Stop Being Late!

We all love Dilbert, right? Lately, this one REALLY hits the mark for me:

Why? Because suddenly, everyone else’s time is more important than mine.  Granted I’m a bit grumpy because over 25% of my meetings scheduled last week didn’t happen because the other party didn’t show. At all. No phone call, no nothing. But I digress….

If you register for a meeting, sign up to attend something, schedule a meeting with another person, or just tell a friend you’ll meet them for coffee and don’t, you are communicating a whole bunch of information in a very direct way.  Clearly that event / meeting / coffee whatever WASN’T IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO REMEMBER.  Have you ever known anyone who likes to be forgotten?

Also, schedule yourself so you have enough time to get where you need to be.  Aren’t sure where you are going?  Check a map site first and add 15 minutes.  It is always better to be early than late.  I used to work for someone who said if you aren’t early, you are late and he was completely right.  If you have to be late and it is a group meeting, try not to draw attention to yourself.  DO NOT sit down and start telling the person next to you why you were late!  That disrupts the meeting in progress and makes you look worse.  Instead, jump in and  be present.  The lateness is behind you.

I will now beg – plead – implore you.  When you schedule a meeting or register for an event, put it in your calendar.  Do whatever you need to remember.   Review tomorrow’s calendar before stopping work today so you know where you need to be.  And make the decision THEN if you can’t make it or if you are worried you would be late. Give the person some notice.  Don’t call 10 minutes before the meeting to cancel – they are probably almost there. Instead, give them multiple-hours notice.  If you are worried you might be late, set an alarm or ask a coworker to remind you to leave.  I have gone so far as to set an alarm and explain to my prior meeting it will go off so I’m not late for the next meeting.  I just let them know I’m sure we will be so engrossed in what we are talking about that I won’t pay attention to the time.  How flattering is that?

Help yourself be on time and in the meeting so you get the benefits you wanted and make the right impression.  Being late or standing people up makes a big statement on how you do your work!