Recently, we were lucky enough to be on assignment in Morocco several times with one of our blue chip clients from the Toyota Group of companies. It was a great opportunity to experience first-hand how business and communication is done in a different country with a different culture. Although, at times the interactions were difficult and frustrating for both parties, it was also interesting and a valuable learning experience. The value of this assignment was not only the differences and similarities between Morocco and Japan, but due to the nature of the project, we also spent a considerable amount of time with people from America, Egypt, Spain, Malaysia, Holland, and Oman. Now that is a mix of cultural and thinking differences!

During our assignments in Morocco, we learned that the ability to communicate is not just in language, but also how one interacts with the different people and cultures. One example of this was a communication breakdown between our Japanese and Moroccan clients due to a difference in business approach. After communicating with both teams and their managers we were able to identify the difference in delegation styles and bridge the gap between both cultures in order to help them reach an understanding and ultimately, a positive result.