Easing your passage from and to India
Posts tagged global women
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
