falling too head over heels in love after just a single hot night under the sheets. There’s a high likelihood that the experience, as passionate as it might have been, is taken less seriously by your Norwegian partner. In the case of sleeping with coworkers and then sitting across from them at the meeting room table the next day at work don’t be too surprised if their demeanor has switched right back to work mode. That may have been a one-time performance. Unless of course, you get lucky again at next year’s Julebord when you’re both enjoying yourself a little too much. Still, when the moment has passed don’t be too surprised if it’s never mentioned again.
After spending enough time in Norway you might start to feel like time moves just a little slower here.
Everyone and everything from planes to trains are on time, almost exactly on time in fact.
Work is always delivered on time or as agreed upon.
To not follow through on your word can cause you to lose trust in Norway.
However, everything else just seems to take a little bit longer. The pace is noticeably subdued, and that’s exactly how Norwegians like it.
To rush something or haphazardly finish work is not the norm. To take an unnecessary shortcut to speed things up doesn’t really happen here. Things get done when they get done. This doesn’t help much when trying to do business deals with Norwegians. I soon learned how to operate on a whole new time scale:
