Luxembourg - Working and dealing with the Luxembourgeois
Benefits of Attendance
The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Luxembourgeois, enabling them to be operational right from the start.
At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to to:
- Be aware of their own cultural baggage
- Fully understand Luxembourgeois context and culture
- Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
- Reduce stress and misunderstandings
- Decipher and understand Luxembourgeois decision-making and negotiation processes
Training Approach
- Exercises and case studies based on the experience of participants in the company
- Personalized action plan and cross-cultural strategies
- 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 : 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 Luxembourgeois culture
- A Grand Duchy sandwiched between several major powers
- An age-old trading tradition
- A strategic area, the European challenge
- Luxembourgeois society: a “mini-Europe”.
- A highly attractive tax system
- Banking, media and industry: the key sectors of a successful economy
3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships
- A Germanic and Roman heritage: the importance of tradition
- The powerful role of the family
- The ambiguities of "Leitkultur"
- Between xénophilism and a cultural bunker mentality
- Citizenship as a means of integration
- Courtesy and formality, decency, propriety and discretion, rigour and discipline
4. The Luxembourgeois corporate world
- Workplace organisation and bureaucracy
- A clearly defined structure, performance and efficiency
- The market, employment and turnover
- Luxembourgeois employers and the trade unions
Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Luxembourgeois
1. Effective communication with the Luxembourgeois
- "Lëtzebuergesch", German and French: awareness of the country's multilingual character
- The importance of form and content
- Understanding hidden messages
2. Adapting your working methods
- Effective management: credibility, availability and professionalism
- Fair workload distribution
- Deciding and acting
- Anticipating possible obstacles
- Project management, the team spirit, a sense of service
- Pitfalls to be avoided
3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Luxembourgeois
- Paying careful attention to punctuality and etiquette
- Identifying negotiation styles
- Time, priority and deadline management
- Understanding written contracts, their interpretation and implications
- Organising 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
