Thailand: Understanding Your Boss´ Needs ~ A Boss´ Perspective

Good morning.

A few preliminaries.

My format this morning will be to address each topic heading I was assigned with my views followed by some ideas of the secretaries in my office whose insights I sought before preparing the text of my presentation. As you will hear, what I say in many words, they have said in a few.

When I use the term "Secretary", I mean to include both Executive Secretaries and Personal Assistants. And being politically correct when I use the pronouns "he" or "his", I also mean "she" and "hers".

First, let's look at "Understanding what your boss expects from you".

This "Prayer" may be a bit of an overstatement but from the smiles I've seen I'm sure you will agree that there is a lot of truth in it.

My First Key Rule to understanding what your boss expects of you is simple: "Look. Listen. Ask." There is no such thing as a dumb question. What is dumb is to keep quiet when you need to know something in order to do your job. Almost any question is far better than a dumb mistake.

A boss must find a secretary who has qualifications and knowledge in the field in which he works. A boss must also choose a secretary who can get along with him. I think he expects a secretary to work accurately, do a neat and tidy job, and have good communications skills.

But a secretary must also sometimes understand that when the boss has a lot of work, he might become emotional.

No two bosses are alike, just as no two secretaries are alike.

My first key rule to learning your boss's style, his character, his personality, strengths and weaknesses, his biases, his abilities, his attitudes, again is to "Look. Listen. Ask."

"Look" - means to see both the details and the big picture.

"Listen" - means to hear, analyze, understand and remember what is said.

"Ask" - means to open your mouth to get the clarification you need to understand at least enough to do the task assigned.

For instance, ask yourself - how do I know or learn what my boss expects of me, when he does expect it, how, and in what form? What writing style does he want for his letters, memos, reports, etc.? There may be a corporate form manual - if so, then study it, and follow it.

On an individual level, "Look. Listen. Ask." What hours will your boss keep - what hours can you keep? Can you work OT? Do you have to work OT? How often? How long? You do have a private life. Is your boss organized and neat, or cluttered and disorganized? What is his personality and character? Is he a team player or does he work alone? What kind of person is he? Is he a person who inspires confidence? Is he fair, open-minded, a listener? How does he handle his mistakes? Your mistakes? Is he courteous, respectful, accepting, compromising, demanding, strict, a stickler for details? Does he shout? Is he moody, short tempered or even tempered? Does he have a sense of humor? Is he a people person (sociable) or a loner, decisive or avoids decisions? Is he a doer or a procrastinator, a delegator or must he do everything himself? Is he protective and supportive? Is he an effective leader or is he not a leader?

"Look. Listen. Ask."

Sometimes, a secretary cannot clearly understand her boss's style because different kinds of bosses and jobs will have different kinds of roles. For example, a consumer product company and a services firm will have different communications requirements and teams to solve their problems.

When a boss is of one nationality or upbringing in one culture and the secretary is of another, there are ALWAYS cross-cultural barriers - to challenge and cross those barriers you can not be afraid to recognize a cross-cultural situation for what it is nor be hesitant to try to find a way to treat it so you can accept the solution. That can take a lot of understanding, diplomacy and patience. Since you reached the level of Executive Secretary or Personal Assistant, you should already have the experience and judgment necessary to handle most of these situations.

But so too must your boss have patience, understanding and diplomacy to handle the delicacies of a cross-cultural challenge - and not all expats are the same - Chinese of Singapore are different from Chinese of Hong Kong. Koreans are different from Japanese. Indians are different from Malaysians. British are different from French. Australians are different from Americans - and all are different from Thais.

The following observations are from an extract from a 1994 study by Worcester Polytechnic Institute of the USA on Cross-Culture Management in Multinational Corporations in Thailand. You've probably heard all this before but these observations are so important that they bear repeating.

Recommendations to Thai Nationals in Multinational Companies

To fully understand their expatriate co-workers, a Thai national working in a multinational corporation must learn several key issues. The first and most important issue is that Westerners value their freedom above all other things: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and equality among all people. These values are the driving force behind their history. Achievement and competition is stressed as an individual aspiration, and therefore, western individuals are very open and direct. The highly structured American society results in expatriates being very systematic which is completely different from the more social Thai society.

Expatriates may sometimes appear very assertive and outspoken which may be seen as a problem to the Thai employee. This American trait is due to the influence of the culture which encourages every person to express their opinions. Sometimes, these direct actions may include criticism directed towards the Thai nationals. However, the criticism is meant to be constructive, and therefore, should not be taken to heart. In the western business style, a clear distinction is made between personal and business relations. Therefore, the expatriate may not understand that his/her comment was taken personally.

However difficult it may be, Thai nationals must comprehend that they are not expected to be polite at all times. Saying "yes" or nodding means full comprehension and agreement to a westerner. Thais must also learn to say "no" when they do not understand. The research demonstrates that saying "yes" and meaning "no" is the main communication problem, and in the eyes of the expatriates, communication and understanding is essential in doing business.

Most evaluation methods in multinational corporations are based on the western personal merit system. The merit system is a quantitative analysis of the employees performance. Therefore, Thai nationals must realize that contacts and personal favors have no direct bearing on their climb up the corporate ladder.

To be effective in Thailand, the foreign boss will have to learn about many Thai traits and characteristics, for example - Thai politeness, the Thai smile, humbleness, saving face, hiding emotions, avoidance of conflicts, the value of compromise, Thai time, the Thai way, the role of contacts and relationships, "Kreng-Jai", "Sanuk", status, age, respect, "jai yen", the Thai social structure, the close knit family structure, and the Thai reverence of the monarchy.

It is quite hard to understand an expatriate boss because he will have different culture and customs. A secretary must understand the accent of his native country to communicate with him in English effectively.

Little in the business world is static these days, i.e. doesn't move or doesn't change. In today's world of computers, cyberspace, e-mail, internet, dot com, e-commerce, EDI, cellular telecommunications, GPS, biotechnology, sustainable development, cloning, alternative forms of energy, alternative medicine - the technology advances so fast that business must respond and react to changes in the business environment almost on a daily basis. For example, did you know that for the past 15 years or so each year the number of transistors on a computer chip of a fixed size doubles? The flip side is that the same number of transistors fit on the same chip in half the space. Globalization, financial crises, and restructuring, the computer age, desk top video conferencing, digital images and sounds, satellite/cable TV are with us daily. Yet, five years ago they were little known.

So, my Second Key Rule is - "If you don't keep up, you will be left behind - it is that simple." In the very competitive world in which we live and work and learn, being left behind can mean failure.

How to keep up - read; ask for and attend training courses - self-help, in-house and outside; get colleagues to teach you. Use your imagination to find ways.

A secretary must always learn more knowledge to improve herself so that she will be able to keep up with her boss.

The nature of a secretary-boss relationship is that they are a team. A team requires mutual trust. The better the mutual understanding, respect, cooperation, patience, time spent working together, the more effective the team, the better the results, the fewer the mistakes. Mistakes will be made - don't be afraid to make mistakes - you learn from what you do wrong, not from what you do right. But please, don't make the same mistake over and over again.

With teamwork comes confidence building in the other's performance, knowledge, reliability and judgment. That's called trust. If your boss has to check all your work all the time, then the team is not functioning up to par and trust can't exist. Check yourself - did you "Look. Listen. Ask."? Did you "keep up"? If you did and the trust doesn't build, then go to your boss, tell him of your concern and discuss how to create that trust which is lacking.

If you still don't have your boss's trust, then either (1) you don't have the needed ability, (2) you are not paying attention, (3) your boss is just a micro manager, or (4) he doesn't know how to use a secretary and so you must either teach him - or (5) as a final option, you may have to find a new boss!

A secretary must always work honestly, so that the boss can trust her.

From the standpoint of a boss - an efficient, competent, friendly, dependable, skillful, intelligent, honest, confident, organized, detailed, right thinking secretary who knows her job, her abilities and her limitations, who can take responsibility, and who freely communicates with her boss is a gift from God.

A smooth working secretary-boss team can perform wonders. But a poor working relationship is a misery for both the secretary and the boss and neither can work at anywhere near their potential. The good team doesn't just happen. It takes work, work, and more work plus practice, practice and more practice by both secretary and boss to make it work - each must teach the other, and each must learn from the other. The boss who also doesn't "Look. Listen. Ask" or keep up with the changing world is foolish, disrespectful of his secretary and a poor team player. He is cheating himself and his secretary of the ability to work at their full potentials and their employer is ultimately the loser.

In Thailand there is a language barrier between the expat boss and his Thai secretary. Like it or not, English is the generally accepted common language today between different nationalities in the business world. Therefore, to succeed in a multinational multicultural business environment, whether or not English is your native language, it is imperative that secretaries learn more and more English and how to use it properly. English is probably not your first language; foreign ways are still foreign, but these barriers are not valid excuses to avoid learning and correctly using the English language for business communications and in the international worlds of trade, media, science, academic, government, culture and civil society.

Correspondingly, the expat boss should try to learn some Thai. In any event, to avoid miscommunications in the multicultural environment, he must be very patient to insure his instructions, desires and needs are very clearly expressed in English and are understood in full by his secretary. An American friend working in Hong Kong once told me when I asked him if he was learning Cantonese, said, "No. But I am learning English as a second language."

In closing - as a boss, let me leave you with my Third Key Rule for secretaries and personal assistants. The rule is: "You have a brain. Use it." Use it to think. Use it to organize. Use it to plan. Use it to question. Use it to learn how to act. Use it to anticipate. Use it to learn. Use it to apply what you have learned. Use it to remember. Use it to visualize how your job can be done better. Use it to improve your knowledge and your skills. Use it to help you stay ahead of your boss.

Actually, a good secretary knows her boss's planning. She should think ahead about how to help him and always remind him prior to task deadlines, so that the boss can do his work on time. AMEN.