Open workshop in Mumbai · Also in-company · Transferees and global-facing teams
Etiquette for International Assignments: at ease in someone else’s room.
Business etiquette for people being posted abroad and for teams who work every day with overseas principals, clients and colleagues. Greetings, meetings, dining, dress, written and video conduct, and the missteps each region notices most. On the Sabira Merchant curriculum, scoped to the countries your business meets.
Next open workshop in Mumbai
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27Nov2026Register
Etiquette for International Assignments
The open workshop is for individuals who book their own seat. For a team, the regions and situations are scoped to your organisation, as described below. For the fee, talk to our L&D consultants. Register by email at register@princetonacademy.co.in or on WhatsApp.
Register online
Choose the programme and the batch. An L&D consultant sends the fee, the venue and a payment link, and your seat is confirmed on payment.
Who it is for
People who represent an Indian organisation abroad, or to the world from India
Competence travels. Habits do not always translate. This programme is for the people whose conduct is read as the organisation’s conduct in another country.
- Employees and families preparing for an overseas posting
- Teams reporting to an overseas parent company or principal
- Account, delivery and support teams serving international clients
- Sales and business development staff who travel to meet customers abroad
- Managers who host visiting principals, auditors and clients in India
- Global capability centre teams on daily calls with colleagues in other time zones
By the end of the programme participants will be able to
- Greet, address and introduce people correctly in the regions they work with
- Read hierarchy, turn-taking and decision-making in a meeting that runs differently from home
- Host and be hosted at a meal abroad, and host an overseas visitor properly in India
- Dress for the climate, the culture and the occasion, and give or decline a gift without offence
- Write, message and appear on video in a way that lands well across time zones
- Recognise the region-specific missteps before making them
What the programme covers
Six modules, demonstrated and practised, with the regional detail drawn from where your people are going and whom they deal with.
01
Greetings and titles
Handshakes, bows and when neither is right. First names, surnames, honorifics and academic titles. Business cards, introductions and the order in which people are introduced.
02
Meetings and hierarchy
Punctuality and what “on time” means where you are going. Seating, who speaks first, silence and disagreement, consensus versus decision, and how to follow up so that the meeting actually concludes.
03
Dining and hospitality
Being a guest abroad: invitations, toasts, dietary requirements, paying. Hosting overseas visitors in India: the welcome, the menu conversation, alcohol, and the courtesies visitors expect without having to ask.
04
Dress and gifts
Business dress by climate and culture, when Indian formal wear is an asset, and what to pack. Gifts: when they are expected, when they are awkward, what to give and how to receive one.
05
Written and video conduct across time zones
Email tone and directness by region, messaging hours, meeting invitations that respect the other side’s day, camera presence, and how to disagree in writing without a chain of apologies.
06
Common missteps by region
Europe, Japan and East Asia, the Gulf, and North America. For each: the greeting, the meeting, the meal, the dress and the message that most often go wrong for Indian professionals, and how to get them right.
How the sessions run
Nothing is lectured that can be practised. Faculty demonstrate each situation and its common failures, then participants work through it in pairs and small groups: a first meeting with a Japanese principal, a dinner in the Gulf, a video call with a North American client at the end of their day. A working meal is the dining practical. Feedback is individual and given in the room.
One day covers the six modules for a single region. Two days allow two or three regions in depth, or a transferee group that also needs family and social settings covered.
Combine it
Language and working-culture layers
Etiquette is one layer of an assignment briefing. Princeton Academy also delivers business language and working-culture programmes for the same transferees and teams, and the two are often scoped together as a single pre-departure or onboarding package. See Princeton Academy’s language and cross-cultural training.
How we scope it
The regions, the roles and the situations decide the programme. We find those out before we propose anything.
- Discovery callDestinations or counterpart regions, roles, timing of postings, and what has gone wrong before
- Observe a sampleFaculty sit in on a client call or review a sample of email and messaging threads, with permission
- Tailor the modulesRegional detail, role-plays and hosting scenarios written for your counterparts, signed off with HR
- Deliver in cohortsCohorts of twelve to twenty, at your office or a venue, in any Indian city, timed before departure where there is one
- Assess and reportEvery participant assessed on the rubric, certificates issued, a faculty report to HR
What HR receives
- Attendance register for every cohort
- A per-participant assessment on the Sabira Merchant rubric
- Certificates of completion on the Sabira Merchant curriculum, issued through Princeton Academy
- A short faculty report: what was observed, what improved, what to reinforce before departure
- A region briefing card for each destination or counterpart region covered
- A written and video conduct guide for the team’s time zones
- Transparent per-cohort pricing, stated in the proposal before anything is booked
Enquire
Tell us where your people are going
Regions, roles, headcount and dates. Use the form below or write to inhouse@princetonacademy.co.in. Princeton Academy will arrange a discovery call and follow it with a scoped proposal, including any language or working-culture layer you want alongside.
Questions
Who conducts the sessions?
Every programme is designed and overseen by Sabira Merchant. Sessions are delivered by faculty she has trained and certified on her curriculum. Depending on the format, batch and schedule, Ms Merchant may conduct part of a session personally. The content, the standards and the assessment are hers in every case.
Which countries can you cover?
The programme is built around four regions: Europe, Japan and East Asia, the Gulf, and North America. Within those, the detail is scoped to the specific countries and counterparts your people deal with. If your destination sits outside these regions, tell us on the discovery call and we will say honestly whether we can cover it well.
Can spouses and families join a transferee cohort?
Yes, for a pre-departure cohort. Social and family settings, school and neighbourhood introductions and hosting at home are added to the modules when families are included. Say so at scoping and the cohort is sized accordingly.
Does it include language training?
Not within this programme. Princeton Academy delivers business language and working-culture programmes separately, and the two are often packaged together for the same cohort. Ask for both in one proposal.
Can it be booked as a single open seat?
Yes. It runs as an open workshop in Mumbai on the date listed above, where an individual books a single seat. For a team, the regions and scenarios are scoped to the organisation, as this page describes.
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Send them prepared.
Tell us the regions and the roles. We will scope the programme, and the language layer if you want it, in one proposal.