Guatemala - Working and dealing with the Guatemalans
Objectives
The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Guatemalans, 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 Guatemalan context and culture
- Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
- Reduce stress and misunderstandings
- Decipher and understand Guatemalan 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 Guatemalan culture
- A "crossroads" nation in the very heart of Central America
- Mayas, Incas, Garífunas and Ladinos: a multi-ethnic population
- Civil war and exclusion: the painful scars of history
- Rural and urban Guatemala: two very different worlds
- A delicate political situation and a fragile economy
3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships
- Cultural behavioural systems influenced significantly by ethnic origin
- A flair for hospitality
- The importance attached to appearances
- Spiritual fervour, passion, pride and emotions
- A monochronic view of time
- A respect for status, a highly patriarchal society
- The Guatemalan sense of humour: a keen and merciless sense of irony
4. The Mexican corporate world
- A highly structured corporate environment with a clearly defined hierarchy
- Employment as a luxury
- The influence of foreign entrepreneurs on the country's economic dynamism
- The logic behind privileges
Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Guatemalans
1. Effective communication with the Guatemalans
- Body language: a means of expressing trust and confidence
- Politeness and courtesy
- The vital role played by networking
- Guatemalan Spanish, English for business and the role of the interpreter
2. Adapting your working methods
- Promoting trust by maintaining distance and impartiality
- The key qualities of a manager: qualifications and diplomacy
- Centralised decisions passed down via powerful intermediaries
- Supervising, verifying and advising
- Pitfalls to be avoided
3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Guatemalans
- Cultivating your reputation in order to improve your credibility
- Giving relationships that personal touch
- Patience and perseverance: key factors when entering a restricted market
- The importance of the written word
- 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
