reply to discussion #4
Description
Word count: 216 1) When considering a culture’s view on time orientation, we should understand monochronic or polychronic definitions. According to Pamies et al. (2016), it is impossible to separate time from culture since culture will overrule the orientations and interpretations of time and waiting. Northern Europe and North America are considered monochronic cultures and linearly interpret time, emphasizing completing one task at a time (Pamies et al., 2016). They add monochromic cultures refer to clock time as spending, wasting, or saving time. On the other hand, we have polychronic cultures, including Africa, Latin America, and Arab countries. For example, events occur in parallel, as time is seen simultaneously or everything happening at once (Pamies et al., 2016). They add that polychronic cultures place more importance on the capability to accomplish many tasks simultaneously and social relationships instead of meeting deadlines and being on-time. Before researching this discussion topic, I was not wholly aware of time differences between cultures. I’ve encountered time orientation problems in other cultures when I travel to Mexico to visit my family; I feel that society works very slow and does not take advantage of time. For example, most businesses do not open on Sundays. Monday through Saturday, they close very early. I am a person that gets right to the point after respectfully introducing myself. Word count: 256 2) I had a business partner who was very future-oriented and wanted everything done as soon as it was assigned. However, I am a bit more relaxed and enjoyed taking my time to analyze details and make sure the result of our branch assignment was free of errors and with the most up-to-date research. This situation was the same with every project for one year. My co-worker and I would split tasks, and she would finish everything so fast and would grow impatient with my laid-back approach to my half of the assignment. She would often say that she would finish part of my half, which I did not mind at all, but I knew that she would grow tired of doing that over time. After a year, she found another job and left. She would be an example of monochromic culture since she wanted everything done on time before deadlines. In this example, I would be considered a polychronic person since I was very chill and did not mind handling multiple tasks as I knew I would accomplish all by the deadline. Training should be developed for healthcare providers and interpreters to adapt to the patient’s socio-cultural contexts when developing a care plan with their decisions (Schouten et al., 2020). Literature is correct about the barriers that exist between culture’s time orientation. As Schouten et al. (2020) have mentioned in their research, culturally diverse workplaces should offer training programs to provide employees with ways to deal with and understand the significance of culture and time orientation. Pàmies, M.,del Mar, Ryan, G., & Valverde, M. (2016). Uncovering the silent language of waiting. The Journal of Services Marketing, 30(4), 427-436. http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.csudh.edu/10.1108/JSM-10-2014-0352 Schouten, B. C., Cox, A., Duran, G., Kerremans, K., Banning, L. K., Lahdidioui, A., van den Muijsenbergh, M., Schinkel, S., Sungur, H., Suurmond, J., Zendedel, R., & Krystallidou, D. (2020). Mitigating language and cultural barriers in healthcare communication: Toward a holistic approach. Patient education and counseling, 103(12), 2604–2608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.05.001
