Almost every aspect of management and leadership involves striking some sort of balance. Difficult hiring and firing decisions must often balance the interests of an individual with those of the organisation. Strategic decisions will need to find the optimal position between, for example, available finances and ambitious expansion plans. A new innovation might need to balance what a market is ready for now, with what it will be most-likely demanding within a short space of time.
With so much time spent standing with their feet planted on this balance, it is really no wonder that any manager will feel the occasional wobble of unsteady uncertainty as competing priorities are weighed against each other.
In the case of the managers challenged with turning an organisation’s strategy into a real and working reality, it can be especially important to reach a balance between a desire to continually monitor employees to tweak the delivery of objectives with an entirely hands-off approach that permits a team to manage their workload on their own.
Most managers will see the need for this balance very early in their management career – perhaps after realising that an overbearing management style has forced employees out, or that a down-with-the-kids approach has earned them employee friends, but lost them overall respect. Realising this hard management truth is often a major step on a manager’s professional development, with those who fail to understand often found out rather quickly.
This issue becomes particularly acute in the context of managing teams who work in remote locations – perhaps in different emirates, different countries and on different continents. While communication technology, of course, makes such arrangements eminently more achievable, it also does not entirely overcome the challenge of time zones, different office and cultural approaches to work, and the simple fact that a manager may not be present for the vast majority of the time.
Video and teleconferencing, for example, make regular full-team morning meetings possible, even if employees are sitting at home or in an office across an ocean. However, when the calls stop and the emails are sent, there is still a sense – perhaps even a fear – that employees are left to fend for themselves. For a manager worried about employee autonomy winning out over any semblance of management, this can be a source of considerable concern.
Making sure this isn’t the reality requires a practical and dedicated approach that overcomes the natural division geography can create to better build an effective and functioning team dynamic. This needs to start with creating a positive team environment that minimises the distinction between those employees based inside and outside a team’s main location. This can be as simple as avoiding the sense of “them and us” in the language used during team meetings – avoiding the feeling that those dialling in from elsewhere are gatecrashing on an established group.
It can also involve ensuring that you make a similar amount of effort to establish personal connections with team members who aren’t present in your own office most days. Perhaps dedicating time during calls to engage in small talk or making space during emails to ask questions more generally of themselves. At the very least, it should involve readily sharing information and news – keeping everyone fully informed of events and becoming a predictable presence in employees’ lives, even if this presence is mainly in their inboxes.
Such positive communication should also, naturally enough, extend to the transparency and exactness with which tasks and expectations are handed out. Where asking questions and checking on timelines is more cumbersome than putting your head around a door, clarity avoids misunderstandings and room for speculation.
All things being equal, such steps are the moves any manager should be taking even when their team is sitting in the next room. Good communication, consistent behaviour, clear objectives and clarity on how performance will be measured; all are essential for good management. Taking the balanced approach to a globally-sited team really simply means incorporating the power of newer technologies into established, proven techniques for creating a high-performance team.
Ahmad Badr is the chief executive of Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group
business@thenational.ae
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The%20Color%20Purple
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Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
SPEC%20SHEET
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Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5