“On time is five minutes late. Five minutes early is on time.”
– Ron Prill, Fairfield, IA High School Band Leader for about 2/3 of my lifetime, and Jim Peterson, FHS baseball coach back in the 70’s and 80’s
“37% of meetings start late, by a average of nearly 15 minutes…”
– Sue Shellenberger, WSJ Columnist, from Saturday’s Wall Street Journal article titled “Don’t Be Late or You’ll Be A Schedule-Wrecker“
If there are 10 people in the “average meeting,” and they earn an “average” of $50,000 annually, and you have just two meetings per week — do the math. This “average” delay costs your firm at least $130,000 in productivity.
The article though (accurately, I believe) describes even more compelling reasons to be the heck on time.
♦ Nearly 25% of workers feel “frustrated” when a colleague is late by only 10 minutes
♦ Delays put participants in a “bad mood,” and causes them to “lose concentration.”
♦ If the worst offender is the boss, a multiplier effect on the negativity gets applied.
Difference makers start and end on time. They communicate in advance. (I’ve always, and I mean always believed that we always, and I mean always know in advance if we’re going to be late, so call or text or tweet or SOMETHING to let people know…in advance!) Difference makers respect other peoples’ time, and they understand the positive effect of living up to expectations.
Ms. Shellenberger cites the “domino effect” of a late-starting meeting wrecking the calendar of every participant for the rest of the day, and with the frustration, bad mood and lost concentration cited elsewhere, it seems safe to assume the negative impact carries a similar domino effect.
So, what to do? Look, I hate policies and rules — a lot — but here are a few thought-starters.
♦ Start on time. End on time. Have an agenda, an outcome and a “flow” in mind, and state it overtly.
♦ Have a rule. If the meeting doesn’t start on time, you’re not required to stay.
♦ Have another rule. Anyone can leave at the prescribed ending time, even if the meeting ain’t ending.
♦ Do NOT “bring up to speed” people that arrive late. If they missed a key piece of the meeting, it’s their fault.
♦ Don’t reward people’s lateness by “waiting for them.” They want us to think their time is more valuable than ours. It isn’t. Don’t reward that!
♦ Hold yourself (and others) accountable, in private at first, then publicly if necessary. (“Jim, your colleagues think you’re constant late arrival means that you don’t value their time…”)
The financial ramifications of honoring people’s time are easy to calculate. The emotional ramifications aren’t as easy to put a number to, but they’re even easier to feel.
The take away? Be the heck on time. You’ll be respected. You’ll be a leader, regardless of your title. You’ll make a difference.
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