Un café s’il vous plaît!
Without fail, every time you enter an elevator at Havas Paris: Bonjour, Salut, Coucou, Allô, Ça va? In the US — maybe nothing!
During my first week at Havas Paris, I’ve noticed the small differences between the French and Americans, especially to my home office back in Boston. At home, it wouldn’t be surprising to stand in silence next to my colleagues on the elevator up to Floor 5. That doesn’t happen here, whether you know your fellow elevator-rider or not.
Here are some other quick differences I picked up on:
Lunch is for socializing
At home, only a few special occasions — a birthday, anniversary, promotion or perhaps holiday — warrants a full team lunch. Eating lunch is something usually done by yourself and sadly, more often than not, in front of your computer! Here, it’s a daily occurrence to sit with your entire team and enjoy lunch at the canteen. Le foot (soccer), travel or weekend plans is usually the topic of discussion, not just how to fix client problem x, y, z.
Coffee culture
Although a love of coffee is globally universal — it’s a little different in Paris. There are not really iced coffees or large fancy frozen drinks. It’s straightforward, simple espressos and caffe lattes. While in Boston, there’s usually a 9am and 2pm coffee rush; in Paris, it’s much more frequent and usually accompanied by a break on the terasse. After 3 espresso breaks on my first day in Paris, I couldn’t fall asleep that night!
But our work is extremely similar — thanks to Havas’ processes. Within my first day I sat in a strategy briefing for 2020. The team was brought through the initiatives, targets and budgets for the 2020 campaign — all within 30 minutes. Then the planning and buying groups brainstormed and built the framework for the recommendation that was presented to the client. Exactly the same process and setup I’m used to back home.
Meanwhile, we discussed reporting, analytics and measurement done for another client, as well as the “tinkering” that client sometimes does to their media plans… small changes to tactics, budgets or dates. I found this hilarious — it’s good to know that this is a completely universal experience across all of Havas, regardless of country.
I believe there is maybe a (bad) stereotype around work ethic compared to the US and I can say I found that to be completely incorrect. If anything, I think the French have found ways to more efficiently use their time. Office culture in the US is driven by a lot of meetings and email-only correspondence. My team in Paris is always chatting on the phone (I had a flashback when the phone rang the first time in Paris — it’s the same exact ringtone as in Boston), going to speak to each other at their desks and much more efficiently using their time in meetings. Meetings don’t seem like the place for small talk or weekend planning — that’s what lunch or coffee breaks are for!
Au revoir for now, catch up in a couple of weeks!
