Answers: B and C

Business meetings

Make your appointments well in advance and confirm them. One outstanding characteristic of Finnish business culture is punctuality. Be on time for every engagement and expect others to arrive at the specified time.

At the meeting

Shake hands with everyone present at a meeting, and exchange business cards with those with whom you wish to establish a working relationship.

Finns do use titles, but tend to establish relationships on a first-name basis more quickly than other Europeans. Wait for your Finnish colleague to begin using first names before doing so yourself.

Meetings usually proceed to business immediately, without preliminary conversation. Expect periods of silence in meetings or engagements as Finns consider and reflect. Do not be tempted to fill the silence with conversation or questions.

A day of meetings may close with a group sauna, segregated by gender, with dinner or refreshments served afterwards.

Excerpted from Living Abroad's Finland Report: Business practices / Business meetings

Written by Michael Cadden, SGMS-T, VP International Operations