Ukrainians. How to understand the nation?

To be able to understand how to deal with Ukrainians in a business environment you have to understand them regarding their home life values. And those values prevail.

Ukrainian woman as a guardian

Ukrainian woman remains to oversee all the comfort provided to a family. This is her who mostly carries on her shoulders all the burden of the financial decision-making.

Certainly, it is a couple’s mutual responsibility, yet she is “a neck” who assists to turn “a husband’s head” in the right direction since she remains to be the larger planner with the focus on a family’s well-being.

In Ukraine, women cook and cook impressively well (since you may be aware of the Ukrainian specialities being well-known worldwide) and, therefore, a woman is mostly responsible for budget management.

She directs her care on kids and, very often, a husband as well. That is why she is an initiator, a planner, and very often a doer herself.

Based on Ukrainian traditions, a Ukrainian woman is described as a guardian: for her family, her husband, and her home.

Ukrainian men

What about men? Their main responsibility is to provide for and to defend their women. They stand with their women in everything trying to establish the proper environment for them to remain the guardians.

Despite the focus on domestic life modern Ukrainian women are very proactive in their working life – quite often contributing to the financial stability of a family equally or even more than their husbands.

As you can guess – their role is doubled up and they carry all the obligations gracefully.

Ukrainian traditions

Ukrainians are well-educated since an education defines them as personalities.

Besides a chosen qualification, they are very active in applying their skills toward cultural development and sports (clubs and sections of the interests are still popular even though the majority of those are commercial with quite a membership fee).

The majority of children and youth attend more than one section of their preferences. And parents are actively involved in their children’s development: musical schools, art studios, and sports. Ukrainians are very musical – they sing and dance wherever it is possible.

  Historically Ukrainians have been suppressed by their “neighbours” during generations’ lifetime spans. As a rule, it is a very patient nation full of peacefulness and diplomacy. The Ukrainian traditions are the example of the strongest ones: a traditional Christmas, a traditional Easter, celebration of birthdays in a family – everything is planned and prepared in advance for everyone to enjoy the time together. Therefore, they can be perceived as “a bit apart from a turbulence of the centrally located life”. The national proverb describes such an attitude: “Our house is in a suburban part of the town – we do not know what goes on in its central part”. Nevertheless, Ukrainians depend on someone else’s opinion: a close relative, a neighbour or a co-worker can influence their opinions yet only when trust in the influencers is established. Sometimes it entails so-called “stereotypes” formation and those can be impactful to some extent.

  But all that is only until the time – the time when their limitless patience is extensively tested. And when “the last drop of the ocean” is spilt over – Ukrainians stand up: they fight for every tiny bit of their dignity, they fight for everything they value…

© Julia Karmaz Larsen | The Touch Points | Cross-cultural communications | How to understand each other

How to deal with Ukrainians in business?

The first impression matters. Ukrainians’ perception of business communication is built on a combination of the smallest details: appearance, attire, attributes, and accessories. Even a vehicle you drive can influence the negotiation.

Yet what impacts the most is a viable personal benefit. Even though Ukrainians can be very loyal to a company or business – they do like to gain a sort of personal benefit. It is not necessarily materialism related – it can be just a special attention.

Positive remarks or appraisals can make all the difference in a negotiation’s outcomes.

Their manner of speaking is fast yet they prefer to have a dialogue with an opponent. It requires your full attention to a conversation since you do need to speak up without interruption.

Their business communications (starting from the second meeting at least) can be brightened with a lot of humour that describes a positive intention to conclude a deal. Nevertheless, Ukrainian humour can be full of sarcasm yet never addressed to a specific person. Otherwise, it indicates a sign of conflict.

Their business discipline represents their degree of engagement with a business partner. If they are interested in your offer the business communications are rapid. Nevertheless, if there is no indication of interest – the business communication process can take a longer time.

You should be also aware that it is frequently a must for them to express their gratitude, which is sometimes perceived as a bit “too much”, yet it is just a demonstration of their thankful attention: a corporate dinner after a mutual signature on a contract, for instance.

© Julia Karmaz Larsen | The Touch Points | Cross-cultural communications | How to understand each other All Rights Reserved