As every global business knows, understanding cultural differences can make or break a company. From language to formality to etiquette, the SSC team shares the ins and outs of the Turkish business culture.
The SSC team.
With customers across more than 48 countries, Symantec is by definition a global company. As such, many of the decisions we make on a daily basis require a deep understanding of the unwritten rules of international business culture including etiquette and operations, communication, punctuality, and much more—awareness that our company has gathered over time through the many experiences, interactions, and partnerships of our employees.
Throughout the last four weeks, the 2015 Symantec Service Corps (SSC) team has immersed itself into the Turkish business culture, significantly increasing our cross-cultural knowledge base. In a short time period, they’ve learned to work with a whole new team, enhanced their awareness of the region, gained significant skills and enjoyed intercultural experiences; all which will leave a lasting impact in Ankara and help Symantec successfully conduct global business in this fast-growing region for many years to come.
A peek inside the Turkish business culture
The team’s experience in Turkey has been much different than their typical days in their respective countries. Some of this is due to the speed in which their projects must be completed, but much of it can also be attributed to the Turkish business culture.
Flying Broom office: A look at the many archives the SSC team is tasked with cataloging.
After nearly four weeks of working in Ankara, which the team feels has gone by too quickly, they are sharing some of their most memorable experiences about the Turkish culture:
- Limited formality: “The culture here is more ad-hoc and informal. They do not like to set up meetings in advance.”
- English helps but language is still a challenge: “Even though English is a language that unites many people, everyone has a different accent and they do not always understand each other due to these accents.”
- Personal relationships and social interaction strengthen business partnerships: “During our preparation for the trip, we were briefed on business practices in Turkey and the importance of establishing a personal and social relationship prior to delving into business with our clients. We experienced this through meetings with clients in coffee shops and restaurants in which we shared stories about families and travels.”
- Warmth, sincerity and friendliness reign: “The people of Ankara are warm and friendly. If you throw in a couple of Turkish words, they will go out of their way to help.”
- Less email and meetings, more interaction: “Unlike our normal routines of meetings, calls and sitting in front of our laptops we are constantly collaborating and bouncing ideas. We are not sending many emails or scheduling meetings since we’re in the same room all day.”
- Limited use of cell phones during social time: “I really like how people spend more time just talking to each other instead of on their cell phones.”
Team Flying Broom tackles women empowerment
Over the past two weeks, we’ve spotlighted Doğa Derneği (Nature Society) and the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants—today we are highlighting the Flying Broom team, which includes Archana Rajan (Culver City, CA), Amitoj Duggal (Pune, India), and Travis Goldberg (Dublin, Ireland).
Team Flying Broom enjoys lunch with their clients.
Flying Broom is a women’s organization that is focused on enhancing gender equality by providing information and training to empower women and women’s organizations, and contributing to the development of effective policies to tackle problems arising from inequality. Their organization’s mission is closely aligned with Symantec’s commitment to diversity and empowering women around the world.
During their time in Ankara, the Symantec team has worked to improve and protect the tremendous film archives associated with the organization’s 18-year International Women’s Film Festival. Their assignment was to research tools for online archiving and sharing of film materials, and provide recommendations and an action plan to make festival materials available to the public.
The team got to work and quickly identified a solution based around a NAS (network-attached storage) box which will allow all connected users in the office to share their files, including backup, quicker data access, and easier administration. The client accepted the team’s recommendations and immediately purchased the technology, demonstrating their confidence in the team and the strength of their recommendation. While their days in Turkey are quickly coming to a close, the team is training key users at Flying Broom on how to use and maintain the system so they can enjoy all the benefits of the technology for many years to come.
“I am inspired by this incredible opportunity to work with fellow colleagues, from around the world, for a great cause, and to engage in a new (to me) culture, with a deep seeded history stretching all the way back to the cradle of civilization,” notes Travis Goldberg, senior pricing and licensing specialist.
Approaching the end
There are just days left in Ankara before the SSC team boards their planes and departs for their hometowns, a sad thought for many. The core SSC team was recently joined by Lora Phillips, Senior Manager, Global Corporate Responsibility, who will be in the audience on Friday, March 25 as the nine participants officially wrap up their projects and deliver closing presentations. They’ve not only produced incredible results for their clients but have also immersed themselves in the culture, bringing back many new skills and experiences to share with their teammates and Symantec as a whole.
Lora Phillips, Senior Manager, Global Corporate Responsibility, joins the team for the last week of the mission.
Stay tuned as we conclude this series, sharing key accomplishments, lessons learned, and what the team will remember most about Turkey. For more behind the scenes stories and photos, visit the Symantec Service Corps blog, here on the Corporate Responsibility in Action blog, and twitter using hashtag #SSC15.
Related articles:
- Travel Log Turkey—Week 3: Long-term solutions developed in just four weeks
- Travel Log Turkey—Week 2: Teamwork in Action
- Travel Log: Turkey—Week 1: Welcome to Ankara
- Making an Impact in Turkey: Announcing 2015 Symantec Service Corps Volunteer Partners
Lora Phillips is Symantec's Senior Manager, Global Corporate Responsibility.