Workplace Culture Guatemala

Unit Three – Workplace Culture

Workplace culture has been one of the most difficult adjustments I have had to make since moving to Guatemala. Businesses and government offices are rarely computerized and most records, even the most important, tend to be kept on paper. Huge paper ledgers tower to the ceiling of almost every office and finding records or copies of bills can be a time-consuming process. Even in our local Sherwin Williams paint store every transaction is recorded, by hand, in a lined notebook, and a dab of paint is also included. Nothing, it seems, is simple or efficient, and this is an issue that proves to be difficult for new arrivals from North America and Europe.

We foreigners make the mistake of assuming that the
I assumed (although I am embarrassed to admit my arrogance) that people were doing things slowly and inefficiently because they did not know any better. Clearly all they needed was a little bit of help to see how things could be done faster, with less paper. I would explain, and they, with typically Guatemalan charm and grace, would smile, nod politely, and ignore my excellent suggestions. It was very frustrating. However, over the course of a few exasperating years I came to understand things are time-consuming and cumbersome because nobody feels a need to change them. A bureaucratic process that takes a day to complete is simply a good opportunity to sit and visit and make new friends. Guatemalan culture is much more relational than it is in North America or my homeland, Britain. Nobody is upset when they sit all day, waiting their turn, only to be told that they’ll have to return on another day because the person they need to see is out. Where a Canadian might explode with fury, the Guatemalan will smile, thank the bearer of bad news, and accept that he/she will have to return on another day. Guatemalan people are endlessly patient, and they do not understand why we “gringos” (not a pejorative term in Guatemala) are so concerned about getting things done in a
I didn’t realize how much I had changed until we visited Canada in 2011. I love returning to Canada - everything runs smoothly, there’s lots of choice in the stores, and the cars are shiny. But I noticed that people often seemed angry and easily upset. There’s nothing quite like returning from a few years in a developing world country to see the lavish glories of one’s homeland, so it was surprising for me to hear people complaining about how long they had to wait at the doctor’s office, or about the twenty-minute traffic delay. Absence had made me sensitive to the abundance around me, and to the dissatisfaction. I wouldn’t hear complaints like this in Guatemala. Since nobody expects efficiency, no one is upset or offended by a lack of it. Stress levels do not rise if a person has to wait – even if the wait takes many hours or days. What I used to think of as an awful imposition, I now truly appreciate. I am grateful for the chance to take a step out of my North American life to discover that waiting really isn’t such a big deal. In our work specialty (community development), we meet a lot of well-meaning foreigners who come to Guatemala to teach people how to improve their lives, but, if they are really lucky, Guatemala will improve theirs. It has certainly improved