Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Botswana and their partners

Benefits of Attendance

This seminar aims at significantly improving the ability of the participants to meet the challenges of living and working abroad. The objective is to enable them to identify the stumbling blocks that lie ahead and to be able to adapt and integrate in Botswana.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Batswana context and culture
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand Bosnian mindset, work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles of the Batswanas
• Strike the right balance between personal et professional lives

Training Approach

• A cross-cultural approach of International Mobility
• Country specific trainers
• Personalized and familiy focused action plan
• Access to the Nomad’ Network, an exclusive online tool for Akteos’ clients and experts:  find resources, exchange experiences, knowledge and insights

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Botswana

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Batswana culture

• A desert region within the Kalahari area
• A multi-confessional but chiefly Christian country
• A tribal and multi-ethnic society
• The impact of British colonisation
• A fragile economy

3. Batswana values and behaviour patterns

• A patriarchal society
• A sense of identity:  the subsumption of ethnic divisions
• Tolerance and moderation
• Timidity and restraint 
• A respect for elders
• The value attached to status and qualifications

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing
• Security, hygiene, healthcare, the scourge of AIDS
• Social life, leisure activities
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Botswana

1. The corporate world in Botswana

• Hierarchical companies but nevertheless attentive to their staff
• Formality and discipline
• The great importance attached to reliability and productivity
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Batswana

• Formal greetings
• Characteristics specific to certain ethnic groups
• The meaning of silence and tone during implicit communication
• English, setwana and dialects

3. Working with Batswana teams

• Observation and application
• Building trust and confidence: flexibility and accessibility
• Key qualities: experience, a willingness to listen and simplicity
• Encouraging and enhancing individual and collective qualities

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Batswana

• Behaving in a sincere, reasonable and friendly manner
• The importance of socialising outside work
• Patience and perseverance
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword