The Setting Sun
Last night, a group of us from this SAP Social Sabbatical team in Montevideo, Uruguay walked down La Rambla to take in the sunset. After a week of clouds, rain and crazy wind (okay, there is always some element of crazy wind in this city we’ve learned), we finally had a sunny day and wanted to make the most of it.
As we watched the sun disappear below the watery horizon, several of us joked that it was like a metaphor for our time here. 4 days from today, it’s all a memory.
This week is super intense, as we finish our deliverables and prepare to do our final presentations to our host clients and each other. It’s an interesting dynamic — I think we’re all ready (probably to varying degrees) to close this chapter and go home, but there’s also a growing sense of the finality that each day represents, not to mention realizing how quickly four weeks go by when you have tons of work to do!
I’ll post more about the work my team has created when we reach the finish line. Tonight, I’ll share some insights I’ve reflected on about this incredibly unique month of my life.
- As I’ve mentioned in this blog and previous ones, it’s been an intense experience. Thankfully, I’ve slept better here than I have in a long time, due in no small part to not having dogs and kids to contend with (shout out to my husband, the rock star!). That said, I’m exhausted. I’ve realized that during this experience, I’ve collaborated with others in physical proximity more in this month that I have in the past nearly four years combined. With the pandemic and even post-pandemic reality, I work from home more often than not. I’m in constant contact with people, but it’s all remote…and I’m realizing (remembering?) how wildly different the in-person teamwork adventure is. I certainly didn’t have the muscle memory for it, and while it is a different level of exertion, it’s been a game-changer.
- I’ve never realized how much I’ve taken the ability to communicate in “real time” for granted until now. If you remember my blog entry about my week in Brazil, I talked about how humbling it is to be in surroundings where you don’t speak the language. While I certainly experienced that in the airport, hotel, pharmacy and restaurants, in the Sao Leopoldo office everyone graciously spoke English with me (my Portuguese is basically non-existent, except for about three words). Here in Uruguay, we are working in a Spanish-speaking country where most of our work interactions face a language barrier. Each team has a project assistant assigned to us whose tasks include translation, which has proven to be incredibly valuable. Our hosts at Anima speak English very well, though there have been meetings where it’s easier for them to speak amongst themselves in Spanish and then have our project assist translate. This means a conversation which may happen quickly and organically in the same language — picking up on tone, subtle hints, jargon, respectful interruption if there’s a question or confusion in the moment — is much more choreographed. There’s a necessary stop and start to your thought process, because you need to wait for your words to be interpreted and for the response to be interpreted as well. It’s been a wonderfully eye-opening experience, and I see the impact and power of the art of communication in an entirely different light. I also have never been more impressed by those that speak multiple languages, often times switching back and forth many times in a day. My ill-attempts at ordering food or conversing with Uber drivers in Spanish have showed me it’s much harder than it looks.
- Working with different personality and communication styles isn’t new. Even when it’s with people you’ve known forever or people who share your background, navigating differences between ourselves and others is something we do as early as childhood. This experience has certainly posed the same challenge, with all 12 of us coming from a mixed bag of countries, roles, areas of expertise and stages in life. What this experience HAS given me fresh perspective on, however, is that to simply navigate those differences is doing the bare minimum. There’s so much to learn from other people’s approaches, but sometimes we are so focused on getting our own message across (or feeling frustrated at how different their style may be from ours) that we forget to seize the greatest gift of collaboration: the gift of dynamic, on-the-job learning from a peer. If you like to work at lightning speed and your partner’s slow and methodical approach is driving you crazy, press the pause button and realize that their approach has brought them success for a reason. Maybe you gloss over things in your race to the finish line, and their processes can teach you how to relish in details. I have learned a lot by observing these incredible colleagues of mine this past month, and I am excited to pack those lessons up along with my souvenirs to bring home with me.
- Home is where you make it. I’ve mentioned before that pangs of homesickness have crept in at times, and that’s been hard. However, unlike a “typical” business trip, where after a handful of long office days and nights you’re back at the airport, being here for one month meant I would need to approach this differently in order to try and make it feel like a home. Some things that have worked for me: I brought a framed picture of my family which sits by the window and that I look at every day. I brought a room fragrance spray of my favorite scent (white tea) that I spray to lift my spirits. I’ve gotten to know the faces (and some names) of the hotel staff, and we greet each other each morning/afternoon/evening with kind hellos and smiles. And of course, I’ve leaned into getting to know this city, country and my colleagues as much as I can. That means sometimes, on the nights when I may not have much energy for a dinner out, I push myself to join in because I want to spend quality time with this temporary family as much as possible. I believe these deliberate efforts have made a big difference.
Stay tuned, as I’ll be back soon to share about our final presentations and closing preparations to return to reality. As excited as I am to hug my family and snuggle with my dogs again, I know how special this time is, and that I’ll desperately miss this experience when it’s over. How lucky I am to now have another country and work family to soon miss.
#sapsocialsabbatical #sap4good #lifeatsap #montevideo #uruguay
