Intercultural experiences

S l o w d o w n , i t ’ s C a p e T o w n !

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16 46.2015 proActive

IF I HAD TO SUM UP A YEAR OF WORK WITH OUR CLIENT IN CAPE TOWN, THAT WOULD BE MY MOTTO.

On September 2013, my former boss (VP of Marketing and

Communication) asked me if I would like to act as Administrative

Coordinator for an international project in South Africa.

It was an important job that would involve colleagues from

several departments, and a unique experience in my career.

The first months entailed frequent travel to and from Cape

Town for our project team, with little or no notice: and

additional to my long list, I had to organize the transfer for

9 people. Other than the difficulties due to lack of time, to

our rigid travel company policy and to the obvious different

regulations between countries, what suddenly struck

me was that I needed to work hard to reconcile two very

different cultures too.

A good Admin should be able to understand diversity and

to align her thoughts and behaviour to manage it effectively,

learning to use those differences to her advantage,

and getting the maximum benefit from it. After the first days

of excitement, problems occur and frustration sets in.

Expats may feel depressed and helpless. Add to this mix a

tight schedule to deliver a tender in time and you’ll have

the recipe for disaster. I was working remotely from Italy and

sometimes it was a huge disadvantage, because the kind of

help my colleagues requested was often for basic assistance

(call, video-conference, ticket…..). It must sound strange

that a bunch of super skilled professionals could feel totally

bewildered by a different culture, but it happens more often

than we may think. For instance, our host thought it would

have been nice and welcoming to book accommodations

at the sea with a golf course nearby. Instead, our first thought

was: “Oh my gosh! We are 50 km away from the office

location; we will lose a lot of time commuting! We have to

relocate asap to a hotel in Cape Town!” As you can see,

even something apparently so innocent can be source of

stress and create a rift between people. The locals are used

to getting home from office at 5.00 pm, after arriving at 8.00

in the morning. We had far different timetables; we didn’t

go home until everything was in order and we were totally

concentrated on delivering the tender in time.

“NONE OF THESE LIFESTYLES IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER;

THEY ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT.“

Another big issue is language. Communication can become

a problem in workplaces where some workers speak English

as a second language. Speaking is sometimes not so clear,

because your thoughts are not fully aligned with your words.

Even if English business jargon is the same (almost) everywhere

in the world, sustaining a full immersion in another country

can be challenging.

> My suggestion is always to try an approach of cultural neutrality: be aware of your culture, respect cultural differences and reconcile differences. Living in a new place

always takes a bit of time to adjust. The best piece of advice

we got from our client was that if we really wanted to get

under the skin of Cape Town, we had to slow things down.

In the following months, our clients reciprocated with several

business visits to Italy. My first impression was fully positive:

they’re warm, they say what they think and they have an

easy-going attitude. It’s a pleasure to work with them, since

they don’t like competition as much as we do in Milan!

I learned a lot about facing difficulties, how to adapt my

behaviour to new situations and to not always want to be

the best in everything. There’s always room for everyone in

life. I feel enriched as a person, as well as a professional

Admin by this demanding experience. The sum of this

wonderful year is that now I am longing to go there and

see with my own eyes what I have only heard about.

Selvaggia Fagioli,

Member EUMA Italy