Spending time in Italy consulting with local business owners has been an unforgettable and eye-opening experience. As I reflect on my journey, I realize just how much I’ve grown. What started as an exciting opportunity quickly revealed the complexities and nuances of cross-cultural business communication.
One of the most significant takeaways from my time abroad is how important time and connection are when working with a small business. At the beginning of the project, I had high hopes of delivering something truly impactful for the business we were assigned. I genuinely wanted to help them in the best way possible, but I quickly realized that the time allotted simply wasn’t enough to make a deep connection or fully understand their operations and goals.
Another major challenge was communication. Although our clients spoke English, there were still moments of misunderstanding. It took until the final PowerPoint presentation for me to truly grasp what they were hoping to achieve. That experience taught me that repeated interactions (whether formal or informal) are essential to build mutual understanding. I now believe future consulting programs like this should incorporate more frequent meetings with the business to build rapport and clarify expectations along the way.
Interestingly, this time around, language wasn’t a barrier, but that won’t always be the case. If I plan to consult abroad in the future (especially in non-English speaking countries) language proficiency will be crucial. It’s one thing to research a business from afar, and another to build trust and offer value face-to-face in their native language.
This experience reshaped my perspective. My initial impression was that business would be business, structured, linear, and problem-solution based. But in Italy, I learned that relationships, patience, and adaptability are just as important as strategy and data. The heart of business is human connection—and that’s a lesson I’ll carry with me wherever I go.
