Cultural awareness or cultural knowledge is becoming increasingly important in today's global economy. The sentiment that because the "world is getting smaller" our differences are becoming less obvious is recognised as flawed. As people interact and do business across cultural boundaries more often, cross cultural differences become more acute.
Businesses now accept that equipping people with the appropriate cultural awareness can and does impact business operations positively. This guide to doing business in Slovakia offers a taster of some of the information a cultural awareness briefing would provide.
In this guide we provide some very basic tips for people doing business in Slovakia. It is important to bear in mind that all we offer are generalisation of Slovak culture and society and do not in any way mean to stereotype the Slovak people.
Meeting & Greeting:
Greetings are warm but not effusive. The normal greeting is a handshake, direct eye contact and the appropriate greeting for the time of day: either "dobry den" for hello, "dobré rano" for good morning or "dobré popoludne" for good afternoon. and "dobru noc" for good evening. Close friends and family may kiss each other on the cheek.
Slovaks are still rather formal although with the younger generation this is changing, Err on the side of caution and initially use peoples titles or surname rather than first names. "Pan" (Mr.) or "Pani" (Mrs.) are used before the surname.
Communication:
An emphasis on personal relationships plus the value placed on tradition means people may need background information in order to assess someone. It may therefore be necessary to initially concentrate on your personal experience, qualifications and background to establish respect and credibility when doing business in Slovakia. Once the relationship warms up one may then start to discuss more personal matters.
A direct, yet diplomatic, approach sums up the Slovak communication style. Sensitive information may well be delivered subtly in order not to offend. One should try and mirror this approach as best as possible. For newly established and more formal relationships, a great deal of emphasis will be placed on tact. Once a relationship has passed through the initial phases, people feel more comfortable speaking frankly with each other.
When conversing, people generally maintain a shoulder length's distance between them. On the whole Slovaks are not tactile people and one should avoid touching and the like. Eye contact is considered to indicate that you are serious, trustworthy, and polite.
Meetings & Negotiations:
When doing business in Slovakia meetings are generally chaired by the most senior delegate who sets the agenda, the content, and the tempo. While attention and eye contact should be given to all attending, the most senior figure is the key person to concentrate on as they are either the decision maker or the door to the decision maker.
Some general small talk may be necessary at the beginning of the meeting after which the most senior member of both parties should offer a short introduction to themselves, the company and the purpose of their visit.
Although many people do speak English it may be necessary to arrange for an interpreter. When doing business in Slovakia written documents should ideally be translated into Slovak and distributed to all present.
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