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artikel: ais sprog indien
When Does Yes
Really Mean Yes in India?
SPROG I INDIEN
SKRIBENT:
Richard Gesteland,
author, executive
coach and management consultant
That is the most common question at our Global
Management training programs on India. Workshop
participants from a world-brand multinational in Jutland put it this way: “Our biggest problem with Indian colleagues is interpreting the real meaning of
the word yes.”
The same issue arose often in the dozens of interviews we conducted in Denmark, India and elsewhere for our forthcoming Copenhagen Business School
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Press book, Managing Across Cultures in India. A
Danish executive in charge of outsourcing IT work to
vendors in Mumbai and Chennai told us, “The word
‘no’ nearly doesn’t exist – the Indians we work with
always say yes.” And an experienced top manager
of another Danish multinational added, “Danes are
direct, Indians are indirect. We find it virtually impossible to get a straight answer.”
Here are the three main reasons Indian outsourcing
partners avoid saying no when a negative answer is
called for:
Richard Gestelanld is author, executive
coach and management consultant
who speaks from 40 years of
hands-on experience in communication
and negotiating acress cultures.
artikel: ais sprog indien
1. Many Indians automatically respond “yes” to a yes
or no question, which is why we advise our Danish
clients not to ask such direct questions. Instead we
suggest asking other questions which will gradually
reveal the information you need to have. “We can
help our Indian colleagues give us honest answers
by NOT asking yes-or-no questions.” That was what
participants in a Global Management workshop in
Copenhagen reported they had learned at the end
of the session … a valuable lesson indeed.
2. When your Pune colleagues don’t want to disappoint you by admitting they will miss the promised
delivery date, they may reply ‘yes’ when you ask
them directly if the project is still on schedule. The
solution is to find out for example whether they have
received all necessary inputs on time or whether they
need any support from you to meet the deadline.
Successful Danish firms use these three proven
steps to bridge the culture gap:
1. Bring your Indian colleagues to Denmark for
immersion in the direct, low-context way Danes
communicate.
2. Train your Danish staff (a) how to decode Indian
indirect, high-context messages and (b) how to ask
questions that will elicit “straight” answers from their
Indian partners.
3. Send your key Danish staff members to India for
face-to-face meetings and relationship-building. India is famously a relationship-focused culture, and
deal-focused Danes need to meet their Indian contacts half-way across that East-West bridge. ■
Global Management, LLC: 2008. All rights reserved
3. When your Hyderabad partners would lose face
by responding ‘no’ to a direct question, they are likely to say ‘yes’ or avoid answering the question entirely, leaving you in the dark.
Well then, how can Danes tell when ‘yes’ really does
mean yes?
• When it is said with emphasis and
accompanied with details;
• When it is confirmed in a detailed
follow-up email;
• When you have a personal, face-to-face
relationship with the person who replied “yes.”
Kilde: Ledelse i Udvikling, Januar 2009. PID–Personalechefer I Danmark, www.pid.dk
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