Title: Chronemics Quiz
Course: PIM: Teaming 2: Self and Other Awareness > Section: Perceptions of Time

Q: Which of the following is an indicator that someone tends to be more monochronic in their time orientation?
- They depend heavily on their calendar to organize each day's activities. (This would definitely be a sign of monochronic orientation. There is one more correct response.)
- They dislike being late. (This would definitely be a sign of monochronic orientation. There is one more correct response.)
- They don't pay close attention to the clock. (This sounds more like polychronic orientation, actually. Go back and try again.)
- They tend to multi-task. (This sounds more like polychronic orientation, actually. Go back and try again.)
A: They depend heavily on their calendar to organize each day's activities.; They dislike being late.

Q: When others are operating on more monochronic time, how does it make you feel?
Feedback: There is no right answer to this question! Be sure to read the feedback for something relevant to the response you gave, though. If you said something like, "respected," you seem pretty monochronic yourself. :-) Is the opposite true? Do you feel disrespected when others are not operating monochronically? Knowing what you do now about these cultural differences, do you think their intention is to offend? If you said something like, "comfortable," this also sounds pretty monochronic. Is the opposite true? Do you feel uncomfortable when others are not operating monochronically? Knowing what you do now about these cultural differences, would it be worth coping with your discomfort to learn more cultural adaptability? If you said something like, "unvalued," you seem more on the polychronic side. :-) Knowing what you do now about these cultural differences, do you think their intention is to offend? What might you do to navigate the difference so that you feel valued? If you said something like, "annoyed," this is also reflective of a polychronic orientation to time. Knowing what you do now about these cultural differences, do you think their intention is to offend? Have you wondered if they are also annoyed with you because you are "costing" them time? Is there a way to compromise so that everyone is less annoyed?

Q: Describe an interpersonal interaction, e.g., with a friend, teammate, colleague, business associate, where you were involved in or witnessed conflicting approaches to time. Who was involved, and which approaches did each person have? What caused the conflict to emerge? What was the outcome of the conflict? Now that you understand monochronic and polychronic approaches to time, how might you address a similar conflict in the future?
Feedback: Chronemics can cause a lot of misunderstandings cross-culturally, because we tend to think of people as individuals making conscious choices rather than cultural beings who are just following the norms they grew up with on auto-pilot. Can you see, for instance, if a student were late to team meeting, how a more monochronic team member might believe they didn't care about about being on time, were not responsible enough to make it on time, etc.? If that student were more polychronic, these assumptions may not be accurate at all. (Actually, life happens, and they may not be true anyway!) So the question is, how can we be more conscious about the differences in how people orient towards time in our interactions? One suggestion would be to be self-aware of and then transparent with others about your own expectations of behaviors related to time. Another would be to ask questions of your teammates about their norms and preferences.