21 Mar 2018

2018, CrossCulture, Training
Cross-cultural communication can literally make or break a team. In a workplace without borders, increasingly every function in a large organisation has a global team. Large US corporations have a back-end team in Europe. European organisations may be working simultaneously with the US and India. And some may have a team that consists of members from China, India, Germany and the US. Whi...
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18 Mar 2018

2018
Much of cross-cultural communication rests on understanding of the culture. India is often knows as the culture of celebrations. And what better than today to talk about it. It's day for celebration! And a new year celebration at that. Today marks the new year for many communities in different parts of India.Gudi Padwa for some, Ugadi for others, Cheti Chand for still others.Gove...
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18 Mar 2018

2016
Cross culture is the unspoken issue in many a  global collaboration.When global conglomerates seek out Indian talent to work with them, a lot of attention is focused on quality of work and cost arbitrage. But there is one important aspect that gets left out.Here's an example. A large Dutch financial organisation is seeking to outsource its IT business to a large multinational ...
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16 Mar 2018

2017, 2018, CrossCulture, Training
Cross-cultural communication or the lack of it could well be the missing ingredient in a ‘dream team’ you set up.   The truth is – the world is not as flat as it seems. And while a President somewhere is busy trying to build a wall, what he does not realise is that there is really no need to do so. A wall already exists. Everywhere in fact. Especially when two cultures come together. Wha...
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16 Mar 2018

2018, CrossCulture
Cross-cultural communication can make friends. And it can make... well...enemies. Or not friends. Here's one memorable conversation I've had with someone.This young man was an Indian working in Germany. He had been there for almost 8 years when I met him to do a cross culture workshop. In an informal dinner he talked about his challenges studying, living and working there.While h...
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14 Mar 2018

2018, communications, CrossCulture
Cross cultural communication is one of the biggest disasters that technology has enabled. Seriously.Picture this scenario (quite a common one at that) Bob is running a very important project out of Texas, USA. His counterpart in India, Raj is now on a call with him.Here's a conversation that takes place between two people who speak English but whose communication styles are diffe...
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13 Mar 2018

2018, CrossCulture
I walk into a room that is seems to be partitioned.  Not in the real sense of the word, but you-can-cut-the-air-with-a-knife kind of feeling. There are two factions here, although neither will ever mention that. That would be ‘politically incorrect’, wouldn't it.It’s always Us vs Them. It’s the In-group vs Out-group. It’s your country vs mine (and guess which one is better!)And...
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02 Mar 2018

2018, CrossCulture
You there!Yes you!With colour in one hand and the water balloon in the other. You're right here in India aren't you?Well, you might as well be in Germany (See Link Below). Or Ireland. Or Australia.Because that's where increasingly Holi is being celebrated. In its true spirit. In all the glory of its colour. (And in probably a safer way.)But I'm jumping the (water) g...
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