Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Uganda 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 uganda.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Ugandan 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 Ugandan 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 Uganda

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 Ugandan culture

• A multi-ethnic state in the heart of Africa's Great Lakes region
• The painful scars of a troubled past
• Relative stability in a turbulent region
• The slow progress of a liberalised economy

3. Ugandan values and behaviour patterns

• Openness, hospitality and curiosity
• A persistent and well-rooted patriarchal system
• The family and community:  two solid bedrocks
• The importance attached to appearances
• A flexible view of time
• Respect for status and hierarchy
• Calmness, prudence and self-control

4. Practical day-to-day information

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

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Uganda

1. The Ugandan corporate world

• Vertical decision-making processes within a strictly regulated corporate environment
• Encouraging discipline and formality in work
• Privilege, nepotism, favouritism and corruption
• The role played by the state and by international investments

2. Effective communication with the  Ugandans

• The importance of greetings and small talk
• A communication style based on nuance and implicit messages
• Making the most of networks and networking by carefully cultivating your reputation
• Ugandan English, Swahili and the role of the interpreter

3. Working with Ugandan teams

• Effective management: simplicity, adaptability and leadership
• Listening, hearing and understanding
• Striking the right balance between firmness and kindness
• Giving relationships that personal touch in order to promote mutual trust and confidence

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Ugandans

• Planning, anticipating and convincing: the need for effective preparation
• Paying attention to presentation as well as content
• Honesty and transparency: building a reliable long-term partnership
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility, sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code