manage your chinese employees effectively
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My first real exposure to China and Chinese employees was in the early 2009, when my company decided to open its research and development center in Beijing, China; and put me in charge of newly developing system automation team in China. Since then, I have worked with Chinese employees extensively, either it’s at my current job or at some of the smaller companies that I have consulted over the years. Though I am still in the process of learning more about the Chinese culture, one thing is clear, the leadership style of the Western Countries is not effective when you work with Chinese employees. Thus, in this blog post, I would provide you with some insight on how to effectively lead your Chinese employees. Management style: In developed countries like the United States, we provide opportunities to our employees to resolve problems/issues by themselves. While this kind of strategy (delegate and disappear) is very effective in developed countries, it doesn’t work well with Chinese employees. Chinese people are very traditional, they respect authority and are introverts in some cases. So, they will depend on you to take critical decisions of the project that you have assigned to them. In order to work better with them, you might want to …….(1) Stop by their desk or video conference them at least 1-2 times a day, and ask for blocking issues with their projects ……….(2) Have frequent team meetings to go over critical issues …….(3) Make their introductions to all of the stakeholders of the project, so that they can feel comfortable going to them directly instead of coming to you for smaller issues ………(4) Develop personal relationships with them. Strong relationships can help you go a long way. Obtaining Information: Similar to adjusting your management style, you might need to change the way you communicate. Let’s say, if you are trying to get some information from a Chinese manager, and if this is your first time communicating with him, then you might want to utilize your contacts at similar levels in the organization to get that information. In most of the cases, information may not flow downward through the hierarchy as easily as one might expect, when the culture of the company is less hierarchical. In order to get the correct information on the right time, you might want to cultivate your informal contacts within your Chinese branch. And yeah! Always make sure to rephrase your understanding of the issue/solution, once you get the desired information. This practice will ensure that you are on the same page with your Chinese counterparts. Sometimes, language barrier can create various problems. Presenting Information: Chinese culture is very status-oriented. Let’s say, you are a manager in the US company, who manages the offshore team of 10-12 Chinese employees. Now, assume that you want to change your current process. I bet you……when you will present your new plan to these employees, you will get very minimal or no feedback.TRANSCRIPT
1 Author: [email protected] | Contact information: http://BhavinGandhi.com
How to manage your Chinese employees effectively? by Bhavin Gandhi
My first real exposure to China and Chinese employees was in the early 2009, when my company decided to open
its research and development center in Beijing, China; and put me in charge of newly developing system automation
team in China. Since then, I have worked with Chinese employees extensively, either it’s at my current job or at
some of the smaller companies that I have consulted over the years. Though I am still in the process of learning
more about the Chinese culture, one thing is clear, the leadership style of the Western Countries is not effective
when you work with Chinese employees. Thus, in this blog post, I would provide you with some insight on how to
effectively lead your Chinese employees.
Management style: In developed countries like the United States, we provide opportunities to our employees to
resolve problems/issues by themselves. While this kind of strategy (delegate and disappear) is very effective in
developed countries, it doesn’t work well with Chinese employees. Chinese people are very traditional, they respect
authority and are introverts in some cases. So, they will depend on you to take critical decisions of the project that
you have assigned to them. In order to work better with them, you might want to …….(1) Stop by their desk or video
conference them at least 1-2 times a day, and ask for blocking issues with their projects ……….(2) Have frequent
team meetings to go over critical issues …….(3) Make their introductions to all of the stakeholders of the project, so
that they can feel comfortable going to them directly instead of coming to you for smaller issues ………(4) Develop
personal relationships with them. Strong relationships can help you go a long way.
Obtaining Information: Similar to adjusting your management style, you might need to change the way you
communicate. Let’s say, if you are trying to get some information from a Chinese manager, and if this is your first
time communicating with him, then you might want to utilize your contacts at similar levels in the organization to get
that information. In most of the cases, information may not flow downward through the hierarchy as easily as one
might expect, when the culture of the company is less hierarchical. In order to get the correct information on the right
2 Author: [email protected] | Contact information: http://BhavinGandhi.com
time, you might want to cultivate your informal contacts within your Chinese branch. And yeah! Always make sure to
rephrase your understanding of the issue/solution, once you get the desired information. This practice will ensure
that you are on the same page with your Chinese counterparts. Sometimes, language barrier can create various
problems.
Presenting Information: Chinese culture is very status-oriented. Let’s say, you are a manager in the US company,
who manages the offshore team of 10-12 Chinese employees. Now, assume that you want to change your current
process. I bet you……when you will present your new plan to these employees, you will get very minimal or no
feedback. Due to their status-oriented culture, there may be less feedback from the audience during a presentation
than one might expect in a more equality-focused culture. And hence, I would recommend you to give them the
opportunity to provide their feedback later through an e-mail or an anonymous forum. In most of the cases, they feel
very comfortable in providing their feedback to their superior in a private setting as compared to a public setting.
I hope, these tips can help you to become a better manger, when you are working with a Chinese team. What other
changes would you make in your management style, while working with Chinese employees?
Thanks. – Bhavin Gandhi.
Bhavin Gandhi | December 31, 2012 at 2:26 PM | Tags: 21st century, Asian Culture, Asian
Employees, Change your work style, Chinese Employees, Clear expectations, Culture Awareness, Information
Presentation, Leaders of Tomorrow,Leadership, Leadership Failures, Manage Chinese
Employees, Management,Management Style, Manager, Obtaining information, Presenting information |
Categories: 21st Century, Leadership, Management, Virtual Team | URL:http://wp.me/p103Cm-97