Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Bahrain 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 Bahrain.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Bahraini 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 Bahraini 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 Bahrain

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 Bahraini culture

• An archipelago situated at the confluence of the Persian Gulf
• The impact of the British protectorate
• A racially mixed population
• An oil-based economy

3. Bahraini values and behaviour patterns

• A respect for privacy and family life
• An Islamic tradition
• The notion of Zakat  or solidarity
• A tradition of hospitality
• The importance of artistic values

4. Practical day-to-day information

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

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Bahrain

1. The Bahraini corporate world

• A clear hierarchy
• A multicultural working environment
• Work days and working hours organized around the traditional calendar
• Attentiveness to quality

2. Effective communication with the Bahrainis

• The importance of small talk
• Verbal communication
• English used for business
• The meaning of gestures

3. Working with Bahraini teams

• Effective management: prudence, a willingness to listen and firmness
• Encouraging initiative and dealing with touchy or sensitive people
• Promoting status
• The importance of mediators

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Bahrainis

• Seeking a peaceful compromise
• Establishing your credibility
• Meeting the right people
• Learning to listen to, and to take on-board  others’ views

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