What International Collaboration Really Looks Like

Different Countries. Different Routines.

When people hear international collaboration, they often picture business trips, airport lounges and meetings around the world.

The reality? It's usually much less glamorous – and much more rewarding.

Hi, I'm Bianca, International Marketing Manager at NCP. One of the questions I get asked most often is how international collaboration actually works. What do we talk about all day? How do we coordinate projects across different time zones? And do we ever actually get to meet each other in person?

The short answer is: not very often.

Our international marketing team collaborates almost entirely digitally, yet we're in touch almost every day. We work across different countries, time zones and cultures. We have different hobbies, live in different places and each follow our own daily routines – but we all share one common goal: creating marketing & sales that works across regions while staying true to one brand.

A typical workday starts a little differently for each of us. Some team members begin as early as 7 a.m. Others have already been out walking the dogs before opening their laptop. My day usually starts at 8 a.m. with a cup of tea (no coffee for me!) while planning campaigns for Europe, creating social media content, reviewing website texts or working on everything from strategy to content creation. A few hours later, our first meeting begins as my colleague in the US joins with a fresh espresso in hand.

Although our routines are different, we're often working on the same projects. When we're planning a new campaign or reviewing a website, our discussions usually revolve around questions like:

• Is the message relevant for our European audience?
• Will it resonate in North America?
• Does the wording work internationally?
• Are there cultural differences we should consider?

A blog article might start with one colleague, be reviewed by another a few hours later and receive additional local market insights before it's published. That's one of the things I enjoy most about working internationally. We don't all have to work the same way to work well together.

One of the things I appreciate most about our team is that good ideas can come from anyone.

We bring together different generations, cultures, professional backgrounds and levels of experience. Some colleagues have been with NCP for more than 20 years, while others joined much more recently. Some have deep technical expertise, while others bring fresh marketing ideas or a completely different perspective on customer communication.

That mix makes brainstorming genuinely exciting. Someone with years of product knowledge might notice a technical detail that everyone else overlooked. At the same time, someone new to the company might ask, "Why have we always done it this way?" – and suddenly we're looking at the challenge from a completely different angle.

Working remotely also means that trust is incredibly important. One thing I really like is that we don't jump straight into work. Before talking about campaigns, deadlines or projects, we usually spend a few minutes catching up. We ask about each other's weekends, families, pets or hobbies. Someone shares a funny story, someone else talks about a recent trip or a new project outside of work.

Those conversations may only take a few minutes, but I believe they're what really builds trust. It's these small everyday moments that make working together feel personal, even when thousands of kilometers separate us.

Of course, cultural differences sometimes become visible. A joke that works perfectly in one country may not have quite the same effect somewhere else. A phrase that sounds completely natural to one person can feel much more direct to another.

For us, that's simply part of working in an international team. Instead of ignoring those moments, we talk about them openly. They help us better understand each other and make us more aware of how we communicate – not only internally, but also with customers and partners around the world.

English is our common language and the language we use to communicate as a team. But many of us speak more than one language, and several team members enjoy learning new ones in their free time. Between us, we bring knowledge of German, English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and even several Asian languages. One of my favorite little things is that some of us motivate each other to keep learning through language apps like Duolingo. Every now and then, someone shares a new word or expression they've learned, and our conversations briefly turn into a spontaneous mini language lesson. It's a small but fun way of staying curious, learning about different cultures and getting to know each other beyond our day-to-day work.

Looking back, I don't think international collaboration is defined by different time zones.

For me, it's defined by different perspectives.

The more perspectives we bring together, the better our ideas become. And despite our different cultures, routines and backgrounds, we often discover that we have far more in common than we initially thought.

That's what I enjoy most about being part of an international team.