[blumentopf]

I think the Germanic approach is particularly helpful for Asperger people, which are obviously prevalent in the IT industry. The social protocol is easier to parse.

Interestingly, attitudes differ even among German-speaking countries: Austrians often criticize the German "yes means yes, no means no" attitude. I've read an article which attributed this to Austrians' centuries of experience with their Balkan neighbours, which has increased their acceptance of slack and thus has made them much more relaxed than the Germans. Not sure in how far this is true ;-)

[barry-cotter]

I was shocked to find out the Schwyer were even more um, polite, than the Germans. Hallo is an implied "du", as was tschüss so unless you want to piss everybody off, it was either Guten Tag or Grüssi and Aufwiedersehen.

Very formal people the German speaking Swiss.