Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Russia 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 Russia.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Russian 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 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 Russia

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 Russian culture

• An immense, multi-ethnic Eurasian nation, a thousand-year history
• The Russian Federation: the central authority, republics and regions
• The transformation from a command economy to a market economy
• The Russian marketplace and consumption trends
• Education: the cult of knowledge and technical discipline

3. Russian values and behaviour patterns

• Slavic values, the Soviet heritage and new values
• The importance of the orthodox church and the influence of other belief systems
• Social classes, oligarchs, apparatchiks and chekists.
• Collectivism, individualism and hospitality
• The Russian spirit and its many enigmas
• The role and status of women in Russia
• The “nitchevo”: the art of controlling events

4. Practical day-to-day information in Russia

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities, a wealth of cultural treasures to be discovered
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Russia

1. The Russian corporate world

• A bureaucratic, Soviet heritage: the importance of procedures
• Individual and collective responsibility
• “Tchin”: the “status table” and the cult of rank, the mafia and corruption

2. Effective communication with the Russians

• The Russian language: alphabet, pronunciation, stress, false friends, etc.
• Determining the context, collecting reliable information
• Understanding implicit messages: the hidden meanings of “Da” and “Niet” 
• Addressing the Russians: first names, last names and diminutives
• The importance of proverbs and sayings

3. Working with Russian teams

• Establishing your authority Managing individual ambitions
• Pitfalls to be avoided: suspicion and jealousy, the decision-making process
• Networking: using your networks, the challenge of achieving consensus
• Paying attention to detail: birthdays, gifts and public holidays.

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Russians

• Identifying the decision maker, developing trust and friendship
• The importance of “krisha”, Learning to compromise
• Time and deadline management
• The “bani” or business dinners

5. Final handy tips

• Protocol and etiquette: Russian formality
• The importance of alcohol and toasting as part of the Russian social scene
• Delicate subjects:  democracy, minorities and history
• Humour: a double-edged sword