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Monday, June 21, 2004
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VOLUME 1
ISSUE 14
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Why should website localization matter to you?
by Myriam Siftar
The global economy is more than a catchy phrase. According to IDC's Software research group, “The reality is that over the past decade the percentage of companies in the United States engaged in international trade has increased from 8% to 25%" (Steve McClure, VP, February 2003).
Some of the factors leading to greater globalization: global supply chain, increase of Internet use, e-commerce and trends towards global outsourcing. Organizations seek partners all over the world for the right product at the right price with quality. Telecommunications have made it easier to work with suppliers located in different time zones.
Read More...
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Ask Liz
Dear Liz,
I am in Middle Management at the Human Resource Department of a growing IT firm in India. I handle the Organizational Development activities. This includes training and development. Recently I went through a very awkward situation and am still going through it. My team and another have been very close and have been friends outside of the office too. One of the members from the other team, who used to be a good friend of mine, planned a training meeting with a customer without keeping the training group involved in it. When I raised this issue of process non-adherence, I was viewed as a back stabber and even my teammates are avoiding me. My boss and the head of the organization are very comfortable with me and have asked me to ignore it. I have also asked my teammates their opinion and they say I am overreacting, but they are avoiding me. In the team discussion we had, it ended up being a mud slinging session. Now I avoid them and this has ended up in a not so comfortable situation. Can you please give me some guidance as to how to handle this?
Thanks and regards,
Daisy
Dear Daisy,
Thanks for your message! First off, I'm sorry for you in this situation: it sounds really unpleasant, and stressful. It's a funny thing: even if everyone in the group agrees on the ground rules, sometimes the person who points out a deviation from the plan is viewed as the Bad Guy. It sounds as though this is happening to you. My suggestion is not to ignore the situation, but to talk to your friend/co-worker directly about the situation. Your message could be something like this:
1) I like you and respect you and I'm glad to work with you (assuming this is still true!)
2) When I called attention to the deviation from our agreement - the agreement to involve the training group in all customer-training efforts - I did it not to make you look bad, but to make sure that the plan we created still works and that it is followed. If the plan doesn't work anymore, then we should determine that and make a new plan - not start ignoring the old one.
3) I'd like to - we really need to - get past this discord and figure out how to keep moving the company forward. I still feel a chill from you and your group. How can we surmount that? What can I do to get us back on track?
It will be hard for a friend of yours to completely turn you off or lie to you about what's going on. If she does, there may not be anything more you can do to put this problem behind you. Even if that happens, you'll know that you took the bull by the horns, as they say, and didn't avoid the problem. This, if nothing else, will raise your profile as an upstanding leader. Go for it!
Cheers,
Liz
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