Argonaut Assessment in the Workplace

Throughout the many dimensions of London, the cultural differences are evident. Especially when it comes to the workplace, the differences between an American business setting in comparison to that of a business setting in England are profound. While all 12 Argonaut Assessment qualities could be investigated, three prominent ones stand out in my mind. The first, and one that has been discussed multiple times, is that of communication. While in America communication tends to be very direct and to the point, at my internship in London it is quite the opposite. Many tasks are not assigned deadlines, and a lot of times it is not expressed in great detail exactly what they want or expect. Also, even if I am sitting next to a co-worker, e-mail is the main form of communication, which I found very odd initially but am now accustomed to it. Also, at my workplace it tends to be an individualistic environment. As opposed to working in a more collective atmosphere, everyone sits at their separate desks and does their individual tasks. In fact, talking is minimal. Although everyone is working collectively to achieve the same goal, they achieve it in an individualistic manner. The last characteristic that is exhibited at my internship is the company's use of time. Everyone is very motivated by time and getting tasks done sequentially. A new task is not started until the last one is completely finished. Even when I am assigned tasks, it is assigned in the order in which they should be done.

In the pub setting, the cultural aspects are shown in a social manner. Over the weekend, some of us went to a pub to watch the England v. Germany game. Although there weren't that many different cultures at this particular spot, it was interesting how everyone seemed to be individualistic and kept to their own groups. Yet once the game started and everyone had that common ground to relate on, everyone started talking and cheering on their team together. All in all, I think cultural distinctions in social settings are completely dependent upon the environment. In general though, I have noticed that it seems to be that people of different cultures and ethnicities are a lot more intermingled than back home in the States. In almost any setting I have seen interracial groups and I think it is a really refreshing and amazing aspect of London.