Tips to make your Japanese company stint a success. 1. Keep everyone informed . . . frequently . . . and in person.
Keep your immediate managers, your direct reports and senior management informed of progress and developments. Make these contacts more often than you did with an American company. Face-to-face, personal exchange is best. In his work with MKK Technologies, Inc. WIN President Sada Honda frequently saw American managers attempt their own update methods. They scrawled notes to their direct reports and created internal memos addressed to their managers. Suitable for American companies, these methods didn’t work so well in the Japanese company environment. Why? Two reasons. In a Japanese company, communications means face-to-face contact. And, it’s not sufficient to keep your direct reports and immediate managers informed. Personnel in other departments including administration, accounting and engineering, should also be kept up-to-date. This communications approach demonstrates understanding of the team concept and willingness to work as part of that team. 2. For your first few months on the job, don’t worry about being immediately productive. Spend time observing and learning the organization, its policies and practices. Watch the interactivity among employees and between the Japanese and Americans. It’s a good idea to request a Japanese mentor to help you learn the ropes. Ask your manager to name someone appropriate. 3. Take time to learn the system.
The meeting format and decision-making process in Japanese companies can be very frustrating to the unaccustomed. Take time to learn this system before you try to change it. Make sure meetings are held in English and documents are printed in English. Display your patience with the perceived slowness of Japanese decision making and accept the fact that more Japanese than necessary will attend meetings. 4. Do the background work before presenting your suggestions and proposals.
If you have a suggestion, talk to your immediate manager first. Then talk with other American managers. Your mentor can help with essential background information. Study the way others make suggestions and proposals and watch for their success or lack of it. Once you have thoroughly discussed your idea with other managers, your mentor and your immediate manager, you can present your proposal with some assurance that it will be supported.
5. Make time to develop relationships. You and your managers will spend a great deal of time on your orientation. Your weekly review with the boss regarding company activities and your performance is not the time for your suggestions. Rather, ask questions. Be sure to spend more time than absolutely required; don't jump up and leave when you are finished. These behaviors will help develop a trusting relationship with your managers and senior leadership. 6. Your office is important, but not right away . . .
As in American business, office size and appearance are status indicators. However, if your initial office doesn’t reflect your position and importance, don’t make it an immediate issue. Instead, quietly let both Japanese and American employees assess your office. If you are successful in orienting yourself in the company, management will make sure you have an appropriate office before long. 7. Don't be bothered . . .
Don’t be offended if your Japanese managers do not make direct eye contact. Japanese unaccustomed to American conventions consider direct eye contact rude. Don’t be troubled when Japanese come into your office butting into conversations between you and your managers. This is business as usual and you can ask that these habits be changed when your relationships are better established. - Adapted from The Sun also Rises over Toledo: Practical tips for Americans working with or for Japanese companies in the U.S. | 
