How can I make my Indian colleagues trust me?

Yes, I know the list: Meet with them, interact in conversations about your families, accept the tea that is offered and make sure to be polite and ‘safe face’ during the meetings. 

Unfortunately, this list is from a time that we could meet face-to-face regularly and only had to desert to virtual conversations in urgent cases. The relationship building that is meant to build trust was mainly done in the physical meetings. 

In these Covid-ridden times, the need for certainty and reliability has increased, but the possibility to build trustful relationships has been limited to interaction through computer and telephone. On top of all that, I read that it is more difficult for a foreign woman to gain respect and trust from Indian managers than it is for foreign men – besides the rituals of the negotiation game, the interaction between men and women has an additional set of rules.

And the challenge is not only for international but also domestic relationships, and even within companies. Due to the physical distancing predicament, the interaction between colleagues is reduced to formal communication with the objective to exchange information. As a result, the list of corporate values in Indian business publications has been reshuffled. The classical ones are: visioning, decisiveness, confidence, inspiration and integrity. In more recent times there have been some emergent leadership competencies like humility, vulnerability and authenticity, with Empathy now on top of the list. In Covid times, leaders around the world needed to engage empatheticlally with their teams to manoeuver through the uncertainties of business and personal life. Many companies use regular pulse surveys to monitor the mental and emotional stability of the team that is working from home. The results can be used to deploy communication and motivation measures that will strengthen the loyalty within the team. In the long run, the attention for the individual situation of the employee will lead to stability within the team and reassure as well as retain the talents that are needed in the ongoing operation. 

While Covid has made us more alert to give this attention to our direct teams, we tend to forget that this is also needed for our international contacts, for our business partners abroad. Especially if our relationship is to be built on trust, we need to engage regularly, on planned as well as informal occasions. Obviously, we cannot employ pulse surveys with them but we can increase the frequency of our interaction and make is as personal as possible, through video calls and more casual conversations. Depending on the level of trust between the parties, you can exchange experiences on the pandemic and the actions your organization has taken. Such conversations show personal engagement and interest – which fosters mutual trust and ensures similar paths in dealing with the economic challenges of the time. 

If you want to engage your workforce, if you want to strengthen your relationship with a business partner in India, make sure to keep in touch through phone and video calls to strengthen your ties and come out on top in 2021. 

Check www.hofstede-insights.in for more info on collaborating with your Indian business partners.