Working practices in Pittsburgh and Dallas 2

[MedicineEng]

Hi everyone:

I will be travelling to US next week to stay around 6 days working in a project.
It will be my first time in US so I am a little worried with the working practices there. I've read something about this subject in the internet but either way I would like to hear your real life oppinion.

I will be staying a couple of days in Dallas and around 4 days in Pittsburgh.

What is the common working practices in these 2 places?

I work in a pretty "informal" company environment, usually I wear jeans and a shirt to work, despite being part of the management team. My working time is 9-13h,14.30-18.30 but if I arrive at 9.15h nobody will tell me nothing.
I'm expecting a different working environment in US, but how much different? Do I need to wear suit everyday? What is the usual lunch break time and working time?
Which are "off-limits" subjects talk?
Please don't take me wrong in these questions, I will certainly adapt to local conditions, but I just wanted to be prepared as much as possible in order to not make any mistake that will embarass my hosts.

Another thing, is it customary to offer gifts or presents to your hosts? I am not referring to anything expensive, just some traditional cookies or artifacts from our place.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[KENAT]

Seems like your dress issues are sorted out, as to things not to say etc.

I don't know what things are like where you grew up or now live but compared to the UK a lot of Americans are a bit insular. They most likely will know very little about either of the countries you're from. I had my boss ask me if the UK was a democracy on my first day here and he asked German interns similar questions.

When someone above mentioned about learning something about the Cowboys etc. they didn't mean learning about the rap sheet of current or recent players etc.

The American sense of humor may be quite different from what you're used to, for instance some are easily offended by UK (and common wealth) humor (it's happened on this site more than once), I don't know how it would compare to your culture.

Even if they aren't trying to convert you they may tend to be more open about their religious beliefs than is typical in the UK at least, which I've know people to get upset over.

All in all I never had any trouble doing business in the States when I was still a Brit (except the time I got separated from my sponsor at a defense contractor and trying to understand the ticket counter staff in Atlanta) the people are mostly pretty friendly (perhaps more so on average than in the UK) and if they are wooing you will probably be on their best behaviour.

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[ctopher]

-Bring something for your stomach if you never had the food from here. Same for any other country you visit.
-The water is good to drink.
-If you help it, as mentioned above, don't talk sports, politics, racism, and religion.

Chris
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[MedicineEng]

Thank you all for your valuable tips.

tripleZ:
At this stage, as you can udnerstand I will not be able to tell which company am I visiting. The JV details are not yet sorted out, there are confidentiality agreementes going on, so I don't want to put my foot in the mud, sort of speak. One we win the project (fingers crossed), I will let you know.

The food is a good point though. I am not very fond of fast food (sorry guys) but I eat pretty much everything ( I'm leaving in Southeast Asia for more than 7 years, so I already tasted some "exotic" things). The antacid suggestion is a good one, as I 'm afraid in the first couple of days I will be pretty dizzy, after a 14 hours flight and a time zone of -13 hours from my hometown.

 

[HgTX]

Enormous sardine, coleslaw, and french fry sandwich at Primanti Bros., my Pittsburgh favorite...

Hg

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[MedicineEng]

Sorry, my last post had a typo that changed the meaning of the phrase: I'm "living" in Southeast Asia for more than 7 years, not "leaving" Southeast Asia.

Now, I have to prepare myself for the cold weather...

 

[SomptingGuy]

We will all be expecting a full report on your trip of course (minus anything work related).

- Steve

 

[stanford94]

those guys in dallas should stop defending gw and the war and then you can actually have a conversation at the water cooler.

 

[westheimer1234]

take a shower everyday advice really made me laugh.. hahahahaha

 

[HgTX]

It sounds like "those guys in dallas" are the client. As such, they get to defend whoever they want around the water cooler.

Hg

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[zuccus]

All of the above is good advice:

A wise guy once told me that it doesn't matter what the situation is, don't be the worst dressed guy there.

As a guy who has travelling a lot, I like to bring some candy bars with me as the people I have met with in the past are never ready to eat when I am.

Zuccus

 

[racookpe1978]

You mentioned "field checks" - but nobody else picked up on those potential problems. But don't treat them as problems but as (another) opportunity to "sell yourself" and your experience!

Find out NOW - before you leave in any case - whether you need PPE (personal protection equipment) or rough field clothes: Probably, the local outfit can provide (will be expected to provide!) hardhats, gloves, hearing protection, harnesses or fall protection, and eyeshields.

If you have your own PPE - or even have your own hard hat with your company logo - you will be proving your preparedness and adaptability to OSHA and knowledge of the local work rules. If you prefer your own PPE - I hate the foam ear protection plugs for example, and so have attached hearing covers and a light on my hardhat, bring those along.

Shoes? Bring your own steel-toed work boots - if you will will need them for your tour. ASK! Dirt or mud probable at the site? ASK! Flashlights, meter/inch tape measures appropriate? You (should) know what info you will need to take back.

Will your your company camera be allowed in their plant? Don't assume your personal camera will be permitted, but some sales people encourage company cameras. (Some do, some prohibit them.)

Bring enough business cards.

Do NOT expect people to be able to readily copy or print in A3 or A4 size papers.

Expect to bring back 8-1/2 x 11 sized paper, and the electronic documents based on 8-1/2x11 paper.