Just recently I had a chance to have dinner with one of my Thailand Tales readers. He is an expat manager from India and his exposure is international. He has worked in Europe, North America, South America and all over Asia. We discussed about his fascination with the Thai people. He has a positive perception toward Thai people - I think may be even more positive than many Thais themselves. During the convivial discussion, he told me about one particular tactic that he used when managing his Thai colleagues and subordinates. Let me tell you his tale... Sanjeef works with one of the local manufacturers engaged in exporting products to Europe and the US. He is also the only foreigner in the organization. His role is similar to senior management, engaging in almost everything from export sales to ISO project leader. After one and half year with the organization, he realized that the open door policy did not work well. No-one entered his open door to consult with him - he had to go out and talk with his colleagues instead, limiting the interaction between him and his people. Four months ago, he launched a new approach ..getting together and discussing things informally but to do it in English - a kind of an English session. Firstly he gathered 15 volunteers who wanted to improve their English communication. He started with the BBC self-learning Englsh package - "Follow Me". All agreed to run the session from from 05.00 p.m. - 06.00 p.m. The factory normally worked till 05.30 p.m. Basically, it was a sharing time between staff and organization, each side donating 30 minutes of their own time. He continued doing this everyday except during the busy December month. After a few sessions, he stopped using the BBC material. He began to use real life scenarios. He asked the team to create their own scenarios based on what they did after work. For example, one employee - Daeng - said he was going to the market for grocery shopping. Then, Daeng and Ying role-played the scenario. He allowed them to perform the role play in Thai and explain it to him. Later, he taught them the English version and they replayed the scenario in English. There was a lot of fun. Both staff and himself enjoyed it. His boss - a Thai-Chinese owner - also encouraged the activity. In fact his Thai boss became so enthusiastic about the activity that he sometimes takes over such sessions whenever Sanjeef is away overseas. Sanjeef let me know the benefits of these afternoon sessions. Firstly, he got to know the name of each of his colleagues and subordinates. This meant a lot to all of them. Prior to the session, he had difficulty in pronouncing their names, and avoided using names because he didn't even remember them. Secondly, he also learned the Thai language much faster. Thirdly, he began to learn the was Thai's approach life and work. He now understands all about KRENG JAI. For example, his small team consists of 6 people. One was less efficient than the others and slowed down team performance. Every team member knew about it but none wanted to do anything about it or talk to the guy. After he realized the problem, he explained to the team that if one person slowed down the team performance, it became a lose-lose situation for everyone including the organizationas a whole. Since he had already established a good relationship with his Thai team he asked them to think up a solution themselves. They recommended that the boss should transfer the person to another job that he could perform better. He did so and team performance increased. This kind of change could not have occurred if he hadn't developed a good rapport with the team. Sanjeef's learning didn't stop there. He also learned to simplify his English communication with his staff. Instead of using formal sentences and structure, he focused on understanding. For example, if he wanted to ask - When will the shipment leave the factory?, he would instead ask "when shipment go?". The staff could reply to him more easily. He also learned to mix up Thai and English words. When he needs to access a file he says "where is blank fam (file)". When he needed to access a document he now asks "Where is the blank ek-ka-sarn (document)" This allowed staff to relate the words together more easily. Whenever, his staff showed shyness in speaking English to him, he encouraged them by saying "I am sure your English is much better than my Thai". "...Basically, I want to communicate with them - I don't care if its the proper grammar as long as both sides can work together", says Sanjeef. "...Most Thais avoid speaking English because they are scared that what they say will not be grammtically correct. It doesn't matter as long as the message gets across..." It was an enjoyable dinner that night. I was happily full of food for thought and food for stomach. Kriengsak Niratpattanasai DBS Thai Danu Bank, Bangkok, Thailand (This column will also appear in ethailand and the Bangkok Post later this week.)

...from Kriengsak Niratappanasai's Thailand Tales

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai Thai Danu Bank Bangkok Thailand

Kriengsak was one of the Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine's earliest columnists and continues to provide some of the most savvy advice on the Net on working in Thailand. His down to earth advice from years of working with falang and locals mixed with local folkstories continues to delight and inform. Click on Kriengsak's picture to learn more about our great friend and colleague.

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