By Carolina Palma, Risk & Sustainability Analyst
One of the things I enjoy most about working at our company is collaborating with people from around the world.
On our Sustainability team, projects regularly involve employees across multiple countries and cultures. Every conversation is a chance to learn something new, not just about the work itself, but about how people communicate and solve problems.
This led me to complete the Culture Map assessment.
I wanted to better understand how people from different cultures prefer to communicate so I could work more effectively with teams across our global organization.
One lesson stood out immediately: Communication is about much more than language.
Different cultures have different expectations around feedback, relationship building, responsiveness and even everyday interactions. Something as simple as how you greet someone or how much context you include in an email can shape how they receive your message.
Rather than expecting everyone to communicate the same way, I’ve learned to pay closer attention to the people I’m working with. I adapt my communication based on what helps them feel comfortable and understood.
That adaptability builds trust.
Trust grows when people know you’ll deliver what you’ve committed to and communicate openly. Those habits matter regardless of where someone lives, but understanding cultural differences makes it easier to build those relationships.
I’ve experienced that firsthand with my own team.
Although we’re located in Spain, the United States and the Czech Republic, we’ve built strong connections by communicating regularly and sharing our work openly, making time for one another through weekly meetings and individual conversations. Even though we’re fully remote, we’ve created a team environment where everyone feels included and supported.
The Culture Map also reminded me that no one fits perfectly into a national stereotype.
When I reviewed my results, I realized my own communication style didn’t fully align with what someone might typically expect from someone in Spain. It reflected experiences I’ve gained from working internationally and reinforced that every person brings their own perspective to the table.
That’s one of the greatest strengths of a global company.
When people from different backgrounds collaborate, we challenge assumptions, share new ideas and develop better solutions than any one perspective could create alone.
The more we understand one another, the stronger we become together.