EXPERIENCING A NEW WORK CULTURE: FREDERIQUE LEGRIS'S REFLECTION

EXPERIENCING A NEW WORK CULTURE: FREDERIQUE LEGRIS'S REFLECTION 

Written by Frederique Legris, UNICEF, Peru

I’ll forever remember my first meeting at UNICEF Peru. Like every Monday afternoon, the whole Programmes division was meeting in the main conference room to discuss the new developments of current projects and set a work plan for the week. So, on this first meeting, the education section started to present their project, a reform of the teaching curriculum in secondary schools that had yet to be approved by the Ministry of Education. Still struggling with the speed at which they were speaking Spanish, I was doing my best to follow along and take notes. I was very impressed with the quality of the work presented and how inclusive the project proposal was. At the end of his presentation, the Education Official asked for comments or suggestions on what could be improved or added to the reform before he went to present it to the Minister.

I guess this is where the culture shock came in. In Canada, when I make a comment about a project or presentation, I was taught to say something like this: “I really liked that you emphasized x in this project, but I feel like you could add Y to make sure we address this particular issue properly. Overall, good work on this presentation, I learned a lot !”.  You have to start with a positive comment, then a constructive critic and then another positive point. It’s what I’ve always done in my previous jobs teaching kids and how to ensure that the person receiving the comments feels validated and open to criticism. 

At UNICEF Peru, it doesn’t work like that: for about an hour, I sat in shock while listening to every person in the room criticize each component of the presentation and basically send this guy back to re-do his whole programme and he’s the Education Official! Everyone in the room was encouraged to make a constructive comment on how to improve the project and propose new additions, and the presenter was taking notes and arguing about what could be added or not to his curriculum.  They didn’t include a positive comment in their critic, they would just tell him how some parts of the projects would simply not work with other areas such as Protection or Health and why he should change everything to include a broader perspective. After the meeting ended, I walked back to my desk feeling terrible about how the whole room tore his beautiful reform to pieces. I blew my mind that my coworkers, who all had been so nice and helpful, were so brutal and even rude to such an important person presenting his amazing work.

I’ve now been here for a few months and this is how every single meeting and presentation is discussed, and I think it’s probably the best work ethic there is. By working together on every project and voicing their concerns and issues, UNICEF Peru ensures that their projects have all been reviewed, modified, and approved by each area and will be implemented by everyone in the future. The whole team feels ownership over all projects and no one ever gets offended by constructive criticism because in the end, it guarantees that all opinions are considered. Even as interns, we are strongly encouraged to make at least one comment because our opinion, as non-experts and outsiders, is valuable. 

 Is it time consuming to ask every single person in the room to make a constructive critic? Yes. 
Does it seem incredibly offensive and rude to a clueless Canadian intern?  Yes. 
Does it ensure that every project will be sustainable  in the long term? Yes. 

While I don’t think this work ethic would sit well with polite Canadians, I definitely learned a lot from this workplace practice and will try to bring back a little bit of it with me into my new workplace. While I will still use the positive-negative-positive method, I will never again feel like my opinion doesn’t count because I’m not an expert or I have little experience. What UNICEF Peru teaches is that criticism is vital and necessary in every step of development. Whether it’s a two-hour conference, a two-day workshop or a two-year program, there is always space for growth and constant scrutiny from peers and colleagues ensures continuous improvement. Every opinion is valid and should be heard, even though sometimes it might sound rude.