Today, I was asked what monochronic and polychronic means.

In short,

Monochronic cultures tend to be

• individualistic (focus is on "I")
• task-oriented (one task at a time)
• focused on punctuality

Polychronic cultures tend to be

• collectivist (focus is on "we")
• doing multiple tasks at the same time
• focused more on attendance

According to the definition, Latin countries, Mediterranean countries, many Asian countries and probably the whole continent of Africa tend to be more polychronic than monochronic. The focus among many of them is the harmony within group they belong to.

The language is also an important factor. In the English language, there are a lot of words that describe the state of the "I" = one person.

Maybe I will have to go back a little further with my explanation about these terms, as there is more to it, that is Hofstede's cultural dimensions:

Small vs. Large Power Distance

This can be explained fairly easily. It is about the distribution of power and how easy it is for a normal worker to be able to talk to the top manager. In the U.S., for example, the power distance is relatively small. Workers can contribute to the overall management of a company. Conversely, the power distance (to have two extremes) in China is larger.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Here it is simple and also relates to the two terms that I started with. People from the Mediterranean are generally more collectivist, that is, families and friends tend to have a higher priority, than people from the North. For example: Spanish people vs. German people.

Masculinity vs. Femininity

This does not mean which culture/country has more of each sex, but how the distribution of gender roles are perceived and how equal they are. In Sweden (stereotypical example) men tend to take paternal leave as equally as often as women. Female bus drivers the U.S. is just as normal as male. On the other side, there are cultures that have certain norms of gender roles and these are called to be more masculin.

Uncertainty Avoidance

It is the degree to which a person from a certain culture/country in general is willing to take risks. Some "countries" rather avoid the unknown, other welcome it more.

Long vs. Short Term Orientation

Japan is a country to be known as very future oriented, where people focus on what will come rather than what has happened. Germany and France might be countries perceived as past-oriented, meaning that the past of the countries has a greater importance and effect on how people live and behave.

I hope that I described these fairly right so far. In case there should be some mistakes in formulation or expression, I am happy to be corrected.