#10 - What we learned managing global clients and projects

Working with people from different continents means dealing with gaps in culture, time zones, communication, and many other things, both visible and invisible. But every gap is also a learning opportunity, it gives us the chance to explore other cultures, understand how people from different places express their feelings and needs, and adapt the way we work.

In this edition, I want to share some of what I’ve learned working with global projects and clients here at MOIC and hopefully help you navigate some of the challenges that come with cultural differences.

How do you close the communication gap with clients from other cultures?

One of my first meetings with an international client taught me this lesson quickly. I soon realized that even though we wanted to say the same thing, we were getting there through completely different routes and different ways of expressing ourselves. When talking to people from our own country, even when we use different words, tone of voice, expressions, and subtle gestures often help us understand what the other person really means. These signals guide us toward the same conclusion without us even noticing.

That is not always true when crossing borders, a smile doesn’t necessarily mean someone is happy. A “sounds good” doesn’t always mean someone agrees and what feels like a clear message to one person can leave plenty of room for interpretation to another, what helps in these situations is giving as much context as possible, in the right way and at the right time. More often than not, being too brief only leaves space for speculation. And, as there are no mind readers out there, talking clearly and asking the right questions is one of the only ways to understand what is really going through someone’s mind, always push for definitive answers.

How should time zones shape the way you work?

Communication is important, but setting up a time to talk is the first step and this leads us to another challenge: time zones. Although “it’s five o’clock somewhere” can be a good excuse for afternoon drinks, “it’s always commercial time somewhere” is equally valid, although much less exciting. For an office based in San Francisco to talk with an office in Dubai, there can be zero overlap in business hours, this means someone has to adapt. And if you’re an agency, that usually means you.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, some people, myself included, work best at night, when there are fewer distractions around. Having a meeting outside regular business hours can also be easier when you’re in the comfort of your own home, in a place you know is safe and prepared. But if you’re like the vast majority of people, having a routine and a settled time for these meetings can work well. For example, you might decide that every Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight is reserved for clients in very different time zones. The first few weeks might feel strange, but eventually, you get used to it. The key is to make these differences part of the operating routine instead of treating them as a problem every time they appear.

Who actually makes the decision on the client side?

Understanding when to meet is one thing, knowing who needs to be in the meeting is another. Different cultures have different approaches to hierarchy and leadership, and this can directly affect how decisions are made.

Let’s say you have two major campaign decisions that need to be made by two client companies. Both companies have around 50 team members. One is based in India and the other in Norway, you have access to both CEOs and the project managers on each side.

When setting up the call, it may be important to have the CEO involved on the Indian side (if they’re available, of course). Hierarchy can play a stronger role in decision-making, and the decision may pass through the CEO one way or another. On the Norwegian side, the project manager may have more freedom to make the decision themselves, or at least to build a strong enough case to take to the CEO. Neither approach is inherently better, they are simply different ways of organizing decision-making. Understanding who needs to be involved, who can make the decision, and who needs to be consulted can save a lot of unnecessary back and forth.

The Diversity of the Industry

Onchain finance is truly limitless. New protocol ideas, tokens, and smart contract applications come around almost every day. More of an opportunity than a difficulty, we need to adapt our strategies and the way we manage clients based on their project’s idea and niche. The same strategy that worked for the project that tokenizes gemstones won’t work for the stablecoin and cross-border payment framework project.

Understanding each project might mean you have five different neobank apps (and cards) on your phone, that your money is in wBRL in one protocol and soon it will be in tokenized sunlight energy in another. All while having three aggregators telling you your yield and options from all of these adventures.

Closing the Gaps

Looking back, most of these came from misread smiles, meetings at midnight, and emails sent to the wrong person on the right team. And even with all the challenges, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. Each gap we ran into, whether in language, time, or hierarchy, forced us to slow down and ask a question we would never have asked at home: how does this person see things?

That question is, in the end, the real skill. Cultures will keep being different, time zones won’t move, and no two clients will ever make decisions the same way. But the habit of adapting (giving more context, choosing the right hour, inviting the right people) is something that travels well across any border.

After working with people from more than 30 countries, the biggest thing we’ve learned is that the gaps never fully close. We just get better at building bridges over them. And every new client, from any corner of the world, is a chance to build one more.