DO:
1. Respect religious and cultural beliefs.
2. Take time to cultivate personal relationships.
3. Use indirect communication.
4. Recognize a head wag to mean 'yes'.
5. Recognize that 'yes' doesn't always mean 'yes'.
6. Respect the importance of status.
7. Use professional titles.
8. Understand that Indians see time as being flexible.
9. Learn the traditional Indian greeting of 'namaste'.
10. Make an effort to understand Indian cultural values.
DON'T:
1. Be too direct in your communication.
2. Expect everyone to speak standard American English.
3. Do business without connecting on a personal level.
4. Be extremely rigid about time.
5. Point your foot at anyone.
6. Call someone to you by putting your hand out, palm down, and bringing your fingers inward toward your palm.
7. Touch anyone's head.
8. Point your finger at anyone. (Use your chin to point.)
9. Assume that Indians value egalitarianism.
10. Be on time for social situations outside of work.
The key to improved harmony within a multicultural workforce is not to memorize do and don't lists, but to comprehend their rationale. While interesting, the above do/don't lists are not culture - only its symptoms.
What creates this behavior? Why do people react differently to the same thing? How can a gesture be interpreted positively by people from one place and negatively by people from another? The answer lies in human culture.
To truly understand human culture and promote a more harmonious workforce, we encourage you to read more about culture training or sign up for our Working Across Cultures workshop.