Working with people from different cultures and backgrounds
By Abeba
It was also clear through this process that in order to accomplish our team’s goals, it was necessary to have the trust and involvement of our client every step of the way.
It still feels unreal that we were unable to travel to Brazil and meet the client we had built a connection with over the past few months. I was looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and spending time with them in person. Our client also seemed excited for our visit as he shared with us some activities he planned for when we arrived. He wanted to show our team around Rio, take us to see one of their designer’s store, and eat at a traditional restaurant. Although I was not able to travel to Brazil, I enjoyed hearing stories from one of my team members who visited a week earlier and had a chance to meet our client.
Despite all the chaos from the coronavirus, our group continued to meet each week to work on our project and communicate with our client through email. The past few weeks have been challenging because our team’s and our client’s working conditions have been disrupted. This has resulted in a delay in our communication, however we have all learned to be flexible and understanding during this difficult time. After a few weeks of not hearing back from our client, we decided to check-in through Whatsapp. It became clear to us that he was also encountering similar challenges of working from home. Struggling to balance work and taking care of family. In order to keep our momentum and not to add any more pressure to our client, we decided to focus on the recommendation that we received during our virtual presentation. The meeting had ensured us that we were on the right path.
This experience overall has taught me how to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds. I have also learned to be open minded when evaluating varies ideas and approaches during a consulting project (Millard, 2019). This meant learning how to asking the right questions to get the necessary information to be successful. It was also clear through this process that in order to accomplish our team’s goals, it was necessary to have the trust and involvement of our client every step of the way.