Hungary - Working and dealing with the Hungarians

Who should attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the Hungarians

Objectives

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Hungarians, enabling them to be operational right from the start.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Fully understand Hungarian context and culture
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand Hungarian decision-making and negotiation processes

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness : the key to success in international business

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• The basics of effective intercultural management
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Hungarian culture

• An ageing, multi-ethnic population
• A major generation gap.  A high quality educational system
• The Hungarian diaspora: Hungarians overseas
• A once-great nation: the Hungarian temptation for nostalgia
• A promising but fragile economy
• The challenge of European integration
• A proud cultural and scientific heritage

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships

• The Hungarian art of living: pride in the table arts
• A people proud of their artistic tendencies and their appreciation of all things aesthetic
• A strong but relatively informal hierarchy: politeness and courteousness
• An organized and rigid attitude to time.  An aversion to risk
• The importance of education and qualifications

4. The Hungarian corporate world

• A spirit of free enterprise combined with a Soviet heritage
• An extensive bureaucracy, observance of directives and procedures.
• Hungarian turnover: a factor to be taken into account
• The widespread practice of having two jobs

Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Hungarians

1. Effective communication with the Hungarians

• The complexity of the Hungarian language: the importance of the interpreter
• An emphasis on straight talking and interpersonal relationships: the importance of appearances
• Understanding unspoken messages and nuances: the finer points of Hungarian humour

2. Adapting your working methods

• The challenges of Hungarian management: building loyalty
• Recruiting the best people: the benefits of an attractive contract of employment
• Individualism and conformity: patience and a willingness to listen
• Overcoming the “wait and see” attitude: effective decision-making: getting your way without making a fuss
• Motivation and praise: effective delegation and control to avoid inertia

3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Hungarians

• Making a good impression: punctuality, politeness and discipline
• Building trust: the special role of business meals
• The importance of written material in Hungarian
• Managing the post-negotiation phase: abiding by contracts

4. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Protocol and etiquette
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code, etc
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Courtesy and good humour