Work gripe

We've had some people from India in the office for the past few weeks. We've always worked with the offshore team, but it was interesting to work with them face-to-face.

They've been on the project for the past 3-4 years, so I thought they would be very well-versed in it and know it backwards and forwards. I was wrong. They seem to know less about it than me!

My sister has mentioned this before - that Indians in general will pretend to understand what you're saying and agree with you, but in fact will walk away with a completely different understanding of the conversation.

It's actually been very frustrating working with them. I'd like to say that it's mostly a cultural barrier, but our project manager, who's also Indian and has been working closely with them for a much longer time, seems to get frustrated as well. I don't know how he has the patience to deal with them. They've only been here for a few weeks and I'm already done with them, yet he's had to deal with them every day for years.

It's also hard to get mad at them, because on top of constantly agreeing with you, they also work much longer hours and never complain about the amount of work.

I was excited when I heard they were coming onsite, but I've been disappointed overall. I also wonder what they do for much of the day, since it seems to take them an inordinate amount of time to finish some tasks.