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Cultural Awareness: Stories and Lessons from the Trenches (S4E050)
In this episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome discuss various challenges and solutions related to cultural awareness within project management. They share personal stories about navigating different cultural environments, highlighting the importance of understanding and integrating cultural nuances for successful project delivery. The hosts emphasize the significance of team unity and adaptive strategies to bridge cultural divides, fostering effective collaboration and enriching team dynamics.
Main Take-Aways
Stories are powerful teachers. Today’s story lessons are about enhancing your cultural awareness:
- handling situations where the customer culture forbids certain activities that your organization promotes:
- the influence of ethnic cultures on the project culture
- working on projects where the customer’s approach to work is completely different than your organization’s working style
- the influence of local cultures on the project culture
Show Notes
Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Leadership Lessons from the Trenches of Cultural Awareness
00:45 Merv introduces this episode of project experiences involving cultural awareness in project management with a story of dealing with client cultures that did not allow their staff to participate with his contractor team in social activities that his organization paid for.
02:45 Tim had a similar experience in working with organizations where management and union teams were involved, and how he navigated those two cultures influencing his project.
04:27 Merv piggybacks on his initial experience by recounting times where social activities involving his team and his client team were allowed – where his client’s culture did allow this – and how those experiences enhanced the overall project collaboration.
06:22 Merv tells a fun story of ethnic culture interactions involving cricket rivalries that created a bonding experience on the project.
07:43 Tim expands on the influence of ethnicity on project culture with his experiences of hosting dinners for teams which had both vegetarian and non-vegetarian team members, and how even these types of experience can be positive for the culture of the project.
08:48 Merv remembers good times when Indian team members hosted Diwali celebrations involving the entire team, introducing everyone to cultural dances and ethnic foods.
10:15 Tim enjoys the less aggressive approach to project delivery from the application of “mañana”, a cultural approach sometimes employed on projects in the US Southwest – an approach that considers sitting back, relaxing, taking a breath, and contemplating the challenges of the day.
11:41 Merv adds to this by contrasting the more aggressive time management principle of setting daily priorities with the less stressful “mañana” approach to accomplishing project goals.
13:45 Merv provides an example of working in a customer culture that rigorously defended its start and end times of the working day, and how he changed his own approach to accommodate their working style.
15:17 Tim expands on that example with one of his own, where his customer culture trained every individual in the same time management approaches.
18:02 Merv concludes this episode with two humorous stories of his teams’ beginning project work in the states of Alaska and Hawaii, showing up on the project sites in suits and ties while his customers dressed much differently.
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By Merv Jersak & Tim JeromeIn this episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome discuss various challenges and solutions related to cultural awareness within project management. They share personal stories about navigating different cultural environments, highlighting the importance of understanding and integrating cultural nuances for successful project delivery. The hosts emphasize the significance of team unity and adaptive strategies to bridge cultural divides, fostering effective collaboration and enriching team dynamics.
Main Take-Aways
Stories are powerful teachers. Today’s story lessons are about enhancing your cultural awareness:
- handling situations where the customer culture forbids certain activities that your organization promotes:
- the influence of ethnic cultures on the project culture
- working on projects where the customer’s approach to work is completely different than your organization’s working style
- the influence of local cultures on the project culture
Show Notes
Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Leadership Lessons from the Trenches of Cultural Awareness
00:45 Merv introduces this episode of project experiences involving cultural awareness in project management with a story of dealing with client cultures that did not allow their staff to participate with his contractor team in social activities that his organization paid for.
02:45 Tim had a similar experience in working with organizations where management and union teams were involved, and how he navigated those two cultures influencing his project.
04:27 Merv piggybacks on his initial experience by recounting times where social activities involving his team and his client team were allowed – where his client’s culture did allow this – and how those experiences enhanced the overall project collaboration.
06:22 Merv tells a fun story of ethnic culture interactions involving cricket rivalries that created a bonding experience on the project.
07:43 Tim expands on the influence of ethnicity on project culture with his experiences of hosting dinners for teams which had both vegetarian and non-vegetarian team members, and how even these types of experience can be positive for the culture of the project.
08:48 Merv remembers good times when Indian team members hosted Diwali celebrations involving the entire team, introducing everyone to cultural dances and ethnic foods.
10:15 Tim enjoys the less aggressive approach to project delivery from the application of “mañana”, a cultural approach sometimes employed on projects in the US Southwest – an approach that considers sitting back, relaxing, taking a breath, and contemplating the challenges of the day.
11:41 Merv adds to this by contrasting the more aggressive time management principle of setting daily priorities with the less stressful “mañana” approach to accomplishing project goals.
13:45 Merv provides an example of working in a customer culture that rigorously defended its start and end times of the working day, and how he changed his own approach to accommodate their working style.
15:17 Tim expands on that example with one of his own, where his customer culture trained every individual in the same time management approaches.
18:02 Merv concludes this episode with two humorous stories of his teams’ beginning project work in the states of Alaska and Hawaii, showing up on the project sites in suits and ties while his customers dressed much differently.