Many programming bosses think that their programmers don’t need to interact with clients. They don’t like dealing with human beings in any case, right? This is true. Programmers have a particular gene that scientists have isolated that is responsible for antisocial behavior. It is the S3427 gene. It causes people to not be physically capable of picking up a phone and dialing 10 digits, or sending an email on their own initiative. It is a most interesting gene, and so many people have it. But, sometimes the client needs to be able to interface directly with a programmer, especially for more complicated projects.
Many programming companies have a “project manager” who is someone who flakes 90% of the time and doesn’t really supervise anything, not do they double check anything. Clients are forced to relay their question to the project manager who asks the programmer who gives the project manager an answer who relays the answer to the client. There is double the quantity of communication, triple the aggravation, and quadruple the miscommunication. If you are talking to someone, you should talk directly to them, especially if it is complicated.
But, if you hire people in India, the programmers typically don’t know English. So, how do you work with them? You can find people who know a little English, and hope for the best. Or, ideally you hire people who really do know English. After centuries of British rule, you would expect more people to know English, right?
The bottom line is:
If your .net programmers don’t know English, you will encounter a lot of problems outsourcing to English speaking countries. Why not hire people who know English, and then train them in good communication skills?
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