Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Bosnia Herzegovina 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 Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Bosnian 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 Bosnian 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 Bosnia Herzegovina

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 Bosnian culture

• A crossroads of numerous civilisations: Roman, Slavic and Turkish heritage
• From the Austro-Hungarian empire to Yugoslavia
• Tito’s government
• The long and painful road to democracy
• A complex multiethnic and multi-confessional society
• A delicate economic situation

3. Bosnian values and behaviour patterns

• A strong attachment to origins and the notion of the national soil
• A male-dominated and family-oriented society
• A significant collective position
• Hospitality, sociability and curiosity: "a smile can unlock the golden door"
• Passions and emotions

4. Practical day to day information

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

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Bosnia-Herzegovina

1. The Bosnian corporate world

• Organisational and working methods inherited from the communist era
• Privileges and favouritism
• The State, the unions and bureaucracy

2. Effective communication with the Bosnians

• An explicit and friendly communication style
• The importance of networks
• The spoken language: pitfalls to be avoided
• Serb, Bosnian or Croat: the importance of language

3. Working with Bosnian teams

• Effective management: informing, involving and listening
• Building trust and confidence: leading by example
• Using praise, flattery and respect to boost performance
• Encouraging dynamism: the importance of relationships outside work

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Bosnians

• Relationship building
• Identifying decision-makers
• Anticipating obstacles: consultation and compromise
• Time and deadline management
• Written contracts, their interpretation and 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