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In London or other developed markets, everything has already been done and it’s very hard to find opportunities. In Shanghai, you can start a business from scratch and actually take it somewhere. We’re still quite frontier here. | ||
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Praise for individual staff members must be discreet, or you can make people uncomfortable.
You might think that heaping praise on certain individuals who perform well in front of their peers would make them feel good about themselves and lead their peers to look up to them, but it isn’t the case. People here don’t like to stand out too much. There’s a danger that they will be separated from the team, and they’ll stand out like a bamboo shoot in a rice paddy – just a bit out of place. Any praise for people who do well is best done in private. A discreet pat on the back or a shake of the hand without arousing too much attention from their peers is fine, but if you make them the center of attention it can make them very uncomfortable.
Getting your people to open up and share their ideas.
Getting information from a Chinese team can be a bit like getting blood from a stone. I remember when I was starting out in China and attending sales meetings where the Big Boss was talking and everyone sat there listening quietly and nodding politely. Western managers feel that a team needs a dynamic where the team communicates and everyone shares ideas. The boss doesn’t always know what’s happening on the ground compared to the sales people who are out there in the marketplace. A big challenge for me was soliciting information and getting the views of the sales team -- who really know what’s happening. They have some very good ideas, but they aren’t in the habit of putting those ideas forward. Finally, when the walls open, it’s a great benefit for everyone, and we get some nice ideas that everyone can make use of.
Relationships can take precedence over business factors.
Getting used to the whole relationship factor is a big challenge for ex-pat managers. A lot of Chinese salesmen rely on their relationship and nothing else. It’s amazing that when the relationship is strong enough, the buyer doesn’t even look at what the product is or what the competing offers are like. I try to get it into people’s minds that this isn’t the way things should be done, but there’s really no getting around it. There’s no getting away from it -- that it’s part and parcel of the culture. You have to accept it, but remind the Chinese sales people that it should be business-to-business -- and not to always rely on the relationship every time.
You might think that heaping praise on certain individuals who perform well in front of their peers would make them feel good about themselves and lead their peers to look up to them, but it isn’t the case. People here don’t like to stand out too much. There’s a danger that they will be separated from the team, and they’ll stand out like a bamboo shoot in a rice paddy – just a bit out of place. Any praise for people who do well is best done in private. A discreet pat on the back or a shake of the hand without arousing too much attention from their peers is fine, but if you make them the center of attention it can make them very uncomfortable.
Getting your people to open up and share their ideas.
Getting information from a Chinese team can be a bit like getting blood from a stone. I remember when I was starting out in China and attending sales meetings where the Big Boss was talking and everyone sat there listening quietly and nodding politely. Western managers feel that a team needs a dynamic where the team communicates and everyone shares ideas. The boss doesn’t always know what’s happening on the ground compared to the sales people who are out there in the marketplace. A big challenge for me was soliciting information and getting the views of the sales team -- who really know what’s happening. They have some very good ideas, but they aren’t in the habit of putting those ideas forward. Finally, when the walls open, it’s a great benefit for everyone, and we get some nice ideas that everyone can make use of.
Relationships can take precedence over business factors.
Getting used to the whole relationship factor is a big challenge for ex-pat managers. A lot of Chinese salesmen rely on their relationship and nothing else. It’s amazing that when the relationship is strong enough, the buyer doesn’t even look at what the product is or what the competing offers are like. I try to get it into people’s minds that this isn’t the way things should be done, but there’s really no getting around it. There’s no getting away from it -- that it’s part and parcel of the culture. You have to accept it, but remind the Chinese sales people that it should be business-to-business -- and not to always rely on the relationship every time.
Take opportunities as they come up.
You can’t just be satisfied being another small fish in the pond. It can be hard to know which opportunity is the correct one, but in China there is enough going on and enough room for people to grow that as long as you are active. As long as you are willing to take a step forward you can really make progress. Going back to the fish analogy, the quicker you gobble the quicker you grow. In London or other developed markets, everything has already been done and it’s very hard to find opportunities. In Shanghai, you can start a business from scratch and actually take it somewhere. We’re still quite frontier here.
I succeeded in getting my team to be more forthright and open up with their ideas.
It took a lot of time, but they became more comfortable and eventually saw me as a peer. I did everything possible to get them to regard me as part of the team and not as some authority figure who had all the answers. I admitted to them that I sometimes make mistakes and say the wrong thing, and if they had better ideas to let me know. I gave the experienced members of the team a great deal of autonomy – almost as though they were managing themselves and I was just facilitating.
You can’t just be satisfied being another small fish in the pond. It can be hard to know which opportunity is the correct one, but in China there is enough going on and enough room for people to grow that as long as you are active. As long as you are willing to take a step forward you can really make progress. Going back to the fish analogy, the quicker you gobble the quicker you grow. In London or other developed markets, everything has already been done and it’s very hard to find opportunities. In Shanghai, you can start a business from scratch and actually take it somewhere. We’re still quite frontier here.
I succeeded in getting my team to be more forthright and open up with their ideas.
It took a lot of time, but they became more comfortable and eventually saw me as a peer. I did everything possible to get them to regard me as part of the team and not as some authority figure who had all the answers. I admitted to them that I sometimes make mistakes and say the wrong thing, and if they had better ideas to let me know. I gave the experienced members of the team a great deal of autonomy – almost as though they were managing themselves and I was just facilitating.
Get involved.
It’s easy to get comfortable and kick back and enjoy life here. You can do that, of course, but you should get involved and meet people. The whole world runs on relationships, though it’s more prevalent in China. The more people you know and the more groups you get involved in, the more it will help you. If you’re an ex-pat you tend to socialize with other ex-pats, and its relatively easy to get a foot up and meet people who have been here longer who can offer you good opportunities or a piece of advice that can really help you to get along.
It’s easy to get comfortable and kick back and enjoy life here. You can do that, of course, but you should get involved and meet people. The whole world runs on relationships, though it’s more prevalent in China. The more people you know and the more groups you get involved in, the more it will help you. If you’re an ex-pat you tend to socialize with other ex-pats, and its relatively easy to get a foot up and meet people who have been here longer who can offer you good opportunities or a piece of advice that can really help you to get along.
