Courses/Teams & Culture/Business Etiquette and Protocol
Business Etiquette and Protocol
A half-day course on business etiquette, international protocol and Gulf business culture
Overview
A half-day, trainer-led course on business etiquette and protocol for international work, with a dedicated module on Gulf business culture. Participants work through introductions, names and titles, everyday professional conduct, digital manners, dining and gifts, then the majlis, hospitality custom, prayer and Ramadan awareness and an honest treatment of wasta — closing with a capstone case study supplied in international and Gulf editions. The pack gives a trainer scripted session notes, a 34-slide deck, participant workbook, five handouts and two case studies, all editable.
Format. Half day. Designed for classroom delivery and adaptable to live online sessions.
Who it is for. Written for trainers, consultancies and corporate L&D teams delivering etiquette and protocol training; the course itself suits professionals at any level — graduates, client-facing staff, managers and executives. Designed for two audiences at once: international hires onboarding into GCC organisations, and teams from international firms entering the Gulf. Open level; no prior training assumed; suits groups of 8 to 20, in person or online.
What delegates take away
- Distinguish etiquette from protocol and explain the commercial weight of both.
- Make introductions in rank order and use names, titles and business cards correctly.
- Hold professional standards for punctuality, meetings, dress and digital channels.
- Act as host or guest at business meals and handle gifts within policy.
- Operate with confidence and respect in Gulf business settings, from majlis custom to Ramadan.
- Leave with a thirty-day personal protocol plan.
Course outline
Defines etiquette and protocol, separates the two, and builds the commercial case: how small behaviours move trust, deals and reputations. Opens with participants' own best and worst professional encounters, harvested as specific behaviours rather than adjectives.
The first four minutes: greetings and handshakes across cultures, making introductions in rank order, getting names, titles and pronunciation right, and handling business cards properly — practised in rotating trios with an observer scoring against the reference card.
Punctuality as a message, meeting etiquette before, during and after, and dress, grooming and personal space — applied in a six-scenario conduct clinic covering the awkward situations no policy document mentions.
Email that respects the reader, messaging and phone discipline, and video-call standards, with channel norms that differ by market — WhatsApp included. Participants rewrite a badly built email against the standards handout.
Host and guest duties at business meals, alcohol and dietary awareness, and gifts: when to give, what to choose, what to avoid, and how anti-bribery law and gift policies frame all of it.
The signature module: the majlis and how business actually flows, titles and forms of address across the six states, coffee and hospitality custom, prayer times, Friday and Ramadan awareness, and an honest treatment of wasta. Closes with a capstone case study supplied in international and Gulf editions.
What is in the kit
Slide deck
34 branded, fully editable PowerPoint slides with facilitator notes on every slide
Trainer notes
Complete facilitator guide: agenda, slide-by-slide delivery notes and guidance
Case studies — two editions
The same case material in international and Gulf settings; pick by audience
Participant workbook
8 in-session exercises with writing space
Handouts
5 complete standalone handouts: worksheets, checklists and scenario sets
Certificates
Attendance and completion certificate templates with the MIZAN seal
Course administration
Feedback form and sign-in sheet
Editions
The license in one sentence
Buy once, deliver the course as often as you like to as many delegates as you like, edit anything, add your own branding — you only may not resell or redistribute the materials themselves. Every download is stamped with your name, tier and order number. Full license terms
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