Teamwork & Indian Culture

Book excerpt: This book is about Teamwork culture in India. This Revised edition includes a chapter on "Chalta-hai" attitude of Indians. It discusses the Teamwork related issues and suggests ways to overcome them. This book provides guidance to people who are working in India or planning to work with Indians.This book analyzes the work place behavior of Indians. It provides insight into how that particular behavior evolved, and also suggests techniques to overcome the negative influence of those behavior patterns.These Teamwork improving ideas are communicated through a fictitious story revolving around an American managing a software team in India. "John, a young American manager from the IT department of a major retail chain, comes to India to execute an IT project. This is the first overseas assignment for John. Dheeraj, Program Manager at India office, has been entrusted with the responsibility of helping and guiding John. Each chapter highlights one typical issue. It starts with John facing a problem then approaching Dheeraj for help. Dheeraj guides John in solving the problem. During this process Dheeraj shares some examples of his life and expresses his understanding of the reasons behind the situation, and gives suggestions on how it can be solved."This book addresses the common issues such as * Missing deadlines in-spite of the team working for long hours; * The Yes Sir / Yes Madam culture; * The prevalent Communication problems with Indian teams * The resistance to use the tools or share the knowledge * The "Chalta-hai" attitude, etc.This book helps non-Indians to enjoy working with Indians. It also highlights the need for improving the Indian Teamwork culture for effective project execution and for all-round growth of the country.