Punctuality at Meetings

I had a phone meeting set for 8:30 this morning. We had prearranged that she would be calling me. At 8:50 I called her to see if we were still on. She said yes, but that she had had some car problems and wanted to reschedule it for 9:30. That was fine with me, but why hadn’t she called me first?
I have found that we are all very busy people, but some of us do not recognize that others are as busy as we are. I have had some business lunches recently where I have shown up on time (if not early!) and the other party arrives fifteen minutes or more late. Personally I hate the feeling of sitting in a restaurant waiting on someone else, but that is coupled with the fact that I usually have work that I can be doing as well. When I set an appointment with someone I expect myself to be there and I expect the same of the person I am meeting with.

The point is to simply stick to what we say we are going to do. I understand that things come up; they have for me as well. However, if I am more than five minutes late, I call to let the other party know that I am running late, but on my way. Take that extra time to acknowledge that the other person’s time is important and that you plan on making it to your meeting, just perhaps a little late.

Think about it.