Canada - Working and dealing with the Canadians
Objectives
The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Canadians, 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 Canadian context and culture
- Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
- Reduce stress and misunderstandings
- Decipher and understand Canadian 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 Canadian culture
- A huge country with vast resources
- The "other America". Significant regional differences
- A federal state
- The country's Protestant heritage
- A multi-ethnic and multilingual population
3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships
- Private life: the holy of holies
- Fairness and uprightness
- Professional success as a badge of honour
- Open-mindedness and national identity
- A precise and organised view of time
- Secularism and respect for others
- Encouraging individual performance
4. The Canadian corporate world
- An open but effective hierarchical system
- Discipline and diligence at work
- A sense of service
- Professional relationships
Module 2 : Succeeding in work in Canada
1. Effective communication with the Canadians
- An informal and relaxed communication style
- The importance of networking
- The French and English languages: linguistic challenges
- Subtle yet meaningful verbal communication
2. Adapting your working methods
- Building trust: making the most of your charisma and tact
- Effective management: inventiveness, motivation and availability
- An openness to team working and joint decision-making
- Winning strategies: getting the most from straight talking
- Dealing with touchy or sensitive people. Seeking positive outcomes to conflicts
3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Canadians
- Identifying decision-makers and power chains/power conflicts
- Identifying negotiation styles
- Time, priority and deadline management
- Building trust and confidence
- Seeking consensus
- Understanding written contracts, their interpretation and implications
- Organising the post-negotiation phase
4. Final handy tips
- Caution, patience and humility
- Protocol and etiquette
- Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code, etc
- Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
- Humour: a double-edged sword
