Projects in Houston, Texas, USA

Projects in Houston, Texas, USA

Yoshitaka Mikami has been working as an IT consultant for more than 15 years. He started his career as Assistant Project Manager in 2002 when his first client was a Japanese food company.

During more than 15 years of his career, he has been experiencing various projects, focusing on Project Management and Oracle ERP implementation, along with numerous international assignments.

So far, he has managed projects in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia Since 2014, Mikami has been deployed for a Japanese client (Toshiba International Corporation/TIC) in Houston, Texas, US.

Let's join the interview with him.

Could you tell us about your current project?

At the moment, I'm doing various Project Management Office (PMO) tasks such as communication with Japan headquarter for the client's IT foundation and technical/functional support rather than doing the specific project.

However, in my previous project for the same client company in the US, I worked as PMO Lead and Solution Architect. At that time, we conducted global financial system integration project. There were some issues as well as technical difficulty since the client wanted to replace the standard financial system that was given by headquarter and to integrate finance piece to their own instance.

However, despite all of the challenges, this project successfully went live on schedule.

How's your daily schedule?

I come to the office around 8:30 am and leave around 6.00 pm. In case of joining conference call with a company in Japan, I sometimes join from home. There is no problem with time difference.

(When we did the interview, it was Tuesday, 10.00 am in Japan and Monday, 7.00 pm in the US?editor).

What do you feel different between working in Japan and in the US? What's your favorite parts of working in the US?

US working style is always family-oriented or self-oriented, then the work is always on the second priority. So typically we need to consider some buffer Lead Time in case of any planning. But this is one of my favorite part of US.

How do you deal with cultural differences?

I like US culture, probably better than Japanese one. So far no cultural issue on me. Compared to Japanese, discussion in the US is more logical. American always say what they are thinking, while Japanese do not always do so. But one thing I can say is that the best way to enjoy the country is "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

Probably, if there is any inconvenience, it's more like in my private life. For example, my family could not speak English, they are getting better though. Also, public transportation is not as many as in Japan, and sometimes it could be dangerous, so I need to drive anywhere.

What's the most challenging thing you find when working in US and how did you cope with it?

Language, I just learn it, and keep learning. Probably more than the others. Before coming to US, I went to an English language course for a year, but it's totally not enough. Now I keep learning by watching movies with Japanese or English subtitles.

How did you manage stress or pressure during your work as a consultant?

To be honest, I am more having fun rather than feeling pressures. Before feeling pressures, I had to think about a lot of other stuff to establish myself in US. I can learn more when I am in the US than when I am in Japan. US has such a diverse population, how they think is totally different from each other. Everybody thinks differently. And for me, it's interesting.

What do you like the most about your current job/project?

There are many trustable comrades in the team. There are 10 people in the team, they are American, Indians, Mexicans, and Canadians and I am the only Japanese. Sometimes we argue, but it's normal to have argument in a team. It's not a big issue.

What do you usually do in your free time?

I usually take care of my family, playing with my daughter, spending time with my wife, or playing golf. Sometimes I also go to social events with friends. In Japan, we can go for drinking (nomikai) with company as many as three times a week. But in the US, there is no nomikai. We sometimes go for dinner where customers and Senior Management usually also join.

What's the biggest lesson you have learned during your whole career?

The work cannot be completed alone. To establish a good relationship with co-workers including clients and suppliers is a mandatory first step for any project. How to establish a good relationship? It will depend on the people. For me, I need to understand them first, and make conversations with them.

In the picture: Toshiba International Corporation land and buildings

What's your message for foreigners who are currently looking for job in Japan?

Working as a consultant in foreign country is really hard, it would be much more than what I expected, and sometimes it could be pretty messy. But it was more exciting and enjoyable since I could learn a lot of racial/cultural/linguistic diversities through various people who have totally different background. This really made me have huge capability to accept and deal with unexpected situations/issues in my life as well as in projects.

EBSS now encourages all the employees to develop diversities understanding through various international projects. However, to be honest, there is still a long way to go.

Also, EBSS would welcome people who want to jump into the international works with our consultants. Please keep in mind that international consultants must learn at least twice as much as domestic consultants do.

I am looking forward to seeing new comers in international projects in EBSS.

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