What Is The Difference Between a Monochronic and Polychronic Culture?

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There is one factor we all share and have equal access to- time. No matter who we are each day we are presented with 86,400 seconds to use, lose, spend or save.
Not everyone or every culture views or values time the same way. Depending on where you live in the world, you have developed your view of time and what it means to how you conduct your day.
One aspect of time that differs among cultures is chronemics, the study of the role of time in communication.
Most of the business world has adopted a monochronic time concept.
Emails, project completion and deadlines demand that we adhere to linear schedules, but much can be learned from stepping back when possible and allowing ourselves to experience time and relationship in a polychronic way.
Deborah Rinner, VP, Chief Learning Officer for Tero International facilitates this Tero Tips video.
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[@TeroTrainers]

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What other topics around culture would you like us to explore?

[@MRDUFFBRO]

this is very useful to consider when involved in international business! many organisations set too many strict deadlines and they are rarely met. things take as long as they need in polychronic cultures and in my opinion this is best :)

[@azQClothing]

Anyone else's teacher told them to watch this for homework?

[@parikshamentor1911]

Our trainer told us to watch this video😢😢😢

[@CharaDmm]

yep I am in small group communication class

[@effieschroeder6560]

Yep 😔 comm 101

[@omstygomsty]

Mono-chronic: modern, inequitable , unsustainable= unhappiness .Poly-chronic: Ancient, egalitarian, sustainable = happiness

[@Dickturpin173]

I’m sorry, I just don’t get this. How in the world could the world function without keeping track of time? I understand vacation but the idea that it doesn’t really matter when something gets done seems kind of crazy.

[@tryingmybest206]

They each have their advantages

[@idkwhybut...]

@@Dickturpin173 It makes no sense because you weren't born in a polychronic culture.

[@jamissalvarez]

@@Dickturpin173It doesnt make sense becuase this system that values tangible things is built on monochronic. So if you live in a monochronic society, it wouldn’t make sense to be polychronic and see time as fluid. The question is, is it more human nature to see time as monochronic or polychronic?

[@johnhartmann7152]

Good video, but there is an audio issue with the sound decreasing around 1:40

[@OzymandiasFGC]

It sounds like the song they used got hit with a takedown notice, so they used TH-cam's inbuilt song remover. Least that's my best guess.

[@cambrianhub]

Hi there, could you kindly enable your closed captions for this video? Thank you!

[@DougGrinbergs]

Good content but music seems loud, distracting.

[@TeroTrainers]

Thank you for the feedback. We have since fixed that issue in our recent videos.

[@TeroTrainers]

Appreciate your feedback, Doug. We have since worked on audio quality in recent videos.

[@jrhoadley]

Respectfully, I don't think "a stitch in time saves nine" is a good choice of an expression. Rather than referring to the importance of time itself, it instead is emphasizing that problems dealt with early on can be corrected with minimal effort, while postponing dealing with a problem will require more effort to repair in the future. This is not really an exclusively monochronic ideal. Also, there are so many other time-related expressions you could have chosen. For example; "time is money."

[@TeroTrainers]

James, I agree with you and appreciate your feedback!

[@danielaalvarez901]

Angola and Peru would be both Monochronic culture?

[@TeroTrainers]

Thank you for your interest in this topic. Both Peru and Angola would have a more polychronic orientation which means there would be more fluidity with regards to time. Thank you again for your interest and for your question.

[@L1FEOUTLOUD]

Beautifully explained. Love it. Thank you.

[@TeroTrainers]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@InsertTruthHere]

I disagree with this "different but equal" type claim at the end. What does she mean both concepts work in practice? In the sense that both approaches can create societal cohesion, I'm in agreement. But when you consider a globalized market economy, there is no question that the monochronic approach works better. Look at the polychronic cultures of southern Europe and compare their economic output with that of northern and western Europe. Italy literally has this divide in the middle of the country. Roughly speaking, the Italian South is more polychronic and more chaotic and much, much poorer. I was recently a visitor to Nicaragua and I was shocked at how people just didn't seem to be dedicated enough to a thing to get it done - and they wouldn't even feel bad about it or feel upset when something went wrong entirely through their own (lack of) doing. I think the poverty of polychronic cultures has a fair deal to do with their way of doing things which in the US would rightly be dubbed poor work morale.

[@sandracepoi1178]

I wonder if the above is so clear, why are all the major corporations moving their production, including IT into these zones with inferior workers... and heavenly recruit brains and substandard employees from those inferior polychonic cultures? And through what miracle those second class people sneak up to many top jobs?

[@Kubamorlo]

Sandra Cepoi They work for less money, longer time and won't complain as much about the working conditions.

[@slayerpianoman]

It’s not that polycronic time equals no productivity, in many developed countries that operate off a more polycronic model, people still work hard and are proud of what they do. More importantly, they both aren’t great separately. Monochronic sounds like the better system, but according to Hall, polycronic companies tend to have more inner cohesion, and monochronic companies tend to build beurocracies as they grow, which compartmentalizes groups into individual factions that over time lose sight of the companies goals and thus creates conflicts that may hurt the company over all. Ever worked at a company where power was more important than results? For example, my roommate works in a major high rise apartment complex, and they have him at the desk, but he needs to leave the desk to sort incoming packages for the hundreds of residence, and he’s the only person on his shift. But when he’s gone sorting packages the phone rings, and when he misses the call, it’s logged. All the sudden the phones aren’t being answered enough, so they tell him he needs to be at the desk more, except he still needs to sort the packages. Then he’s told he needs to screen calls before they go to the leasing office, except the leasing office refuses to give him any information useful for the person calling, so he has to forward ALL the calls to them, which in turn makes them angry. But do the managers bother to get together and resolve the issue? Nope, because they are cogs in a wheel, and it’s too much effort and time for them. They look at my roommate and think, “Screw him, he’s just a lowly doorman right?” In short, monochronic businesses can create environments where managers are saving they’re own skins and they don’t care about the company vision. Polycronic companies tend to be tight knit, but the trade off is you need highly competent people in charge who can handle many situations at once. One more small example; time is money, and in our society, you get rewarded as you spend more time at a company. At least, ideally. You also get more space, since we equate cubes with basic workers, and offices with higher levels. But In many jobs, the boss doesn’t need the office, the basic workers do. For example, social workers should have private spaces to talk to their clients, but since they are low on the totem poll, they don’t tend to get the privacy they need. It’s an open air situation. Any way, you may be asking why the things I mentioned relate to monochronic time, and it’s simple. Monochronic time leads to more power lust and materialistic thinking, since life is about exclusively goals. Goal oriented thinking in a society that tells you you suck unless you become a cog in the wheel, leaves the human part out of what you do, and it’s why most people are selfish A-holes. Polycronic time focuses on relationships and well being, which I actually think is healthier. But I do believe we need monochronic and polycronic time together to find the right balance, so we can live our lives with maximum productivity and happiness.

[@mtadmin4961]

@@sandracepoi1178 They are cheaper employees.

[@jerryterwase9027]

Thank you for this.

[@tobsn0190]

Exam preperation at its finest! Lets goooooo

[@pabmts]

Hello. Where does France belong? Monochronic or Polychronic? I hope you could answer. Thank you 🥺

[@TeroTrainers]

France leans toward polychronic. On a continuum it would be halfway between monochronic and polychronic.

[@Guru-om6lv]

Good job

[@_dally]

Thank You for the explanation

[@RebusForever]

I think I might have been born polychronic.

[@miriamwheeler8104]

would like, but it’s at 420

[@CharaDmm]

Who watched this video for the homework?

[@Makes_me_wonder]

What nonsense!

[@petec3250]

LOL Extremely PC.

[@idkwhybut...]

How is this PC?