Who Should Attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the Germans

Benefits of Attendance

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Germans enabling them to be operational right from the start.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Fully understand German context and culture
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand decision-making and negotiation processes

Training Approach

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness : the key to success in international business

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• The basics of effective intercultural management
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of 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. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships

• 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. The German corporate world

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

Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Germans

1. Effective communication with the Germans

• Making the most of the German language to forge and improve relationships
• Verbal and written communication: formulate an idea, state it and do it
• A pretended transparency in non-verbal communication
• German advertising: an example of optimal communication
• The importance of facts and their presentation
• Interpersonal socialisation: an aspect belonging firmly to the private sphere

2. Adapting your working methods

• 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
• Pitfalls to be avoided

3. 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
  
  

4. Final handy tips

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