Cultural Differences & the Importance of Communication

I am based in the United States. I have worked with off-shore developers for over 20 years. One of the things I stress in all my interactions is to speak up if something does not make sense. Too often I have seen requirements go through a thousand iterations and end up with something that might not seem quite right. We are now asking for a square peg to fit into a round hole. They were both square to start with but through the iterations things changed a bit. 

One specific interaction sticks with me today. This one was not specifically about a requirement but did involve some confusion. I was having an instant message chat with one of my developers. She is a great developer and we fostered a great working relationship. This misunderstanding took place early in the relationship. There was a long weekend coming up and she had added another day or two around it. I was asking about her plans. She volunteered that she was going to attending a wedding with friends. "That sounds like fun!" was my reply. There was a pause and then her response: "I don't think that is nice, this is not a joke, this is not funny." 

She was really upset because she thought I was making fun of her plans. At this point I got her on the telephone to discuss in person. I was able to explain the difference between fun and funny. We laughed about it once things got straightened out. I thanked her for letting me know something I said caused pain/confusion. It is important to be able to communicate on teams. It doesn't matter if the team is all in one room or spread out across the globe. 

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