Observed Colombian Business Etiquette

Something I love about travelling to other countries is noticing differences between the country I am visiting and my own country. It's what makes each country unique in their own right and so interesting to me, by having different customs, behaviours, and attitudes towards different subjects.

So on Wednesday during one of my many meetings my coworkers and bosses, I took some time to observe their behaviours during a client meeting. It was interesting to see how their business etiquette differs from ours in Canada. For example, here in Colombia when people greet each other they will kiss one cheek and embrace one another .... which is similar to Spain where they lean in and kiss both cheeks. So I was curious if this is common to do during business meetings when meeting/greeting clients. When the new clients (who were 3 females) came in today, my boss just shook each of their hands, however at the end of the meeting he shook their hands and then kissed one cheek. The whole kissing clients thing is a bit strange to me, because I feel like the Canadian business environment is much more formal and strict than South American practices. However, Im interested to see how male clients are greeted. Im guessing just a hand shake... ?

Another thing I noticed, which many Canadians can relate to, is that almost everyone here has a Blackberry. However in Canada, it is customary to turn off your phone or at least put your phone on vibrate during a meeting or while in the office. But here in Colombia everyone has their ringers on, and will answer their phone via text or call during a meeting...... even with clients. Now I don't want to generalize, because this is something I noticed today during a meeting with clients, however over the past couple days this has been the case while working in the office (without clients).

The working environment here I find is a lot more relaxed and social than in Canada. Though we work long days 8-6, we take many breaks throughout the day (around 10am and 4pm), and have a 2 hour lunch (which I have no complaints about).