Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Qatar 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 Qatar.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Qatari 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 Qatari 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 personnal integration in Qatar

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 Qatari culture

• A peninsular state in the Persian Gulf
• A highly international population
• The Islamic tradition
• An economy undergoing extensive reconversion

3. Qatari values and behaviour patterns

• The Sunni tradition as part of day-to-day life
• Hospitality and kindness
• Solidarity within the family and the community
• Qatari women: going beyond the stereotypes
• The time cycle

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 professionnal integration in Qatar

1. The Qatari corporate world

• A strict hierarchy
• The importance of intermediaries
• The role of migrants in the economy
• A commitment to quality

2. Effective communication with the Qataris

• The verbal aspect
• The importance of personal relationships and networking
• The use of English for business
• Deciphering non-verbal communication in order to avoid pitfalls

3. Working with Qatari teams

• Effective management: prudence, a willingness to listen and firmness
• Encouraging initiative
• Dealing with touchy or sensitive people
• Convincing others: winning colleagues over

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Qataris

• Establishing your personal credibility
• Meeting the right people
• An ability to listen and hear
• 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