Understanding India-USA Cultural Differences Helps Virtual Teams Succeed

This is the first posting of The Working with India Blog. It's designed to encourage exchange of ideas on how be more effective in working cross-culturally with teams and counterparts in India.

Are you with a global company doing business with India? Do you outsource IT or BPO functions to Indian service providers? Do you have software development, R & D, or manufacturing operations in India?

Or are you with an Indian company doing business globally? Are you an Indian service provider working for clients in North America, Europe or other parts of the world?

Whoever you are, have you experienced miscommunications or productivity issues due to cultural differences in business culture and expected work behaviors?

I've worked with many India-USA virtual teams for the past 10 years, and here are 3 ways in which I've seen cultural awareness create added value, reduce frustrations, and produce better business results:

1. When Americans become aware of how important personal relationships are in Indian business culture, they learn to be more personable in their approach and communications. This creates more trust, and many problems become easier to resolve.
2. When Indians become aware of how important punctuality is to Americans, they learn to be on time for meetings and phone calls. This reduces one of the most common irritations Americans experience working with Indian counterparts, and work goes on more smoothly.
3. When Americans and Indians become aware of cultural differences in what is meant by commitments ("Yes, you can count on me doing it exactly as agreed upon and by the deadline" versus "I'm committed to doing the best I can even if it takes a bit longer, and I may add some changes and improvements as well"), they learn to either make mutual accommodations or work through their differences to reach agreed upon protocols around commitments.

I invite you to share your experiences in the comments box below, and help us get a good conversation started on both issues and best practices in working cross-culturally with India.

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Dr. Karine Schomer is President of CMCT & Leader of The India Practice. She can be reached at schomer@indiapractice.com.