Word of the day: Hermosa is a great one- it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. In Spanish class, it was one of the first words I learned. My teacher said it meant “beautiful”, and that it rhymed with “mariposa” to help us remember its meaning. In Spain, it’s used to describe objects, but is also used among women to compliment one another. They affectionately render one another “hermosa” just as I might call my female friends “sweetie” or “pretty”. Compliments always feel better when they’re given in Spanish. I’m not sure what it is: the lyricism of Spanish sentence structure, the emotion that Spaniards often use when speaking, or something else entirely.
Before coming to Spain, we learned that communication in Spain would tend towards being low-context. This means that less situational information would be explicitly stated, requiring the conversation partner to interpret the meaning of the message. An example of this communication style would be: you arrive half an hour late to work, and tell your supervisor that the subway was late. She responds, “that’s fine.” In a higher context culture, you might assume that this means your lateness did not reflect badly on you, and if it happened again, it wouldn’t be a significant problem. However, in a low-context culture, your supervisor might be assuming that you know not to be late to work again, since punctuality is a quality that is valued in every work environment.
Now, as I’m seven weeks into my internship, I’m here to report that, in my workplace, there are subtle difference in communication styles between Spain and the United States.
In internships, it seems to be common practice to assign a limited number of tasks and responsibilities, and the intern is responsible for initiating responsibilities that exceed this. At least, that is the experience I had at my internship in the United States last year. So, it wasn’t out of the ordinary that, as my internship progressed, I received less direct instructions. My supervisor and I met at the beginning of my time at CEIGRAM, and she let me know that work would be assigned on a weekly basis. For the first month, she would outline a few specific weekly tasks that I would complete. As time went by, her involvement decreased, and my coworkers took initiative by assigning me tasks themselves. They did not feel the need to wait for instruction, and readily assumed managerial responsibilities in the case that my supervisor was preoccupied. It was implied that they would not need to communicate with their supervisor regarding the new responsibility they had assumed. This was mutually beneficial. It meant that my supervisor had more time to complete her responsibilities in research and industry, and I was able to personalize my experience.
I posit that the some of the formal communication used in the American workplace is superfluous. While communication is important, it can be empowering to grant more autonomy to employees by having less formally-scheduled “check-in meetings”. However, I greatly appreciate the prioritization of cohesion and teamwork in the United States. That was missing in Spain, and it was reflected in the decreased efficiency of the work.
The communication difference also increased my level of personal accountability: my supervisor spent comparatively little time following up on my progress. After a few weeks, I was losing momentum. Consistent meetings with a supervisor provide me with structure that ultimately keeps me on schedule. Discipline is a weak point for me, so while a consistent measure of accountability may be unnecessary for some, it maximizes my productivity.
In the everyday, there is no lack of communication in Spain: verbal and nonverbal. Every word has a meaning and inflection. I found that people usually accommodated my limited ability to decipher contexts, however, and were readily able to use more words to get their point across. I am aware that if I was a native speaker, I would rely more heavily on context. If you’re not a native speaker, get used to asking, “wait what?” It’s always better to clarify than to misunderstand.