International Business Etiquette for a Successful Business Career

Quoting the words of the famous Irish novelist and satirist Lawrence Sterne, “Having respect for ourselves guides our morals and having deference for others governs our manners”. Good manners or etiquette is a very important part of our day to day lives. Consciously or subconsciously, we are always trying to keep up with the rules of etiquette requirements in our social lives and work lives. Many of these rules are unwritten and inspired from experiences or common behaviour, such as giving up our seat for an elderly person or saying ‘Thank You’, ‘Please’ or ‘Sorry’ in response to even the smallest of favours received or inconvenience caused to the other person. Some other rules of behaviour may be less obvious, especially when dealing with a foreign culture.

International Business Etiquette Course Delhi

International Business Etiquette

When working on an international stage, there are even more complexities to the rules of etiquette. The modern global business demands much amount of travelling to foreign lands and mixing with clients, colleagues and customers belonging to various cultures and speaking various languages.  Each of these cultures have their own different written and unwritten rules of etiquette. When people from different cultures come together, even a small etiquette mistake becomes easily identifiable. It is taken as lack of etiquettes in business when lack of manners or lack of deference in the words of Lawrence. It is annoying to have a foreign client rejecting your offer of a meal or a client not shaking hands upon meeting. These simple set of etiquettes are important to follow as lack of etiquettes leads to soured relationships, poor business relationships and lost deals. Knowing the expected rules of behaviour in international contexts can help you accomplish innumerable tasks. It can help maintain cordial and productive interpersonal relationships. It can be facilitate smooth interactions, business, communications, business dealings and so on. When people mix together, etiquettes are the essence that keeps them going along together. Lack of etiquette is immediately reflected from anyone’s personality like someone not thanking you for any small favour received or not saying sorry for any problem caused to you.

 International Business Etiquette Course Delhi is one of the courses which provide training in business etiquettes followed by people from around the world belonging to various cultures. Throughout the world people follow different etiquettes when it comes to communication, personal space, gifts and greetings, food habits, business meetings etc. International Business Etiquette Course Delhi covers the following aspects during the training.

·         Business Card Etiquette

·         The Etiquette of Personal Space

·         The Etiquette of Gift Giving

·         The Etiquette of Communication

For someone who wants to get the correct grasp of the International business, this course plays a vital role.

iRikai is India’s leading Business Etiquette trainers located in New Delhi. Following customary decorum for the smallest detail in business matters pave way to success. 

For more please visit : http://irikai.com/International-business-etiquette-course-Delhi

Importance of Business Etiquette – Why is it necessary ?

A major aspect to building successful business relationships is as appreciation for the business etiquette appropriate to the culture and context. Proper business etiquette can help you maximise your results from business interactions whether you are in New Delhi, Tokyo or Seoul. If someone is comfortable around you and vice versa, this means that better relationship and mutual trust will develop. This can create the comfort zone for your clients and customers that is required for a business relationship to thrive.

Indian Business Etiquette Course, Delhi

When communicating with others, especially if they happen to belong to a culture different than yours, it is important to remember to do two things:

• ·         Ensure consideration of the feelings and cultural background of others
• ·         Minimize misunderstanding and miscommunication

People from different cultures have different rules for acceptable social behaviour. It is therefore important to have an understanding of the business etiquette of a country especially when your business revolves around meeting with people of that country. For example, while being forthright with criticism can be considered acceptable in one country, it may be considered anathema in others. So what are the aspects of a foreign culture’s business etiquette that need to be learned in order to avoid mistakes and build a strong business relationship? Some of them are given below:

Greetings

Not every country in the world uses handshakes as the preferred means of greeting. For example, in Japan, the bow is considered more appropriate. In some traditional Indian businesses, a Namaste with folded hands may go a long way in showing your appreciation for local culture. Even the tone of greeting can vary by culture. A loud “Hello” with a back slap may be appropriate in open cultures, but perhaps a more toned down and respectful approach could be called for in some others. In some countries, like South Korea, it may actually be more appropriate to wait for a 3^rd party to introduce you rather than to walk up to someone and introduce yourself. Knowing the local preferences with respect to greetings can help overcome the first barrier to building a relationship.

Behaviour

Imagine a potential client not shaking your hand or refusing the offer of having a meal together. Perhaps in your culture, this may be considered rude and you may feel disrespected. Or, someone not saying ‘Thank You’ for a gift or ‘Sorry’ for being late to a meeting may be construed as lacking in manners. And yet, perhaps the response of the client may be completely justified from their own cultural perspective. Indian or international business etiquette courses help appreciate the in-and-outs of such behavioural expectations.

Words

Words which might not be so wrong in your book but may be offensive to a foreign client. And this is not just swear words or “bad” words said inadvertently, this is also relevant for the tone, context and tone of the words. For example, while in Dutch society, it may be ok for a lower-ranking employee to contradict someone higher up in the hierarchy, this is not so acceptable in India. Taking it a step further, in Japan, it may not even be appropriate for you to contradict your business partner in front of his team, even if he or she is wrong! This may cause your Japanese counterpart to lose “face” and damage your relationship with them.

Appearance

Just like different industries, different cultures can also require different dressing codes. Part of understanding international business etiquette is to know how to dress appropriately for a meeting with international stakeholders.

Apart from these, there are several other nuances of doing business internationally that can be learned through Indian and international business etiquette courses, such as dining, gift giving, following up, negotiating and so on.  Indian / International business etiquette courses can give you an appreciation for doing business around the world, whether in New Delhi or London or Amsterdam. 

iRikai is India’s leading Business Etiquette trainers located in New Delhi. Following customary decorum for the smallest detail in business matters pave way to success. 

For more please visit  : http://irikai.com/Indian-Business-Etiquette-course-Delhi

How to Learn International business etiquette ?

International Business Etiquette Course - IRIKAI  

Doing business in a foreign country can be daunting. Many times, it is language which becomes a barrier. Even where language is not a barrier, failing to understand the nuances of a foreign culture can be a deal-breaker. Many awkward and potentially loss-making situations can be avoided if one is aware of business etiquette requirements of the culture one is dealing with.

Consider the following cases:

The SVP of a major American company routinely complained about a “lack of professionalism” among his Indian service providers. His major grouse was that the Indian staff would routinely commit to a deadline and miss it, often without explanation. He failed to understand why this was so, because when the work did happen, it was top-notch. Why could the Indian teams not stick to deadlines? He was on the threshold of parting ways with his Indian partners before he finally realized what was happening. His American team was driving most meetings and putting in place aggressive deadlines for the Indian partners. The Indian team found it hard to push back on these deadlines, even when they knew they were unrealistic and could never be met. Their passive resistance was misinterpreted as acceptance, which led to unrealistic deadlines that were rarely met! The SVP had just been introduced to a common Indian trait – a hesitation in saying “No”, especially to international clients.

International Business Etiquette Course Delhi

The Exports Head of an Indian manufacturing firm was in regular touch with a key customer in Japan. They spoke often on the phone though they had never met in person and it seemed like they shared a good rapport. When the time came for the Head to visit Japan, he set up a meeting with his Japanese client. He arrived 10 minutes late for the meeting, which to him, did not seem like a big deal and therefore, he did not offer any apology or explanation. When his Japanese counterpart entered the room in which he was waiting, the Head and immediately grabbed his hand and shook it hard. He put his hand on the Japanese contact’s shoulder and said, “Finally we meet!” When he came back, he was surprised at the coolness which set in the relationship between the two of them.

IRIKAI offers International Business Etiquette course

While it is no-one’s case that Indians are always pushovers or that the Japanese are always reserved or that Americans are always aggressive, the above two cases are very real examples of what can go wrong if one happens to be unaware of the business etiquette requirements in other cultures. Perhaps you would plan your approach differently if you knew that for South Koreans, relationships often have to precede (and subsequently be more important than) detailed contracts or that decision making is a group activity. Or if you were aware that the Dutch like a little playfulness while doing business and will often say things which will startle the more politically correct, you wouldn’t be caught off-guard in a meeting!

Whether you are a manufacturing, trading, finance or IT firm, if you work with international business partners, come to iRikai for a consultation on how we can assist you make the most of your interactions. Whether it is team dynamics or high level negotiations, we can help you tailor your approach. 

Please Visit : http://irikai.com/International-business-etiquette-course-Delhi.php  email us at learning@irikai.com to see how we can help.