Some call this Management By Objectives (MBO). Ask the Thai manager - "What is the objective of the plan?" Get their input, so they will commit to it. If you start by telling them the objective, it becomes your objective and your accountability to make the plan happen - not theirs.

For example ask your Credit Manager "What is this month's objective?"

He may reply that it is to reduce Days of Outstanding sales (DOS) from 60 days to 50 days. If you think that this objective is not as challenging as you would like, and would prefer 45 days, avoid asking them "Why not 45 days?". You may twist your wording to something like "How can we reduce to 45 days (Avoid - Can we reduce to 45 days? If the answer is NO, it will create unnecessary conflict)

• How would you achieve this objective?

• What can you do in order to achieve the objective?

• What needs to be done in order to achieve the objective?

  TIP: If this is the first time that you use this approach with a Thai manager, be careful of responses like "Boss, what do you think?" or "What would the boss do?" Be patient! Do not even attempt to answer! Reply with something like "You are the expert in the work and the market, I will listen to you." Let the silence do the work, wait for a while and repeat the question in a polite manner. You will get it. Encourage your people by complementing on good part and asking questions regarding the "bad part". For example.. "...It is good that you are sending letters to remind customer's earlier than the previous month. What are the potential negative consequences of increasing incentives for collectors?"

1. We are not used to this approach. In school, we submit homework to the teacher when we finished. In work we send our work to our Thai boss - when we have finished...

2. Asking clarification questions to the boss is considered to be an irritation to the POO YAI (Senior people or Upper level executive). But we do need clarification. If the boss says "...Every 3 days come to update me... it will be fine...

English Communication Skills

Reading

You will start to receive English correspondence. e.g. Memo, Quotation, Purchasing Order, Work Instruction, New Corporate Policy, New Manual etc. If you do not fully understand this correspondance, you may implement incorrectly, jeopardising output quality. In some cases, it might even jeopardise your career (get fired!).

How to improve your English Reading? Start with what you like. If you love cars, go and buy some English car magazines. If you love football, buy English Football Magazines. Subscribe to English Newspapers like the Bangkok Post, the Nation, or Business Day. Subscribe to the Internet. There are plenty of good resources in English over the internet. You might try to get involve in a Discussion Group in the Internet, like the Asia PAcific Management Forum's own discussion boards, or those at the Nation Website. This will improve your English a lot.

Writing

You will have to respond to these correspondances in English, meaning you will have to improve your writing ability. There are many books that teach you how to write business correspondence including real examples in various business situations. Get some of it. I learned from someone that if you would like to improve your ability in writing try these practices:-

• Read as much as you can
• Copy. When you see incoming correspondences written well, try to familiarize yourself with it by rewriting at least 2 to 3 times. Your hand and your memory will get uses to it!
• Ask for feedback. Get your colleague who has good English Skills to provide you feedback on areas for improvement. This would be very hard for Thais. We care about face! We do not want to look bad in front of others. But there is no more time to have that kind of attitude. If you are a foreigner who uses English as their first language, you may offer to provide feedback to Thais. (You may even get help back in Thai language skills!) This will enhance the relationship.
• Write an email to friends.
• Participate in Discussion Groups on the internet.

Speaking

Speaking is also important. The problem for Thais is pronounciation. When we talk in English we have a tendency to speak in a mono-tone (low frequency tone). In many cases, it confuses foreigners. You can practice speaking by many ways -:

• Learning English via Tape Cassettes. Practice pronounciation following the tape.
• Practice by speaking with foreigners in your office. Thais are shy to speak in English.
• If you like movies, rent a video that you saw before and like. While watching, practice pronouncing the language. If you have a Laser Disc, use the "Close Caption", then you will learn both reading and speaking.

Listening

Listen to English Radio Stations. Listen to English Cassettes while you are driving. Convert all that driving time to learning time!

Thinking

To better communicate in English, we need to think by English. This way we will not have to translate our thoughts from Thai to English. This is the hardest part of the communication process.

Tips on Improving English Skills

In my own teaching experience, I decided to remove all written forms of English in early learning stages. Students learned the sound of a new word and imitated it while looking at a picture - not the English writing. Then they practiced simple short sentences, learning to replace the new words in place of the learned words. Later, I would train them to make sentences from a picture, and a series of pictures in a story board. All of these without even learning A-B-C!

As the students developed a number of basic English sentence patterns and large pools of vocabularies, they were able to ask questions and give answers in related subjects. As the sentence patterns increased at the same time they would get to see the written form of English in they pronunciation and vocabulary classes but never in the sentence pattern practices. Then, they would begin learning to listen to spoken stories from the recorded tape. By means of listening repeatedly, they could tell stories from the tape.

After the students had developed the required basics, then I would begin to introduce written vocabularies and sentence exercises. At this time, the written form enabled them to get more practice and learn new sentence patterns faster.

Having developed some adequate reading skills, the students would begin learning composition. Composition is the ability to organize ideas in simple sentences, organize these sentences in to paragraphs of related things and events and finally organize within the paragraphs to show the flow of ideas from the introduction to development to summary to conclusions.

Once the students began learning writing skills, they would be required to submit a diary of no more than five lines every day. They would be told to keep the sentences short and simple while changing the subject matter to touch on a broader area of daily life and the world around them.

As the students pool of English vocabulary and language structure grow, they would be given short stories to read and to demonstrate their reading comprehension. Then they would be asked to write imitating sentences, paragraphs and stories. Their next exercise would be to modify the sentences, paragraphs and the stories. Eventually, they began to write short stories on their own.

While all the writing exercises were going on, the verbal training would also move along, requiring the students to gain more fluency in their sentence pattern practices as the sentence patterns became increasingly more complicated. Then they would tell the story as they had written, and discuss the stories among the class.

In summary, this approach imitates the processes from which a baby learns to understand his language as he grows up - from listening, to imitating the sound, then short phrases, short sentences, and so on. A baby spends many years picking up the non-written form of English before entering the confusion of the written language.

Language is a skill like car driving. A person must be trained to become skilful and fluent in responding to situations with his skill. If anyone tried to drive by memorising the driving techniques, he would be dead on the road before long!!!!!! So my suggestion is to read a lot of good writings and to listen to the good uses of the languages regularly, in much the same way that we learn the skill of good and safe driving.

For business executives, mostly already long past school age, I would recommend a mixture of formal teaching with the above concept accompanied by listening to the selected tapes and practice with the tapes in his office, his home or even in his cars. He must form a basic competence in the non-written form of English before attempting to get to reading and writing. If I were asked, I would demand that they either follow these process strictly or forget about learning English. Without going through this process, the best one can learn is poor and broken English".

Computer Skill

Since much secretarial jobs are being passed to managers, computer skills are a must. You have to learn how to use basic programs and software to write memos and letters, how to fax from your PC, learn how to use spreadsheets for calculation of sales and budgeting, and learn how to prepare your presentation. You can learn from computer schools, computer courses or by asking your former secretary to teach you. You can learn by yourself. It is very easy stuff now. Get your own PC at home, and learn from it.

Be More Creative

Creativity is how we do thing differently.

...To find the new solution.

...To think "out of the box" without old references...

Creative is not easy for Thais. The way we were educated did not econcourage creativity and society frames us to be less creative.

Without creative personalities able to think and judge independently, the development of society is as unthinkable as the development of the individual personality without the nourishing soil of the community.

Steps in transforming Thai Managers to be more creative.

1. You have to understand that creativity is in everyone. We are born with it. But the degree is different. Some might have a talent to always do things creatively. Some are less creative than others. It is like hand writing. Everyone can write with both left and right hands, but almost all have a natural innate inclination to write using one or the other. We born with both creative thinking and logical thinking. For someone who prefers logical thinking he also capable in creative thinking but with less innate ability. Once you realize that there is a creative urge in everyone's brain we can move onto the next steps....

2. Be prepared to get criticised as you become more creative. Someone might say "Gees its funny" or "Wow! how dare you". Think in advance that those kind of responses are the test of your courage in creativity. The more you get used to that critiques, the more creative you are. Thinking by yourself, what if I don't care about the critiques? What bad thinds can happen? Perhaps, I might find the better way of doing things.

3. Start by being creative with small things. For example, try to do things differently, drive to work using a different route, change your weekend pattern or re-decorate your room. You will see that by slightly changing our behaviours we will see new perspectives. You will get constructive feedback. And most importantly, there is no harm done...

4. After you familiarise yourself with being creative, its time to be creative at work. Assume that now your courage-creative degree is moderate. That means that you be more stable when get critiqued when you are in a meeting and people ask you about your new idea. Use the following questions as thought stimulators for creative thinking
   • What is the frame that might pull our creativity?
   • How did we do last time we use creativity at home?
   • How can we do this thing differently?
   • Do we stick with same old frame?
   • What will happen if our idea is so silly?

   Before you suggest any creative idea, mention to your colleagues or your boss that it might be a crazy idea, ....but let's explore it.

Thais need to re-learn again. When someone mentions the word "learning" in Thailand, we automatically recall experiences of formal education in the school or university. In Thailand, you will find that most recuritment classified advertisements put a major emphasis on formal education rather than the key capabilities needed for the work to be done. Thais need to realize that learning goes far beyond formal education.

The Thai Education system in Thailand fails badly in teaching us "How to learn". So, this section advises on "Learning How to Learn".

1. The first step is to understand that every minute is a time for learning. We are "World Students" who never graduate as long as we are breathing. Your graduation is the stone in front of your grave. Learning is a journey, not a destination. By understanding the nature principle that we are learning every minute, you will never get boring with learning. Many people think that after they graduate, they will not have to tolerate learning any more. Remember to always ask yourself "What did I learn from this difficulty/situation?"

2. The second step is recognizing your learning preference. Human beings differ in learning preferences. Some people prefer to learn by reading (from books, magazines, or the Internet), some prefers to learn by listening (to people, radio, or tapes), some prefer to learn by doing (actually do the work or move around when learning), and some prefer to learn by writing (writing a paper or thesis is a way of learning). Some prefer a combination (reading plus listening, or reading plus doing). The second step is finding what is your prefered learning style beacuse when we learn in an environment we prefer, it's less painful for the learner.

3. The third step is identify your learning strategy. For example, let's take the example of learning to be more creative. If you prefer to learn by listening to other people, you may like to call your friend who works in an advertising agency and ask them how to develop creative skills. Ask your advertising agency to lunch, then ask them to give you tips on creativity. On the other hand if you are someone who prefers to learn by reading, you might go to the book store, library, or internet, searching for books or content on creative skills. If you who prefer to learning by doing, you might start to do small thing creatively: for example redecorating your garden or organizing your CD shelf, your Shoes Shelf etc. by yourself.

4. The fourth critical step in order to better understand what you have learned, is to try to teach what you learned. When you are preparing to teach others, the level of your understanding will increase dramatically. The more you teach the more you learn. So, after you get new knowledge or skills, try to educate others (friends, colleagues, subordinates or bosses).

5. The fifth step is always to ask questions. Human beings have a tendency to be "Mr. Know It All's". In Thai culture, asking questions is often perceived as foolishisness or demonstrating that one does not know about the topic. Thais are very much concerned about losing "Face". That kind of value has to change. In the world today, people are not judged so much by the quality of the answer, but by the quality of the question. The way you ask questions implies to the other that you are interested, and that you would like to learn more and ask for clarification. It is better than avoiding asking and later finding out that you are doing the wrong thing because of misunderstanding.

6. By practicing Learning How to Learn. You will enhance your brain capability. The brain is like any other organ, the more you use it, the more it strengthens.

Mental Therapy

The changing business environment is a driving force of change in society and culture. The change of society and culture will force Thais to change their values and beliefs. When Thais are forced to change, without this awareness, they will resist. This will impact mental stability. Thus, Mental Therapy is one of solution.

Mental Therapy is very new to Thais. Thais perceive a visit to a Mental Therapist or Psychiatrist to be shameful.

There might be solution to the above "Face" issue (again!). You may change the name of the "Mental Therapist" to "Career Counsellor". Starting from the organization, the firm might set up a new department called "Career Counselling Department" to help its employees to deal with the new working environment. The staff in this department must have basic skills in dealing with depressed employees and in providing basic healing for them.

The government can help to cope with this issue. Because Thailand is a Buddhist country, the temple is another place that people are comfortable to visit. If the government can train the monk to be the first hand career counsellor, this will calm down the degree of depression.

Being the Facilitator

The hardest task for a Thai manager is to shift their role from the "Command Manager" type to "Facilitator/Coach" type. Thais who are used to acting "bossy" and to dictate directions to their subordinates will find it hard to accept the new "facilitator" role.

The table below demonstrates the comparison between the old roles and the new roles.

Old Manager	Facilitator
Tell or Instruct	Facilitate
Your idea is incorrect... I am right...	It's interesting... You may be right...
Only one solution	You may be right
Black and White	Grey

Let's evaluate each pair carefully.

• From "Tell or Instruct" to "Facilitate".

  The world is borderless. There is no wall for knowledge, experience and information. Your subordinate can access various sources of information the same as you. They can access the internet and discuss any management idea with Professors at Harvard or Standford. They can view CNN and learn the Financial News before you (while you are staying late at the office!). So, whatever you tell them doesn't mean that it will be accepted as readily as in the past. But if you facilitate them by asking the right questions you will help them to participate in the work and also make them feel involved in the management process. If you tell or instruct them everything you may get yourself into trouble in areas that they have a better awareness than you.

• From "Yours idea is incorrect, I am right" to "it's interesting you may be right."

  The new world has changed dramatically. The speed of information and technology change is very fast. If you look at the development of the computer chip, you will be surprised how fast the market has changed. Whatever worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Even "gurus" are suffering. Their economic and business predictions are proving less certain. Take the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for example. The IMF admitted that they were wrong about the advice they gave to Thailand on the Financial Reform Package. If a world institute like the IMF can be wrong, how can you as one manager say that you are right and your subordinate is wrong. On the safe side, listen to other opinion and work together...

• From "Only the one solution" to "There might be another way".

  Knowledge and information that you and your subordinates are aware of will always be different. A generation gap exists for both parties. The elder age goups, now in senior and middle management were probably born during the Baby Boom period (during 1950 to 1960 after the World War 2 and new families established after the war). The younger age group may well be Generation X's (born during the 1970's - 80's). Definitely, they will see the world differently. On many occasions, this will create conflict. But using it as an opportunity rather than as difficulty helps. Remind yourself that your solution may be good but there may be another way and let's try to listen to it first. As Steven Covey said - "Seek first to Understand, then to be understood".

• From "Black and White" to "Grey".

  The world never has only two colours. God created the world and painted the world with different kind of colours. Unfortunately, many managers believe that the world is made up of black and white colours only. They manage the business and face difficulties applying the same business policies developed 50 years ago when the words "Computer or Cable TV" did not even exist. New managers should have more of an "It Depends" attitude. It will help them deal with complex situations more flexibly and pragmatically. If they try to use the answer "It depends" more often, it will widen their perspective in complex situations and lead to easier resolutions.

Management By Simplicity

It is simple to make things complex, but it is complex to make things simple.

It is time for the Thai Manager to make things simple now. The Thai management style creates a lot of red tape, processes, and procedures. Lots of paper work requires lots of effort that contributes low value to customers and the organizations themselves.

It's time to look at critical points by asking the following questions:-

1. What do the customers expect from the organization in order to compensate for price?
2. What are the core values that customers need your company to deliver?
3. What are the core values that your organization expects from you?

Then you can set priorities to eliminate the low-value work.

Complexity costs money to the organizations. Reducing complexity is to improve the bottom line.

Simplicity not only applies to work processes. It needs to be applied to communication as well. How can you write, talk, and speak simpler? Thai correspondence is very complicated. Writing correspondance in Thai requires more time because you have to be very careful about the tone ( particularly the words used in conjunction with level, position, and seniority). Thais may need to communicate more simply and specifically instead of in vague and flowery terms in order to save face and make it harmonize....

...Because time is short and has value.

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai
DBS Thai Danu Bank, Bangkok, Thailand