Patience...

If there is one lesson I have learned in my first six months in the Middle East, one piece of advice to pass on, it is this: patience is required by the boatload in all aspects of business and life!

The culture in the Middle East is very different to that in the West and the Far East. Things here generally move at a slower pace. It sounds odd to say that of a country like the UAE where skyscrapers seem to rise from the ground one after the other. However, it is true, and noticeably so.

An obvious example of where patience is required from a business sense is in relation to meetings. First of all, timekeeping in the Arab world is far less "precise" than in the West, so you may find yourself waiting for some while after your meeting was due to start. Secondly, it is not uncommon for Arabs to have more than one meeting in the same room at the same time, so you may find yourself sitting and waiting your turn even after your meeting has started.

From a personal perspective you will need patience in becoming used to the different culture, in dealing with the bureaucracy you will encounter, and you will definitely need patience (and a fair amount of courage!) when driving on the UAE roads.

Customer service can drive a person to distraction here. In the UK we take for granted the old saying that the customer is always right. Not so in the UAE. Two examples illustrate the differing levels of service.

It is fair to say that some of the best customer care on the planet is to be found in hotels and their restaurants in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. But competition in the hotel and restaurant industry is fierce.

All the key service providers in the telecommunications industry in the UAE are effectively state owned. There is no alternative, hence there is no need for any of these entities to focus on customer service. If you aren't happy with the service, what do you do? There is nowhere else to turn. Losing your temper after half an hour on the phone or two hours in a queue gets you nowhere. Actually that isn't true. It does get you somewhere - straight to the back of the queue again!

Most crucially from a business perspective, you will need to have patience out here when it comes to building up a business or a practice.

There is far less separation here between business life and personal life. This is true among Arabs for historical and cultural reasons. Doing business revolves around family and personal ties, and it takes time to gain the trust needed to build a successful business relationship.

It is also true among ex-pats simply down to the way of life. People with similar backgrounds are in a totally different environment and form bonds based on shared interests.

Either way, coming into Abu Dhabi as the new boy, you don't come in and expect to be handed business on a plate. It needs time, together with hard work and a commitment to the region and its people - very similar to what is expected in the North East.

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