Easing your passage from and to India
Posts tagged Business Line column
Building a rapport with the western world
Apr 24th
Getting over the unease when we step out of our comfort zone
RANJINI MANIAN
Overseas projects, out-of-country kickoff meetings, responsibilities that transcend national boundaries — the new Indian manager is going places. Professionally, we Indians can be confident about being able to hold our own against any other nationality with our language skills and technical expertise. But many of us, when we step outside our comfort zones, experience a sense of unease. We find that things we take for granted in our own environments are simply not present in the new one. We discover that there’s a whole new set of rules for the game, but there’s no one to give us the rule book.
Over the years, numerous Indian managers, exposed to a Western work-cum-social milieu have, at our workshops, asked questions on ‘Being Upworldly Mobile’ — on topics that most business establishments and B-schools don’t seem to spend time on. I share here a list of FAQs and the responses we have to offer. I have mentioned the US as a case study, but most advice works for other Western nations too:
In India, relationship building at work and socially is very important — I know Americans are transaction-oriented and not people-oriented — what are some tips for good relationship building?
Take interest in their interests. Learn a sport they all rave about, a holiday that is coming up and how they celebrate it. Read their newspapers and watch their TV shows. Talk about what they’re currently talking about. An interesting conversationalist helps build relationships.
Also, it helps if you can run errands together or share tasks in and out of work. Car-pooling is a good relationship-builder, sharing the chore of grocery shopping could also lead to bonding.
Most of all cultivate a sense of humour and be able to laugh at yourself. Americans like light banter and humour.
Finally, make the effort to be knowledgeable about India to explain via facts and figures in bite sized pieces. Americans like to learn from those who are succinct.
Three things that I can do in the US that will make me a success:
Don’t promise or say “yes” for something unless you are absolutely sure you can do it!
Be proactive about raising questions or issues if you see likely challenges or delays at work
Observe how they behave and communicate and adapt to succeed.
What is the etiquette to be followed at the coffee station or in the use of the microwave?
Queuing is sacrosanct.
Leaving the microwave as clean as you found it is good etiquette.
Not eating pungent Indian food would be wise in a common microwave area
Water cooler conversations are usually light and non-substantial but are important to build rapport and to participate is good etiquette. Examples would be your plan for the weekend, or a film you ‘caught’ recently. Unlike the frequent extended breaks we seem to take in India, in the West breaks are infrequent, short bursts and filled with small talk for rapport building.
What happens if I spill coffee and the house staff are not available to clean up the mess? What is the right thing to do then?
People in the US do it themselves. Take paper towels and mop it up yourself.
If you can’t find a cleaning aid, apologise to people close by and ask how you should clean up.
I had a Bulgarian intern who replaced a saucer for a guest when she noticed a bit of a coffee spilt on it. The guest greatly appreciated her attentiveness though it was not her job. Whatever you do, don’t just hope no one saw you or that someone else will deal with it. It might be considered callous, and brand “all Indians” as messy!
When invited to someone’s house in India, we never go empty handed. Is it the same in the US? What would be appropriate gifts?
This courtesy works in most countries. Wine, chocolates, flowers, something small from India — maybe silk scarves or ties. Or, even the ubiquitous carved Indian elephant would be a nice touch. Arrive on time, give the neatly wrapped gift after you enter the home, to the hostess.
When making small talk is it correct to ask about family? What can I talk about and what should I avoid?
Be friendly but don’t attempt to talk intimately about family. For small talk, it is better to stick to the subjects of food, sport, weather, vacation travel. Family can be a topic only if they bring it up first, although you can offer a little bit of information about your family to start of. If they reciprocate with information about theirs, then show interest in their family too.
Avoid talking about wars and sensitive subjects between India and their country, like outsourcing bans by President Obama or race issues.
How come they leave work at 5:30 sharp? We never do that.
They work hard and play hard. They make a clear distinction between efficiency and time spent. Unlike us, they don’t let personal time interfere with professional time. So they come to work and leave exactly on time. Theirs is a culture that works to live. We in India, on the contrary, might be veering towards living to work; we take several breaks, are relaxed about finishing, have no problem mixing the professional and personal. So we are ready to stretch our time too. But do we stretch efficiency, is the question to ask ourselves. In India, a good employee is often one who is willing to work late, while in the West it would be the person who meets deadlines.
Are there any cultural tips for building a team in the US?
Competition is healthy and inter-team rivalry is considered good. So playing one group against the other builds motivation. Incentive schemes work well too, so plan some, and watch your team perform!
Ranjini Manian is Founder CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company. She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com
This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated April 21, 2012 - Link to online text
Creating empowered global women
Mar 9th
Creating empowered global women
RANJINI MANIAN
It is the woman who carries the baton of culture, and she can leverage technology today to do so.
It is important for male colleagues to be supportive of women if they are to be productive.
I am writing this piece from the Art of Living ashram, Bangalore, where I’m at an international women’s conference. I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with Tessy Thomas, Director, Agni Missile Project, Natasha Gangaramani, Director, Al Fara’a Properties, and Anuradha Prasad, media personality and MD, BAG Films.
As we debated the topic of women and technology, the four of us talked of how technology has changed and impacted women’s lives across generations and social strata. One of the takeaways was the realisation that the ability to harness technology to better our lives, while staying clear of enslavement and total dependence on it, depends on of how the woman perceives herself.
SUBTLE BIAS
As I thought of that, it became clear that we all are, men and women alike, guilty of a subtle bias. It starts at the home, where there’s at least a small difference in expectations from a daughter and a son. Today, we give our daughters the best education along with our sons, but we view the responsibility of a daughter’s marriage and subsequent family life as a more significant milestone than that of a son. This is communicated to girls right from the beginning.
At co-educational institutions, our daughters are exposed to this unstated bias, though maybe in a different format. One young girl confided to me that in her mixed class in a professional college, many women lecturers tended to let the boys get away with things like inattention and submitting poorly prepared assignments, but came down heavily on the girls for even small misdemeanours. On the other hand, most male teachers adopted a condescending attitude to the girl students, and managed to convey the impression that they were wondering what they (the girls) were doing in a professional college!
I would have been tempted to dismiss this as an extreme example if I hadn’t come across a research paper by Dr Bernice R Sandler, a pioneer in gender equality in education, who listed instances of gender bias in Western educational institutions. She found that faculty members made eye contact with male students more often than they did with female ones. They were also more likely to know and use the names of men students. Besides, the women got asked fewer questions in class, and when they were questioned, they got the easier ones, the paper said — the implication being that their brains aren’t up to being taxed too much!
Such discriminatory input imperceptibly impacts a woman’s perception of herself. As Sandler writes, “Singly, these behaviours probably have little effect. But when they occur again and again, they give a powerful message to women: they aren’t as worthwhile as men nor are they expected to participate fully in class, in college, or in life at large.”
WOMEN AT WORK
Today, the talent gap means women have got to be included. But even at the workplace, women, no matter on which rung of the career ladder they stand, often ask themselves, “What can I do to please my parents/spouse/in-laws/children?” No harm in that question. In fact, I think it’s one we should all ask ourselves, regardless of being male or female. But it would be good if the woman balanced that question with another: “What can I do for myself, in order to contribute on a global scale?”
My co-panelists had all broken the pattern. Making Agni missiles together with a home was only possible with family support, explained Tessy Thomas, who told of her son being a responsible youngster, and how it had contributed to her success at work and at home. Being treated as the heir apparent, with marriage never being portrayed as an end in itself by her entrepreneur family, allowed Natasha to truly uphold the building business. Anupama has gifted an iPad to her cook, who is largely responsible for her family’s meals while she herself pursues her 16-hour-schedule. “He has used it to upgrade his skills and make himself a better cook” said Anupama, showcasing how she has harnessed technology to balance her professional and personal lives.
Family support and encouragement are imperative for a woman to achieve her full potential. But it is equally important for male colleagues to be supportive of women if they are to be productive both at home and globally. As a woman entrepreneur of 17 years handling an 80-per-cent-woman team at Global Adjustments, I have a wish list on how men could treat women in the workplace(See table). At the end of the day, as one woman participant in our recent programme on cross-cultural customer engagement wrote: “It is the woman who carries the baton of culture, and she can leverage technology today to do so.” On the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day, let’s promise to believe in ourselves, and give each other the space to grow. The truth is men and women are like two feet, we need both to advance in the business realm, as in life.
Ranjini Manian is Founder CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company. She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com
This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated March 7, 2012 - Link to online text
Watch out! An expat speaks out
Feb 7th
Watch out! An expat speaks out
by Ranjini Manian
The expat co-worker is often taken aback by the Indian twist to business communication.
James is the first Westerner to work in the Indian arm of the company. He manages a team of 10 Indians aged 25 to 40, and reports to the Managing Director of the India operations. James had heard good things about India and the MD. He had come expecting to find his new assignment interesting and challenging.
Well, he found it challenging all right, James told me ruefully. But not in the way he had hoped. Curious, I asked him what his concerns were, and got an exhaustive laundry list of problems, most of them ‘small’ in the sense of being not directly business-related, but ‘big’ for someone raised in a totally different work culture.
I divided James’ concerns into various categories. Let’s deal with them, one by one.
Communication gap: Although the Indian workforce is conversant with the English language, expatriates often find that communicating with their Indian colleagues is not so straightforward after all. — Mohammed Yousuf
TALKING THE TALK
James had been assured that Indians were well versed in English and communication would not be a problem. This was true for the most part. Yet, there were some hurdles which he found very difficult to cross — telephones, for instance. What about telephones? I asked. “Well”, replied James, “when I call someone on his phone, he picks it up and says ‘Tell me’ instead of the ‘Hello’ that I’m expecting to hear. That throws me off track completely! When I finally get going, and ask him for information, he gives it to me, but keeps interrupting himself to say ‘Hello’ every now and then, or else repeats what he has said. I find that terribly distracting.”
“While your team member is talking, what do you do?” I asked James. “I listen in polite silence of course,” he replied, puzzled that I needed to ask.
“That’s why he keeps saying ‘hello’ or repeating himself,” I explained with a smile. “During conversations, telephonic or face-to-face, we Indians expect our listeners to acknowledge that they have heard and understood by making typical sounds such as ‘hmmm’, ‘ah’ and so on. When we don’t hear those sounds, we wonder whether the other person is still there, or if she has grasped what we are saying.”
“Oh, now I get it,” said James. “And I also have this problem that people keep breaking into the local language when they’re talking to me in English.” “Yes, that can be quite distracting,” I agreed. “But we Indians are at least bi-lingual if not tri-lingual, and we’re used to interspersing our conversation in one language with words from another.”
FOLLOWING THE TRAIL
James found communication via e-mail quite a problem too. He kept getting long e-mail chains from his team, with terse messages in the latest mail asking him to read through the trail and respond to some point or the other. He had to go through reams of material and pick out the point that needed his attention.
And then there was the issue of copying people on e-mails. James’ mailbox was clogged with e-mails from one team member to another which had no relevance to him, but which he had been copied on. He found this quite annoying.
After listening to James, I wished that I had the power to ensure that basic telephone and e-mail etiquette is made a compulsory subject at the school and college level!
WHO’S THE BOSS?
Protocol was another issue which James found difficult to understand in India. For one, his team addressed him as Mr James, which he found odd. They called him by his first name, but prefixed Mr to it. “Why do Indians do that?” James asked. I explained that we use Mr as a term of respect, and we don’t give the same importance to the first and last names as the West. But I understood his irritation, and thought it was a Watch Out! point to share with readers.
Though there seemed to be a fixed pecking order, James found that people often jumped the line. When someone felt that a matter needed quick attention, they would simply contact a senior person, even in another country, by-passing direct superiors. He found this habit hard to tolerate.
“In India, decision-making is hierarchical, we are conditioned to think that if we go to the top, we’ll get the job done, and fast,” I told James.
CLOCK WORK
Finally, the problem of time management: James found his colleagues an intelligent, hard-working lot. Perhaps too hard working! They worked long at the office, much beyond office hours. When he asked for reports of work done, he got it in minute detail — down to the last nano-second. While he expected brevity and quality, they gave him quantity, eager to please him or prove to him that they were working hard.
“Why don’t they realise I don’t want a minute-by-minute account, I just want to know how they’re progressing in their task? By giving me such reports, they’re wasting their own time and mine,” said James. “Put it down to our education system which focuses on writing copious pages rather than distilling knowledge in bullets,” I said, flagging it as another Watch Out! point.
James’ laundry list made me realise that although our people have come a long way on the road to doing business in a globally acceptable style, there are still many kinks we need to be aware of and iron out. So, new Indian managers, let’s get our act together.
PS: James was smart enough to realise he couldn’t change the work ethics much, because the problem started at the higher levels. He figured out that the best way of handling the situation was to get himself some training in Indian work culture!
The writer is Founder CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company, and can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com
This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated 6th of February 2012 – Online Text
Making music with your own trumpet
Jan 5th
Making music with your own trumpet
by Ranjini Manian
I recently received an e-mail from a young American, expressing a desire to work with my company. “When I first located your company online I immediately connected to your mission, your practices and your structure and…I knew immediately this…type of work with an Indian focused core, was something I wanted to be involved with” she wrote.
Now, this was very gratifying, but in the many earlier paragraphs, she had given such glowing accounts of herself, her background and her accomplishments, that I was a little put off. Instinctively, I felt something wasn’t quite right; but then, I reminded myself, the lady’s an American, used to describing herself in ways other nationalities might consider ‘over the top’. It might just be a ‘culture’ thing, rather than boastfulness.
We in India are conditioned to play ourselves down, we are taught from the cradle that blowing our own trumpet is just not done. But this cultural trait has to be overcome in today’s outspoken world of opportunities.
How can we hold on to our Indian roots but still fly with the world? I asked myself. I thought of Gandhiji, who was known for his humility, but still managed to get to world centre-stage, and continues to inspire. How would such leaders of yesteryear have dealt with the modern challenges of self-promotion? Of course personality building is important.
I came up with six basic guidelines which I feel will give the New Indian Manager a fair chance in the global business world while letting her be true to self and to Indian codes of conduct:
1. Know yourself
We need to have a clear understanding of our own strengths, what we can contribute to the workforce, how we can add value. Gandhiji, for instance, was clear about what he was good at — rousing people to action, leading by example; so he focussed confidently on non-violent, non-cooperation to gain freedom for India.
2. Speak up for yourself
We need to speak up for ourselves, in the right way, to the right audience, at the right time, believing in the value of what we have to offer. If we don’t, others won’t recognise what we can do. Pasupathy, an office boy in our company, understands the need for, and knows how to keep a checklist for print runs for error avoidance; but it was only when he spoke up about what he had “quietly” been doing that we recognised him and now he has been promoted to Print Assistant.
3. Don’t talk too much, act
Let’s give our New Indian Manager a name in this article – Rajiv. After deciding to speak up, Rajiv, who knows he can be a team lead, has to practice talking about himself to get the tone just right. He must find a way of expressing himself in a manner which won’t go against the behaviour codes he’s absorbed in his formative years. Will my family be proud that I can truly say this about myself? is a good yardstick-question to use. On the other hand, keeping in tune with professional standards, Rajiv should practice being clear and concise in what he says. He can start by writing it down in 250 words or less. (Personally, I find this task of writing down our capabilities, hugely self-revealing and also good practice before a speech.) Rajiv should remember that erring on the side of too much talk is likely to get his claims dismissed, as I was tempted to do with the American who e-mailed me. Investing in a course that teaches you to speak well may be worth the expense, to be upwardly mobile .
4. Speak from your heart
Another thing I’ve found is, if you are passionate about what you’re doing, it comes across well when you speak about it. Even if Rajiv is talking about his own work and achievements, it won’t seem like boasting if he lets his commitment show. So don’t be afraid to put your heart into what you’re saying. Also, as team lead, Rajiv needs to acknowledge others’ contribution to triumphs. When you give praise where it’s due, it conveys the clear message that you’re not in the business of taking undue credit.
5. Let the facts speak for you
Rajiv has conveyed to his superiors that he can add value to the project. They are impressed by his initial presentation, and invite him to elaborate. His focus now should be on giving concrete examples of how his plan has worked in the past, or, if it’s a first-time venture, provide well-researched projected figures to show how it will work. In other words, he should let facts and figures speak for him, rather than a lot of unsupported adjectives.
6. Stretch yourself
And finally, it will help your case if you exceed expectations. When you’re entrusted with a task, do a little bit extra. I had an intern who was asked to call people who had registered on Global Adjustment’s list of landlords, and find out if their premises were still available. He produced a report which showed the exact number of people he contacted, how many of these had re-listed, how many had put him on to other contacts, which contact details were wrong, the ones whom he couldn’t reach, but intended to keep trying. In short, by giving us more than we bargained for, he announced his own worth in the nicest possible way. Impressed, we gave him new challenges and responsibilities instead of seeing him as ‘just an intern’.
So get that trumpet out and give it a nice shine. If you get the notes right, the music will take you places.
Good luck, New Indian Managers!
Ranjini Manian is Founder CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company.
She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com
Indian Women: Yes we can!
Nov 14th
Indian Women: Yes, we can!
By Ranjini Manian
India is proud to have a woman as head of State, a woman chairing the Lok Sabha, and several women Chief Ministers. Indian women are today high-fliers in all other domains too, from business to sports. All very satisfying for campaigners for the girl child, for women’s rights and gender equality. As the head of a company mostly staffed by women, I have watched with satisfaction the blooming of many a talent.
Yet, a recent news article made me pause and think.
It was based on a study by Nielsen. Called Women of Tomorrow Study, it covered 6,500 women belonging to 21 nationalities from February to April 2011, and found that Indian women were the most stressed in the world. A huge 87 per cent of the surveyed Indian women said they felt stressed most of the time, and 82 per cent said they didn’t have time to relax.
Indian women the most stressed in the world, says a Nielsen study. Roy Chowdhury
Why was that? I asked at the IBM Winspiration Leadership day, where 500 attentive IBMers shared stories and thoughts freely. And what can we do about it? I did a retrospect on my own life canvas, came up with a few thoughts, and many in the audience added their own. I want to share these with new Indian managers, both men and women.
Indian Lifestyle, Global Workstyle
I think the biggest reason why our women are so stressed is probably that in our country, we’re sprinting forward on the ‘modern’ track without leaving the ‘traditional’ one. For instance, most of us career women still juggle extended families with our jobs. Though in urban areas the nuclear family is now the norm, extended families are still emotionally in control. For instance, recently an aunt of mine who lives alone suffered a heart attack, and it was ICU guard duty for me. But what about those e-mails which couldn’t go unattended? Active Blackberry use and turning the hospital corridor into my workstation was the way to stay on top of head and heart.
While a second income is not only welcome, but mandatory these days, our society hasn’t relaxed its expectations of women. The many responsibilities of a woman as daughter/wife/daughter-in-law/mother remain more or less what they were when the compound wall of the house was considered the boundary of a woman’s domain. The menfolk’s expectations remain unchanged too. They are entitled to put their feet up in front of the TV after a hard day’s work, while women who hold down challenging jobs find themselves rushing home to put hot food on the table, supervise homework and shop for groceries. Supporting her is non-negotiable for the other family members family today.
Balance of Mind
This is the great need of the hour. Meditation, pranayama and mantra to control the mind and balance it, is a revival we have to inculcate. We consciously do this at our workplace. Every Saturday, we hold a spiritual fellowship for interested women and their families, dwelling on practising and discussing meditation and allied disciplines.
By-pass and passing the Buck
At the workplace, while women are now the norm rather than a rarity, it’s still a man’s world. We function in an atmosphere of indirect communication, dominated by men. “Let Rajat take that lead role for this important overseas project, Roshni is also excellent but she may not be able to do justice with her four-year-old.” (FYI – Rajat has four-year-old twins and Roshni has never taken time off for childcare so far).
Women have to speak up to ask for the top job, and then we have to step up our organisation and time management skills, delegating tasks to efficient people. That’s the only way we can prevent ourselves being passed by, while retaining our sanity.
Eating the Frog
Concern for the well-being of children and fear that she won’t be able to discharge her responsibilities towards them adequately is one of the biggest sources of stress for a working woman. I will share the story of how I handled this.
A great book I read which hugely helped me was Brian Tracey’s Eat That Frog. It is a slim book but worth its weight in gold, even at today’s prices. Starting with a task at hand, and not procrastinating about eating it even if it is the ugliest toad on the plate, is the first step to take. Next, if we have to eat something undesirable, as Brian says, we might as well eat the biggest frog first. In my own life, it was finding an English-speaking maid for my three-year-old, so I didn’t feel she was losing out on language skills while I worked 14-hour days. I had to convince my in-laws, then advertise for and interview nannies, which was daunting, but once I started slicing it into bite-sized pieces, it became digestible. Once done, it freed up huge mind space in me, so I could go build a business.
De-stress Devices
When women say they don’t have time to relax, they usually mean that in wearing the many hats that society has given them, they don’t have time to spend on themselves. Companies could work out ways in which their women employees get to unwind – we use spa vouchers as project D-Day recognition awards. The mudpacks and oil-massaged Medusa heads do wonders. Women work well when they feel and look good. An education award for an employee’s child, CSR spend for a special needs child, or even a shopping trip has helped de-stress and make loyalists of top-performing women I have worked with. Another fulfilling way is ‘Bring your daughters to work day’, which works really well in our company.
While turning all these points over in my mind, I can’t help but remember that in India, we see the woman as ‘Shakti’, power. The iconic Goddess is featured with many arms – symbolic of her many capabilities. What we mustn’t forget is the third eye of introspective knowledge, the reminder that well-being within is as important as without. Strengthen our Indian roots, then fly on global wings.
Ranjini Manian is Founder CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company.
She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com
This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated November 14, 2011 – Link to online text.
