[MUSIC] I remembered thank you for coming, for joining me in this course. Understanding Russian's complex of inter-culture communication, and my first question is of course, what brought you to Moscow. >> I came to Moscow as part of a professional exchange fellowship. And I've been working at an organization that specializes in legal research and legal assistance. >> Hm. Hm. How interesting, it's a non-governmental organizational I believe. >> Correct. >> Well, I always have that feeling correct me if I'm wrong that working for NGO and na NGO especially in Russia is kind of so just the occupation of profession, it's probably >> Can you share with us your experience of working in a Russian NGO? How is it different from expected, or how is it different from what you know from the States and experience? >> Absolutely. I think you're correct that it's a little bit different from working in the commercial sector because it is perhaps less prestigious or sometimes the salary is a bit lower. So the people who are attracted to working at non-governmental organizations tend to be driven by values or by morals. Or by an interest, a deep interest in the particular sphere that they're working in. And so I think that you see that a lot among your co-workers, both in Russia and in other. In other countries and other countries where they have a non profit sector. And so, I think something that is unique to Russia is, again, just this very, very close office environment. You become very connected with your coworkers. You get to know each other very quickly and very deeply And there's almost a familial relationship among a lot of the people that you work with. Because it tends to be people who are extremely committed to the work that they're doing. >> Mm-hm, interesting. And do you find issues that are important topical different from what would be topical issues at the An American in jail for instance. >> I think that the broad spectrum of issues that are of interest to the angio-community in general are very similar. I think in each country the differences are more in the approaches to addressing some of those issues. So advocacy campaigns and educational outreach and things like that, I just think that there's some different strategies that non governmental organizations in Russia might use. And also perhaps some of the limitations, or some of the issues that are a little bit more sensitive here differs somewhat from other context. And if I may what are more sensitive issues that you find that seem to be more sensitive in this context and the context of this country? >> Well, I think that within the past couple of years since I've been working in Russia, in Moscow, issues connected to questions of family, to questions of gender and sexuality. Are quite sensitive, and also some activities associated with politics. There are different limitations and there are very different opinions and perceptions within the non-governmental organization community and other sectors. But your organisation was still continue doing their job as I understand >> Absolutely and I think that for many non-government organisations coming across challenges, or barriers just makes their conviction to assist with these issues and to defend rights in certain areas >> Just makes their convictions stronger, so- >> Okay, then coming from what you say, about the climate, the environment, the office environment. It's still office, it's still organization, with it's cultures and it's organizational communication And formats. Can you say anything about the communication style that you find and whether it was something new and what were any differences that you see. >> Well as I mentioned, something that is similar across >> Non governmental organizations, both in Russian and elsewhere is again a very familiar, very close knit office environment. Where you have very close relationships with your co workers. And as part of that, I think that a big part of communication in a nonprofit office is participation in office events. So celebrating birthdays, celebrating holidays together [INAUDIBLE] It's very important. And sharing about your own life and your own perspectives is a very important way of bonding with your coworkers. I think another issue that was very different from me when I began working in Russia is that Feedback on your work is a little bit different here than what I was used to in other contexts. So you might not get a very in-depth review of some of the work that you might do. And so, you have to just sort of be very proactive and assume If I don't hear anything, the work that I'm doing is good. And if I'm confused I really need to go out and ask questions and approach my supervisor and say, is this what you want? Is this the correct audience? Is this the correct format? Because usually you will receive very detailed feedback if there's a lot that's wrong with what you're doing. So if you would like more information, sometimes you have to go out and ask for it. >> Mm-hm, so you get you feedback only if you did something wrong, okay. In a way I understand what you mean. And do you think there is any difference int he vehicles of communication, the different vehicles like whether it's oral or written. Did you have any problems, I don't know how do you write in Russian, I mean for. >> Yes. >> For, for business purposes? So, you didn't have that problem because you could write in Russian as well, yeah. But the communication would go in Russian, or in English with you? >> For me, it was primarily in Russian, but I know in the NGO community especially here, you find a lot of people who have a background in some English, so >> I think there's a lot of cooperation across country lines with organizations in other countries and English is often a. And so, you encounter it quite a bit among your partners and your coworkers. >> How about whether it's oral or written, do you see any difference from what you would find in the >> In American office? >> Well, I think for a non profit organization because they tend to be smaller offices and you tend to be in closer contact with people. It's a big mix of oral and written communication. So obviously if you're sharing an office with several other people that's a great opportunity to >> To speak directly and I know that in our organization there was a big emphasis on having regular staff meetings that you could be brought together to discuss issues in person. And especially now I know new technologies such as G-Chatting or Skype, even when you're in the same popular are very popular because it's just a. Very quick way to Exchange information, so you might be sharing files on Skype even with someone who is sitting right down the hall from you. >> I understand that and probably the last question, because I know that you also traveled out of Moscow for the purposes of your fellowship and business purposes maybe >> Do you see that the process that go in the regions are kind of following the steps of our central part of the country where things have been more fast or you see some >> Or just the opposite maybe so different dynamics and what is the dynamics from the point of view? >> I think all of those things are true to some extent. My experience in some of the cities outside of Moscow showed that obviously best practices and organizational protocols. And ways of managing have definitely spread because I know a lot of people go to different cities for their education. And so these sort of best practices are becoming very commonplace in terms of how to lead in an office. How to build up team work and team building. You see those in different forms that are very similar all over the place. And I think that in the region something that might actually be an advantage compared with Moscow is that when you're a little bit farther removed from having so many organizations so close together. And being very plugged into what's going on in government or with other organizations you have a little bit of distance maybe to try some more experimental or some new ideas without having that constant buzz of being in contact with all these other organizations. So I think that was, you see some very interesting approaches out in other cities that you might not in. >> Well actually, I'm sorry, I lied to you, I have one more question. From the point of view of being a woman Isn't there any, did you feel fine, experience any problems, working in the business environment, in or not? >> Well, I can't speak to sort of the wider business environment. But I know that that is one of the biggest pluses are the biggest draws for me for the non-profit sector is that women are very strongly represented, and not just as employees, but also as leaders. You see a lot of female directors and a lot of female supervisors. So I think that that is something that is very important and might not reflect sort of Russian business culture as a whole is having very strong female mentors. And also more of a committment to a gender equal workplace, and a place where everybody is included and respected equally. And that was certainly a value that was very important in my workplace, was Having very strong gender equality and a female presence among the directors. >> Okay, thank you so much. I'm sure that will be very interesting to our students in the course. >> Thank you very much. [SOUND]
