Brazil: A collectivist Culture!

Building strong personal relationships is essential for being successful in doing business in Brazil. 

In fact, during my trip in Brazil, I have noticed one particular characteristic of Brazilians: they give a huge importance on trustworthy and long lasting relationships. Family bonds seem to be vital for them in their daily life as they are always trying to be there for everybody and help others due strong reliance on collectivism. And, as a personal experience, it was something that I have really appreciated in Brazil; the fact that people seem to protect each other and the interests of everybody for the well-being of the entire group. 

Thus, keep in mind that Brazilians do not come straight to business, first they get to know you personally and check you out. For example, when you sit down for a meeting, allow some time for social interactions in order to show to your team that you are respecting their culture by staying relaxed and being flexible. And if you are liked and respected by them, they will feel more motivated to work for you. So, as you can imagine, it helps a lot when you are being introduced by someone respected from your future Brazilian counterparts.

Hence, as you might have understood, this concept of face-to-face is primordial within the workplace, and this is the reason when working with Brazilians you should avoid conduct meetings and negotiations over the phone or through videoconferencing, and reduce the sending of phone messages, IM, and email. Because Brazilian will want to get to know you, it implies spending time with you by talking to you in person.

Hence, I would just conclude this blog post by saying that if you are doing business in Brazil, always keep working on your ability to socialized with others, give people some freedom for enjoying their lives and don’t forget that Brazilians love to chat with colleagues, share a long meal or simply dance with guests and friends.

Sources:
Hofstede, G. The Hofstede Center. Retrieved from: https://geert-hofstede.com/brazil.html