Working with Indians
Objectives
- Explore the fundamentals of Indian culture and their impact in the workplace
- Develop an understanding of the Indian mentality and business culture
- Understand how your way of communicating and behaving may be interpreted in India
- Acquire practical strategies for working more effectively with Indians
- Identify concrete steps to enhance your ability to influence and negotiate across cultures
Who should attend?
- CEOs and senior executives of companies expanding into India
- Managers, teams and individuals who work regularly with Indians
Duration
Available as a 1-day or 2-day programme
Did you know?
The Indian constitution recognizes 23 languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and English. The central government uses Hindi and English as its official languages while individual states can choose the official language or languages of its choice.
Course content
1/ Developing cultural awareness
- Cross-cultural fundamentals for working in an international context
- Cultural dimensions: how ways of working, thinking and interacting differ across countries
- Cross-cultural competencies needed to evolve in an international environment
- Going beyond stereotypes and ethnocentrism
2/ Indian culture
- India, a sub-continent in full transformation
- Indian civilisation, its myths and deep beliefs
- Indian culture today: its richness and paradoxes
- Indian values and their impact on building relationships
- Why celebrations and festivals are important
3/ The Indian business world
- Types of business entities and how they operate
- The role of the State in the corporate world
- The importance of networking
- Creativity (the concept of frugal innovation) and Indian dynamism (entrepreneurship)
- Spirituality in the workplace
4/ Working with Indians
- Working with Indian teams: Challenges for Western people
- Complexity and the different faces of India
- Identifying the decision-makers
- Managing and motivating teams
- Participating in and leading meetings
- Negotiating with Indians
- Working remotely with Indian teams
5/ Practical tips
- Avoiding faux pas
- Understanding symbols
- Social codes: rituals and gifts