Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Oman 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 Oman.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Omani 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 Omani mindset, different 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 Oman

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 Omani culture

• A sultanate in the south-east of the Arabian peninsula
• Heir to a vast kingdom: an age-old tradition of independence
• The desert and mountains: an unusual enclave
• Arabs, Baluchis, Jabalis and migrants: a patchwork quilt of ethnic groups
• An oil-based economy

3. Omani values and behaviour patterns

• Hospitality
• The importance of tribal roots and collective solidarity
• Islam as part of daily life
• Curiosity, respect and tolerance
• The differentiation of the sexes: a tradition currently undergoing change
• Respect for age, hierarchy and status
• Clothing as an indicator of social rank
• A segmented approach to space and an adaptable approach to time

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Oman

1. The Omani corporate world

• A paternalistic and pyramidal corporate structure
• Islamic culture in business life
• State control and surveillance

2. Effective communication with the Omanis

• Greetings, formality and politeness
• Communication within and via networks
• Deciphering unspoken communication
• Arabic and English for business

3. Working with Omani teams

• The key qualities of a good manager: experience, qualifications and leadership
• Discretion, discipline and self control
• Deciding, supervising and advising
• Showing a willingness to listen in order to encourage feedback

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Omanis

• The subtle art of negotiation
• Identifying roles and functions
• Giving relationships that personal touch
• 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