Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Mali 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 Mali.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Malian 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 Malian mindset, work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles
• 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 Mali

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 Malian culture

• The cradle of the Sudano-Sahelian empire
• A multi-ethnic population
• A pastoral and arable farming economy
• Links with the Malian diaspora

3. Malian values and behaviour patterns

• Attachment to geographical and imaginary origins
• Horon, nyamakalan, jeliw…: The importance of nobility and castes
• The impact of Islam and traditional religions
• Marriage: a sacred requirement
• A society in which men take precedence over women
• A respect for age and status
• A sense of propriety and self-control
• A compartmentalised society according to age, gender, class and ethnic origin
• A flexible view of time

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities, schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Mali

1. The Malian corporate world

• Keys to understanding how companies operate in Mali
• Differences in working methods and the notion of quality
• A highly adaptable workforce
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Malians

• The decisive nature of greetings
• The subtleties of non-verbal communication
• Eye contact and pitfalls to be avoided
• The French language and regional dialects

3. Working with Malian teams

• Effective management: firmness, frankness and diplomacy
• A crystal clear working environment: fairness, impartiality and transparency
• Anticipating and eliminating jealousy
• The temptation to simply "go with the flow": overcoming  Musahala
• Motivation and praise: the importance of horizontal participation

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Malians

• Building successful relationships, appointing mediators
• Time and deadline management
• Reciprocal commitments
• 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