Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Germany 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 Germany.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand German context and the culture
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand another 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 Germany

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 to German culture

• An ageing but powerful European nation
• The glory and the upsets of a united Germany
• The importance of the federal aspect
• An economic power in the process of restructuring

3. German values and behaviour patterns

• The family, regional identity and festivals: the impact of collective identity
• Religion and the State: a country with no secular tradition
• The challenge of being a woman in modern Germany: juggling the role of mother and working wife
• Precision, planning and segmentation
• Systematic thinking: reasoning, organising and acting
• Caution when faced with risks
• Cosiness: the German notion of  Gemütlichkeit

4. Practical day to day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Regional differences and the specific characteristics of the East
• A country brimming with history just waiting to be discovered.
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities, schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration

1. The German corporate world

• An informal but nevertheless important hierarchical structure.
• The German notion of Mitbestimmung or collective decision-making
• Performance and efficiency in the workplace, the role of the unions
• Understanding the concept of team working and delegation.

2. Effective communication with the Germans

• Making the most of the German language to forge and improve relationships
• A pretended transparency in non-verbal communication
• German advertising: an example of optimal communication
• Interpersonal socialisation: an aspect belonging firmly to the private sphere

3. Working with German teams

• Building confidence: respect for rank and status, and a willingness to listen
• Effective management: time management throughout the working day
• Demonstrating personal efficiency: expertise and precision
• Conflict  resolution: mediation, dialogue and decision-making

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Germans

• Identifying decision-makers and understanding where the true power lies.
• Achieving credibility: preparation, deadline observance, responsiveness
• The importance of ethics, attitudes to written contracts
• Managing the post-negotiation phase

5. Final handy tips

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