Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Colombia 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 Colombia.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Colombian 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 Colombian 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 Colombia

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 Colombian culture

• Significant geographical differences
• A racially mixed Latin American society
• The impact of Spanish colonisation
• A difficult socio-economic situation

3. Colombian values and behaviour patterns

• A patriarchal and family-centric tradition
• A class-based society
• Hospitality and affability
• Volubility and phlegm: a complex approach to managing emotions
• A view of time adapted to the situation concerned
• Festivals and festivities: an important part of Colombian social life
• The ever-present Colombian sense of humour

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, hygiene and healthcare
• Urban violence, drug trafficking and guerrilla warfare: the need for precautions
• Social life, leisure activities
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Colombia

1. The Colombian corporate world

• A conventional business environment
• An extremely hierarchical management structure
• Privileges and favouritism
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Colombians

• Formality and greetings
• Taking account of regional differences
• Deciphering non-verbal and implicit communication
• Spanish used for business

3. Working with Colombian teams

• Building trust and confidence: flexibility, a willingness to listen and reliability
• Effective management: professionalism, discipline and experience
• Understanding attitudes to authority
• Building an effective working environment

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Colombians

• Encouraging entrepreneurial commitment
• Punctuality and responsiveness
• Giving careful thought to relationships
• 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