Remote Work — Problem of Different Cultures
I own a small one-person company dealing with process and project management, and my usual work combines these disciplines into business development.
As I am located in the European Union, we got rules and laws for almost everything. For example, a set of regulations for personal data protection (GDPR) by my customers outside the EU is ununderstandable. They cannot understand why such rules are in place as they consider it almost customary to have a right to keep and collect personal data.
When working in the financial sector, they think we are crazy in the EU as the entire industry has a set of laws, rules, and regulations that banks must comply with — only to operate their daily business. Okay, they got different rules in place but do not question that. Laws are in place, and I have to work by the rules. It is so simple.
But they are even more confused when we go deeply into any matter. Recently I was hired by Utah located company. Even the simplest things in the EU are tough to understand from their point of view. One example they cannot understand are Amazon’s operations in the EU. Like every other company, they have to obey the rules. And they implement it quite well but very differently, depending on the country — no one here complaints about that. Not as that, I know. I understand that in the States, people are customized to make an order and have a package in front of their doors the same day, in a matter of hours.
No one here is in a position to take users’ data and collect them. No go. Super simple. It is not allowed without the explicit permission of the user.
Furthermore, regulations are such that EU citizens have a right to be “forgotten.” When you close the bank account, you can ask the institution to delete all your data, but once they have to keep it — because of the laws. Some data must be stored according to the country’s data retention policy, but no one can read or use them without a court order.
In the end, everything is compliant and safe.
Speaking of such practices in the EU, you can ask Google/Alphabet to remove your data. It is a simple form and straightforward process anyone can apply to.
Another challenge :), is working with China. For some reason, they rarely use what all of us consider normal, email communication. They use WeChat for business communication. And everything is fine. You will receive an email form for official and obligatory documents, but any negotiation, discussion, or proposition is done using WeChat. Someone can accept that, and somebody will have a problem with that. I adapt to what the customer is used to, and everything works fine. Again, super simple.
I had a small gig in Bangladesh. They work hard. Very hard. And their delivery is superb. However, I was slightly confused when the whole family discussed some things. What I have to stress here is they are very polite, and all terms are always straightforward. You don’t have to think about their part. You can be sure it will be done right. I am not sure what methods they use, but they are practical and reliable. Again, super simple.
The most challenging work I do with local people. They do not understand why labor costs and always ask for a discount with arguments like — it is only three days for you. True. Three days and twenty-three years of constant learning and skill improvement. Probably that is what makes me avoid them. I don’t like working with such people who disrespects knowledge and experience, but the only measure is — time.
It is 9:43 AM here, I have to start with work. Adopting customers’ habits but with rules and regulations in mind.
Have a nice day.
