2025 SITE Global Conference attendees enjoyed a brightly insightful opening keynote — topped off with a Bollywood dance break! — by workplace communications expert Tina Varughese, to begin the first full day of this year’s event in Tulum.
Much of Tina’s experience stems from her time spent working in Canadian immigration offices and for resettlement firms, where she was often the “self-described” best friend for clients looking to make Canada their new home, she said.
It’s this work that inspired her to dig into frameworks like Geert Hofstede’s cultural paradigm shifts research, which explores how well different societies align across different value scales.
Presenting the example of countries that range from more individualist to collectivist, for instance, Tina described how it’s important to know whether you’re working in or with colleagues from “peach” countries or “coconut” ones, as it will impact the ease in which you build initial connections and relationships.
Regardless of the values certain countries and cultures hold though, Tina said, it’s important to continue following what she called the “platinum rule” of treating others how they wish to be treated.
This starts with the language we use, Tina stressed: advocating for practices like avoiding the use of acronyms unless they’re globally recognized or industry-standard terms.
It doesn’t actually save time or money, she said, if you spend time trying to re-explain a jumble of letters that you only shortened in the first instance to try and reduce those very explanations!
Tina also dug into cultural differences around the concept of time, articulating the difference between monochronic vs. polychronic timekeeping, as well as a review of different global speaking styles.
Again, she said, understanding whether your clients and colleagues are using more reflexive, direct, indirect, or interruptive communication patterns can make a massive difference in easing workplace exchanges.
“For me, travel is transformational,” Tina said, as she wrapped up her address to this year’s Global Conference audience. “And I’m able to do all of this because people like the ones in this room believe that transformation occurs, and that’s where the magic happens.”
“Travel is transformational,” she affirmed, “and quite frankly, the magic lies in you!” — providing an inspirational start to full days of building the relationships and connections that are critical in making that magic happen the world over.
Blog image credit: Joey Woolridge
