Be on Time Every Time

Published on this site: January 2nd, 2007 - See more articles from this month

Make it a habit to be on time to every appointment or meeting you have scheduled or accepted. How frustrating is it when an appointment or meeting is delayed due to one or two people who show up late. I know, very frustrating and also disruptive to the rest of your day, especially when you or your colleagues were on time. A delayed appointment just delays the rest of your schedule. If a meeting has to start over, schedules get disrupted and again you spend the rest of the day in a catch-up or re-planning mode. Bottom line, it is very disrespectful to be the person who shows up late, so don't.

You can modify your behavior or those people who are late though a few simple actions.

• If you are the person facilitating the meeting, curb late attendance by simply:

1. Start the meeting on time with the people in attendance.
   
   
2. Close the door, lock it or unlock it is up to you. I would not.
   
   
3. If someone shows up late, do not start the meeting over. This is important, even if it is your manager or peer. The missed subject matter discussion can take place after the meeting. More often than not, this step will not be necessary and the other people in attendance will appreciate your leadership and respect you for it.
   
   
4. Always have an agenda
   
   
5. Establish a "Late Fee," this may or may not be practical in
   your situation. But, in small department teams it works well.
   Peer pressure is a good behavior modifier.

• If you are the problem, simply:
  
  
  1. Understand and be truthful to yourself on why you are late.
     
     
  2. Get a day planner or alternate organization tool and use it.
     
     
  3. If you have an electronic device, set it to remind you of the appointment meeting 15 to 30 minutes early!
     
     
  4. Try not to schedule appointments or accept meetings that are scheduled back to back.
     
     
  5. Personalize the behavior, be the "On Time" example.

Sometimes we perceive being late to an appointment or meeting as acceptable because we convince ourselves whatever caused us to be late is more important than being on time. Don't believe this, the message you convey to people by being late is very negative. Punctuality is one of the easiest behavior modifications you can make in your life, get started today!

Kent Jacobson - a.k.a. "Mr. Success" is a trusted authority in the success field and provides valuable success information for free through his website at: http://www.Shortcut2Success.com . You can also read Kent's Success Blog to find more success secrets at: http://www.Shortcut2Success.com/blog