Who should attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the South Africans

Benefits of Attendance

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the South Africans, 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 South Africans context and culture
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand decision-making and negotiation processes in South Africa

Training Approach

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness: The key to succeed 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 aspect of South African culture

• A country with immense resources, 9 provinces and 11 official languages
• A multiethnic population, an emerging but fragile nation
• Vast economic potential waiting to be developed
• A country of great interest to imperial nations
• Independence, apartheid and the “pigmentocracy”
• “Truth and reconciliation”: the quest for ”interracial” peace
• Black Economic Empowerment

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professionnal dealings and relationships 

• The family and the South African social fabric, the liberalisation of South African women
• The impact of the Christian religions, limited tribal influence
• A variety of social distinctions
• The passage of time and its regional variations
• Self control and conflict avoidance

4. The South African corporate world

• The importance of hierarchies and decision-making bodies
• The impact of day-to-day difficulties upon productivity
• Differing management cultures according to the sector concerned
• The Employment Equity Act

Module 2 : Succeeding in work with South Africans 

1. Effective communication with South Africans

• Generating and maintaining dialogue: greetings and small talk
• Giving relationships that personal touch
• Deciphering non-verbal communication
• English, Afrikaner and Zulu: the advantages of knowing at least the basics

2. Adapting your working methods

• Building trust and confidence: respect, a willingness to listen and attentiveness
• The key to effective management: appropriateness, fairness and flexibility
• Encouraging performance: “khuba” and pay
• Responsibility and decision making
• Motivating, delegating, providing feedback, giving praise where it’s due, conflict resolution
• Pitfalls to be avoided

3. Successful meetings and negotiations with South Africans

• An approach to business which is both Anglo-Saxon yet African at the same time
• Dealing with administrative burdens and obstacles
• Identifying decision makers
• Time and deadline management
• Attitudes to contracts and their implications

4. Final handy tips

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