This chapter offers practical guidance for collaborating remotely with Danish coworkers. It stresses the importance of punctuality and early log‑in to resolve technical issues, encourages active participation even across corporate hierarchies, and suggests using breakout rooms to boost productivity. Visual presentation should be neutral (e.g., bookshelf background or blurred backdrop), and casual attire like hoodies is acceptable. The narrator highlights that Danish sarcasm and directness become more pronounced in virtual settings, with Danes preferring minimal small talk and communicating in a concise, sometimes blunt style that can feel harsh to outsiders. Time‑zone differences are addressed: Danish colleagues typically do not expect immediate replies outside their working hours, and many companies include email signatures reminding recipients of differing work schedules. The culture values free time over material status, leading to limited availability during evenings, weekends, and the long summer vacation period. Overall, the chapter advises respecting these norms to foster smoother online collaboration with Danish teams.
Chapters
Chapter 16, Working Together Online. Distance working has become common in Denmark. The Danish colleague on the other end of your virtual meeting might be at home, or at their house in the country, or on a vacation getaway in Spain instead of in the office. When you're meeting virtually, all the usual rules about working with Danes are amplified. Be there on time, or even a bit early, to get any technical difficulties worked out. Make sure you contribute to every conversation, even those with the corporate layers above you, something which can be a bit scary for people from more hierarchical cultures. If you have a chance to help plan the virtual meeting, see if you can arrange for breakout rooms, where more will get done than in a massive online crowd. How you look during a virtual meeting is not particularly important, as long as you're decently covered. It's not unusual to see the Danish big boss in a hoodie during a virtual call. However, do try to arrange for either a neutral background, you know, a bookshelf or the like, or blur whatever's behind you. I recently had a distracting online meeting with a good-looking fellow who had chosen to hold a dull discussion of accounting practices in front of a giant double bed in his bedroom. One tricky aspect of working virtually with Danes is that their usual sarcasm and directness is even more noticeable. Video calls at least have the benefit of a face and a smile, But emails, chats, and audio calls with Danes can come off as short, sharp, and almost condescending. They aren't meant that way. Danes just don't like small talk and do it only under protest. One American executive told me about an online chat she had with her Danish counterpart about an upcoming project. She proposed getting their 2 teams together to build relationships before the project began. No, the Danish executive responded, followed by silence. Just no, the American executive wondered. Not let's discuss it or I'm not sure. I think it would be a waste of time, the Dane volunteered. Danish directness, for them, is a form of elegance. Why slow things down with a bunch of puffy words that are not needed? Better to save time and get on with business. But from a distance, this can be as bracing as a cold Nordic wind. If you're working in a different time zone than your Danish colleagues, you may find yourself getting emails or other work communication At a time when they're at work and you're not. In most cases, they won't expect an immediate answer. One big company I work with has a standard signature on every email that says, my working hours may not be the same as yours. Please don't feel compelled to respond to me outside of your working hours. Your own working culture may prioritize 24-hour availability, But Danes do not. In a country where money and status are less important than they are in many other places, free time is more valuable than gold. The flip side, of course, is that if you urgently need your Danish colleague to answer a question or approve a decision, they may not be available when you need them. This can be the case on evenings. Weekends, or even during the long, relaxing 3 or 4 week summer vacations Danes look forward to all year.
