John. Hi, I am John. I'll never forget the first time I met one of the most important contacts of Red Bank, he was one of the most frequent customers and I just wanted to try to get on well with him and set a good business relationship, it was important for both companies to know about our companies’ histories in order to try to share ideas for our future cooperation. I traveled for a couple of hours and went to his office to meet him in person. Making a good impression was one of my main goals, I wanted to show him all my respect and admiration. I wanted to greet him with a handshake, and I thought I could call him by his last name. When I put my hand out, I saw that he wanted to greet me with a hug, so it was awkward to say hi to both of us. Then, I said his last name when addressing him, but he just used my name, it was extremely uncomfortable. Then I realized that I had just made assumptions about the level of formality he expected because he knew that both companies had been doing good business with each other for a couple of years and he felt comfortable enough to address me a bit less formally. After that situation, I learned not to assume what other people think about meeting for the first time, we all have different ideas.

Claire. I am Claire. I had never worked with a virtual team before, and this one was quite special due to it being with an international company. Even if I was excited, I knew it was also challenging due to having to deal with people from different countries, and what was more, I had never had the opportunity to get to meet some of them. There were many things about working with people from different countries. For instance, we had different time zones, our IT systems were different as well and even our local regulations were different, so, what each person could, or was able to, do for the project was completely different. We also had some differences in interpersonal relationships, we all had different ways of working, we all dealt with deadlines differently and our ideas about replying to emails were different too. It is important to consider that English was the main language in the project and for many people, it was difficult since it was not their first language, so trying to communicate effectively was a big problem for both native and non-native speakers. In order to help us all get on the same page, we had to set some rules in order to make our teamwork work well. We wrote a document with the purpose of establishing rules for the most important points. In the end. I found it really useful, and the project was a great success. I'm looking forward to working on my next international project.

Tim. My name is Tim. Some years ago, I had to face a rough patch at work. One of the most important members of the team quit his job and I got too overloaded when he left. I started to work overtime, and I had to deal with stress. My boss was really helpful, she proposed to create new and realistic goals for the project carried out in the company at that moment. She also taught me the smart approach to goal setting. It's an acronym, S-M-A-R-T. You use it to create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. I used it to work on the things I was feeling overwhelmed with. It helped me organize my tasks in order of importance. I still use the approach and it has helped me deal better with my assignments.

Pamela. I’m Pamela. Let’s talk about the last time I had a problem with my business flight. I was about to go back home, and I remember it was the last flight of the day and I knew it was always a big risk, but it was delayed. We waited for a long time, but it was finally cancelled. One of the members of the crew took us with the agents to the departure area, booked a hotel for all of us and re-booked the flights. I knew that the next flight would not have the capacity to take all the passengers, so I hurried back through the airport and I was the first one to get to the desk we had just been sent. It was the best decision I could always make since there were only six seats left for the next flight. I was so lucky since everyone else had to take connecting flights in order to get to their destinations.