Work culture in Sweden and the concept of “lagom,” go hand-in-hand. Once you understand the concept, you will realize why your Swedish colleagues seem happier. Lagom means not too little and not too much. It is a lifestyle. Understanding the culture is essential to working with Swedish companies. These are my own personal perspectives and experiences. I’d love to hear feedback from any Scandinavian readers. Lagom is an important part of Swedish work-life balance.
Work Hours
When I worked in Sweden, American and Swedish work life culture perspectives conflicted with each other. In Northern Sweden employees left the office around 4:45 pm. You risked being locked in the building if you did not depart by 5pm. Did this mean that my colleagues worked less? Not necessarily. Being productive within a specific time frame was vastly different from my previous job at a telecom startup. There, I spent many nights in that office until 10pm and burned myself out. Coworkers didn’t like each other and had an overinflated sense of importance. In hindisght, it felt like I worked five years at that startup when it was only one short year. That’s how intense it was. Swedish work consolidates productivity into a specific timeframe. Visiting Americans had very different perceptions on time usage.
The Importance of Swedish Fika
In Sweden, you started work early and broke for a coffee break twice a day (fika). The first break was at 9am where all employees would congregate in the coffee room, share stories about their lives or catch up on projects. The second break was at 2pm and was a repeat of the first. If you were an American back in the States, your colleagues would literally rush you off of a call or reject a meeting request if it interfered with fika. Don’t let this fool you though, the intentional breaks also made my colleagues more productive. Breaks are synchronized, and employees take their breaks and get back to work. They didn’t drift in and out of people’s offices all day which often happens in the U.S. There weren’t constant interruptions. Fika is an integral part of Swedish work life.
Better Work Life Balance
My Swedish colleagues went home every night and enjoyed their personal lives. Work is not the center of their lives. They didn’t go home and sit around. If it was still light out, they would take the valuable time to finish an outdoor project, wash a car or enjoy a meal outdoors. Work was a part of their day, not their entire day. In some ways, I think that the harsh climate and little daytime light in Scandinavia makes work life balance critical for mental health. Balance is key in Swedish work life and Swedes definitely work to live and not live to work. Lagom is critical to Swedish work-life balance.
Summer Vacation
You take all of your summer vacation in one big continuous chunk. The Annual Leave Act states that each Swedish worker has the right to 4 weeks of continuous vacation between June-August. Companies can have opinions on timing in to balance having a skeleton crew. As a manager with employees in Sweden, summer vacation was tough and sometimes frustrating because work came to a standstill. However, when you realize that your friends and colleagues live so many days with winter, you later feel foolish for begrudging them. Warm Swedish summers are never guaranteed. It doesn’t automatically become July and sunny. I’ve spent many a cold summer in Sweden.
Unions
To. my recollection, almost everyone belonged to some kind of union. In fact, Telsa is having difficulty with unions in at the time of this post. Unions are an essential part of the Swedish economy. Even organizational changes need union approval. Unions in Sweden have collective bargaining power and you must work with them in order to be successful. You can’t change that. Unions are valued by the employees.
Last in, First Out
This concept was a shock to U.S. managers. All organizations go through change and layoffs are a frequent occurrence when businesses shift strategic direction. In Sweden, there was/is a concept coined “Last in, First Out.” The longer you were in a company, the safer your job. It lowered the risk for a lay off. It’s a seniority rule designed to protect employees. In my opinion, it protects people from ageism, but also made it difficult to let go of non performers even if they were redundant. Clearly, job security is different in Sweden than in the U.S. in that we don’t have any and don’t expect any security.
Decision by Consensus
If I would have to say something negative about Swedish work life it would be about their meetings and decision making process. Decisions are made by consensus. When you can’t get the group to agree, you schedule another meeting and leave without action. There were many unproductive meetings and this ultimately led to my resignation. I simply could not travel to Kista for one more internal meeting. I felt like a hamster in a wheel, unable to get anywhere in the endless cycle of internal dialogue. It was difficult to pinpoint ultimate responsibility and accountability in the organization.
Lagom and My Own Life
I married a Swedish man and it is with heartfelt honesty that I can tell you that Sweden is now my second home. Sweden has changed me. There are many fun stories and experiences here and I’ll hope you’ll read them! We spend our summers in Sweden and I have a real appreciation and love for lagom. My heart is split between two lifestyles. However, after the summer when I arrive back on U.S. soil, I’m the first person to throw myself into chaos. Perhaps it’s easier for me to do that because I recharge with my Swedish family? I don’t know but my life is full and even more so because of Sweden. This is my personal lagom, giving me and my family a chance to breathe and balance our own lives.
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