Some of the most common—and most costly—problems of offshore ventures are caused by cultural differences between U.S. customers and offshore Indian service providers. In this workshop Craig Storti—whose latest book is Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap When Working with Indians—identifies the most common cultural flash points in the India/US offshore model and offers "fixes" to minimize start-up problems and maximize effectiveness. Participants will learn strategies to address the following common problems:
• Unrealized/smaller than expected cost savings• More time managing the relationship than the client can afford (Where is the “hand-off?”)• Unsuccessful/slower than expected knowledge transfer• Production delays• Missed deadlines• Work that has to be redone• Mismatched expectations• Miscommunication and misinterpretation• Backlash against offshoring ("We told you so") among the client's employees
Upon completion of this course, the participant will:
> Be able to identify common cultural misunderstandings/miscommunications between Indians and Americans> Know what the Indian “Yes” means and how Indians say “No”> Recognize how Indians give negative feedback, suggest improvements, and say that something will not work> Learn Indian management norms, the importance of respecting the chain of command, and the preference for very close supervision/micro-managing> Develop how to conduct more successful meetings/conference calls with Indian colleagues> Learn why it can be difficult to understand Indian spoken English and how to improve comprehension> Learn techniques for functioning more effectively with Indians on virtual teams
“Excellent instructor, very knowledgeable. Excellent communication.” Student – Perl Programming in UNIX