New Delhi: Everyone’s had that one colleague who just gets under their skin. Maybe they overstep boundaries or say something that rubs you the wrong way. These things happen. But when cultural differences come into play, the tension can get even more intense. What could have been a small issue can quickly grow into something much bigger.
An American tech worker has sparked discussion on Reddit after posting, “help with understanding Indian colleagues.” In his viral post, he shared that he works in tech in the US, and two years ago, his company of 600 employees acquired an Indian firm with 400 staff. Since then, he’s been confused about why his Indian colleagues even those in higher positions are only handling operational, task-based work, despite their roles calling for more.
How Did Social Media React?
The Reddit post sparked a flurry of responses from users sharing their own experiences. One user wrote, “I can only offer my personal experience working with teammates in India. Team effort is much more common than individualism. Every simple discussion always seems to involve 6 to 12 teammates joining in and listening in the background and if you’re lucky the most senior individual will give you a tad bit of feedback. Job hopping seems very common so individuals don’t necessarily get very secure and forthcoming with their opinions. I find it a lot more effective just to share tasks (not too long term) and skills/tools and periodically check up. I find the skill level is pretty good in India, just not the entrepreneurship or initiative.”
Another user shared a structured approach that worked well for them, “From working with teams from India whether outsourced or internal within an international firm, this is what I can say. My team devised a way of splitting the work: my team did the heavy lifting in ideating, researching, testing, creating and building for the US, while our Indian team adapted the work for other countries, kept systems running, addressed issues when they arose, refreshed models, that sort of thing. For us the data was business data with business meaning; for them the data was systems data with little meaning as they were not close to the business stakeholders. This worked well, keeping both ends busy.
Perhaps if you can define your individual lanes more precisely, then you and your Indian colleagues can better understand one another. Good luck to you.”
A third user pointed out workplace culture as a key factor, “People who say anything remotely negative against company, product or managers in India get fired. It happened to me, I worked in US for many years and returned to India. I am direct, but it has hurt my career badly. You have to bring this up to leadership in India and demand change. Hire US-returned leaders in India and you will be better off.”
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