Tips for remotely managing teams in India

Tips for remotely managing teams in India

Didn't find your answer?

I have managed remote teams in different time zones but each team has been from a reasonably similar culture and background to me.  I am now about to manage a team in India.  The challenges I think I will face are in relation to differences in language and culture.  What other challenges will I probably face and what tips do you have to help me to meet these challenges?

Language - I understand that English is often the second (or first) language of business in India so I should be able to communicate with my team.  I expect that it will take a few days for my team to understand my accent and for me to understand theirs - I have worked with people from India, Australia and from different parts of the UK and accents (and the different usage of certain words and phrases) take a few days to understand on both sides.  I think that it would show them more respect if I learned their language and I appreciate that this will take time to achieve.  Modern technology makes remote management easier every day but understanding and empathy is made more difficult when the communication is not face-to-face.

Culture - I think it is important to understand the culture (both business practices and human aspirations, ideals and experiences) of your team.

Replies (3)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By sash100
07th Nov 2014 14:33

Interesting

Rod

This is really interesting and bring back some great memories.

I managed a team an accounting team in Mumbai for a few years from the UK - really enjoyed it. They were extremely friendly industrious, polite and respectful .Everyone speaks English well and in fact embarrassingly their English is better than mine both from a verbal and written point of view as they were taught proper English.

I am Indian origin from UK but struggled with the language and only spoke English though all my family speak Hindi well. Language is no issue in India and lots of people speak in English even when at home not Hindi so you do not have to  learn unlike France where I was based for a year and since I didn't speak the language was isolated somewhat.

Accent can be an issue especially initially and important to speak slightly slower but obviously not in a patronising way.

Very Important you visit India often so you are able to develop a rapport with your team - take them out and understand them.

Indians are normally passive which is good in some ways but bad in others. If you give them something to do they will do it extremely well but were unable to advise on potential areas of improvement or direction

The other issue is that they are very open and would share their salary details/payslips with each other that did result in jealously and ended up to be a management issue to be needed to be dealt with.

You will enjoy it like I did. Good luck

Please do not hesitate to PM me if you require any other inputs or want a chat.

Thanks (1)
avatar
By Lship
07th Nov 2014 16:00

I agree fully with Sash100 above, but from my experience another point is that they do not like to be bearers of bad news, in the sense that, if you give them a task to do by a deadline, they may know full well that it would be impossible to complete in the timeframe given but won't raise any concerns at the time.

 

The above might be a concern if working remotely as it will be harder for you keep track on how things are progressing.  

Thanks (0)
avatar
By sash100
07th Nov 2014 17:51

Good point

I totally agree with Lship

I think the issue is that the staff are in awe of their bosses and do not know how to communicate bad news as they do not want to let him or her down.  They are reluctant to ask for help

Hence transparency and open dialogue should be encouraged.  If you can build trust and a rapport with staff then they will feel less frightened to contact you.  Open Two way communication is vital for success in any project.  

Thanks (0)