For those going to the US to seal business deals or working onsite with the client, the dress code may be different than the expectation in the local Indian office. This is especially true for those IT professionals that work in casual environments, and also for women in various parts of India who may wear more traditional Indian attire to work. For such demos, we may discuss or show pictures of the do's and don'ts in an American/Western office. While remaining sensitive to the cultural needs, it is also important to set a good impression on site, hence we attempt to present tips that build on their already well-defined dressing sense rather than changing it completely and compromising their modesty.
restaurant and grocery store restrooms.
This has to be one of the more challenging and sensitive areas when teaching cross-cultural skills. It is often taken for granted that the behavior in restrooms is global or basic common sense, therefore, no change is required. After training both Japanese and Indians and even living in India, it surely is a false impression to think that bathroom behavior is the same world wide.
Another example is learning table or eating etiquette in other cultures. Learning to eat with chopsticks, Western cutlery, or hands if not accustomed to it is best done with a hands-on real-life experience.
Body language, personal space, gestures, handshakes and introductions, and eye contact among other other non-verbal behaviors do vary from culture to culture. Demos help participants to see, experience and immediately compare differences between their culture and the foreign culture to attempt to fit in better whenever possible. A few modules in the training programs I deliver that include such demos are meeting time etiquette, face-to-face interview preparation, video (video-con) conference calls, and in-person (handshakes and business card exchange) introductions are all topics where hands-on demos have filled these gaps in easy, fun and interactive ways.
Jennifer Kumar, author, has trained over 1500 Indian professionals for their offshore client interactions and offshore client visits through corporate coaching and interactive group training sessions.
<--Read Tip #2 - Cross-Cultural Errors and Mistakes.