Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in the Baltic States 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 the Baltic States.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Baltic 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 Baltic mindset, 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 personal integration in the Baltic States

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 the Baltic culture

• Three countries, three languages and three cultures
• Russian domination and the scars left by the USSR
• A strange and piercing climate
• Ancient civilisations with well-rooted traditions
• The combination of an economic miracle and social precariousness
• The challenges of European integration

3. Baltic values and behaviour patterns

• Strong maternal and family ties
• Detail and precision
• Self-control and mistrust of others
• A closer relationship with nature
• Pride in one's identity
• Individuality as part of a group

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Learning the language
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professional integration in the Baltic States

1. The Baltic corporate world

• The persistence of Soviet mindsets
• The influence of the American model
• A discreet, caring State

2. Effective communication with the Balts

• The sound of silence
• Stating, listening and asking
• Networking and immediate communication
• The "Russian question": pitfalls to be avoided

3. Working with Baltic teams

• Dealing with touchy and sensitive people.  The Balts’ sense of honour
• Supervising, managing and verifying
• Centralised decision-making, though open to suggestions
• Building loyalty: the role played by the working environment

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Balts

• Effective preparation. Demonstrating your professionalism
• Follow-up, perseverance and faith
• Time and deadline management
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

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