Croatia - Working and dealing with the Croats
Objectives
The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Croatians 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 Croatian context and culture
- Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
- Reduce stress and misunderstandings
- Decipher and understand Croatian 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 Croatian culture
- A nation situated at the gateway to Europe, between the Balkans and the Mediterranean
- The impact of the Yugoslav conflict
- A multiethnic society
- A booming economy, currently in a state of transition
3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships
- The importance of family and patriarchal values
- The emancipation of Croatian women
- Pride in one’s identity and a sense of honour
- A class based, status-centric society
- A flexible view of time
- Cynicism and irony
- Appearances and reality
4. The Croatian corporate world
- The persistence of Soviet-style traditions
- A hierarchical and conservative organisational structure
- Fraud and corruption
- Favouritism and privileges
Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Croats
1. Effective communication with the Croats
- Deciphering indirect communication
- The importance of networking
- A sacred personal space
- The specific features of the Croatian language
2. Adapting your working methods
- Building trust and confidence: patience, adaptability, flexibility
- Effective management: experience, detachment and charisma.
- Carefully scheduling deadlines in order to maximize productivity
- Avoiding jealousy and rumour-mongering
- Encouraging people to be responsible for their actions and actively seeking feedback
- Pitfalls to be avoided
3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Croats
- Formality and discipline
- Gaining respect and generating interest
- Time, priority and deadline management
- 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
- Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
- Humour: a double-edged sword
