Who Should Attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the Irish

Benefits of Attendance

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Irish, 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 Irish 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 Irish culture

• An Emerald Isle with a distinctive identity
• A land of emigration
• The open wounds of a painful past
• Resurrection thanks to (and within) the European Union
• An agricultural and service sector economy

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional and dealings and relationships

• Firmly entrenched catholic traditions
• On the road to equality between men and women
• The Irish concept of time: between rigidity and flexibility
• Sociability and hospitality
• A community spirit
• Worries when confronted with risks

4. The Irish corporate world

• Anglo Saxon influences and specifically Irish national characteristics
• A visible but flexible hierarchy
• Professional commitment in Ireland: a modern reality
• Unemployment as a factor
• The role of the state and the authorities

Module 2: Succeeding in work with the Irish

1. Effective communication with the Irish

• Two-way communication: adding the personal touch
• Deciphering underlying messages
• Small talk and verbal communication: hidden messages
• Irish English and Gaelic: the advantages of learning the language

2. Adapting your working methods

• Being active and responsive to ensure your personal credibility
• Building loyalty: sociability outside work
• The vital keys to performance: flexibility, adaptability and autonomy
• Conflict resolution: dealing with touchy people

3. Successful negotiations with the Irish

• Effective preparation: gathering the right information
• Identifying decision makers
• Identifying negotiation styles
• Deadline management
• Ensuring the long-term future of partnerships

4. Final handy tips

• Prudence, patience and humility
• Protocol and etiquette
• Delicate subjects: Northern Ireland, abortion, religion
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code,
• Humour: a double-edged sword