Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Laos 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 Laos.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Laotian 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 Laotian 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 Laos

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 Laotian culture

• An enclave state in the middle of the Indochinese peninsula
• French colonisation, Japanese occupation and the conflicts in Indochina
• A people’s republic under the control of the army
• A rural, multiethnic population, the Buddhist religion
• A buffer state subject Indian and Chinese influences

3. Laotian values and behaviour patterns

• Family origins, bloodlines and community
• Politeness and modesty, restraint and self-control
• The importance of maintaining face and prestige
• An omnipresent hierarchy
• Money, religion and self-worth
• Rules concerning personal space and physical contact
• The Falang: the relationship with foreigners
• Festivals, the Baci ceremony and the culinary arts
• An aversion to conflict

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 Laos

1. The Laotian corporate world

• Day-to-day planning influenced by the religious calendar
• Collective decisions, though taken in a strictly hierarchical environment
• State control, the communist party and the authorities
• The marketplace, employment and staff turnover

2. Effective communication with the Laotians

• The importance of greetings and the rules surrounding the “wa”
• Unspoken and implicit communication, deciphering what people really mean
• Learning the language: a definite advantage

3. Working with Laotian teams

• Effective management: supervising, convincing and problem solving
• Remaining vigilant to avoid being manipulated
• Gaining respect without causing offence
• Building trust and confidence: comradeship and respect
• Motivating, delegating, providing feedback and praise, conflict resolution

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Laotians

• The key to establishing trust: politeness and a willingness to hel
• Identifying decision-makers, time and deadline management
• Attitudes to signed contracts and their implications

5. Final handy tips

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