Every culture would definitely have their differences and one common observation is Indians are always more vocal, even in Asia. They want to market themselves very well. Like Americans, Indians are a lot more open in their communication, compared to Singaporeans or Taiwanese.

If you need volunteers to make a presentation in a group discussion, it’s always the Indian and the American who will fight to do it. The Asians or the Chinese will try to “siam” (evade). Or if you have a town hall, during the Q&A, it’s always the Caucasians who will ask questions and the Chinese will keep quiet.

So it becomes a challenge to managers when managing a diversified team, more so in an international bank like ours, where a management team could be a mini “United Nations”. You can have an Aussie, a British, an American, a Pakistani, an Indian, a Chinese plus a Dutch together. You will never be able to strike a balance where everybody will be happy because they bring with them different cultures.

The way I guide managers who have such a team is never shut those who talk a lot more than others during a meeting. Instead, learn how to stop them at appropriate times without appearing rude. But always invite and give those who are very quiet the opportunity to express their views because these people will never learn how to grab the opportunity. The quiet ones will only speak when you direct it to them.

Show that you have a very democratic managerial style and you want to hear what all of them have to say but also lay the governance clearly to your team. Tell them that ultimately, the decision lies with the team leader and everyone has to be united at the end of the discussion. They can disagree or argue during the meeting but once a decision has been reached, it’s a unanimous decision so everyone should stand by it. Anyone who does otherwise in public will receive a talking-to from the team leader so you manage their expectations too.

Molly Yeo

Head of human resources

ABN AMRO