Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Estonia 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 Estonia.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Estonian 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 Estonian 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 Estonia

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 Estonian culture

• The smallest and most northerly of the Baltic states
• A significant Russian minority
• An age-old civilisation and a crossroads for numerous cultures
• A high-growth economy spurred on by tourism and technology
• The challenges of European integration

3. Estonian values and behaviour patterns

• Man, nature and the seasons
• National and personal pride
• Reserve, cool-headedness and pragmatism
• A strict and measured view of time
• The importance of private life
• The individual as part of a close community

4. Practical day-to-day information

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

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Estonia

1. The Estonian corporate world

• The continued persistence of the Soviet mindset
•  Entrepreneurial dynamism and a fascination for the liberal economic model
• Employee-friendly legislation

2. Effective communication with the Estonians

• Greetings and etiquette: the importance of formality
• Personal distance and silence
• Direct communication and a sense of proportion
• Learning Estonian: an extremely useful key to success

3. Working with Estonian teams

• Building trust and confidence: patience, discipline and charisma
• Effective management: deciding, supervising and verifying
• Encouraging personal commitment
• Dealing with touchy or sensitive people

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Estonians

• Demonstrating your commitment and motivation
• Encouraging contact and promoting feedback
• Building a mutually beneficial relationship
• The value attached to written contracts

5. Final handy tips

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