A business lesson we learnt the hard way was losing out on a N200m project because we arrived 15 minutes late. I had mistook the time of another project on a different day for it, as we were making sure we had an excellent document. Being young, it was hard to take and get over.
To learn, we made the effort to mitigate such occurrences by looking at strategies or techniques to combat tardiness, in personal habits and in managing lateness of others.
Recently, someone came into town to meet with me and was surprised that I was at the meeting venue before him, despite having to spend over 1 hour to get there. Here are some ideas and approaches we have used to address late-coming effectively:
Our expectations are clear on what we want, and we also want to know what others expect of us. For us, communication is vital. We know the importance of punctuality in meetings, appointments, or social gatherings. We also know the consequences of being late, such as lost opportunities or disrupted schedules.
We plan ahead. We encourage creating a schedule that includes buffer time for unforeseen delays. We push for early preparations to avoid late rushes. We use reminders or alarms to prompt timely departures, especially when it has to do with distant places.
We try to collectively identify causes of tardiness. We have open discussions to uncover the root causes of why someone is late. It could be as a result of poor planning or other factors. These issues are addressed directly, whether it’s adjusting start times or providing support.
We have learnt to leverage technology. We utilize apps with notifications to keep everyone on track. You can consider reminders to prompt people when they need to leave for appointments.
We have learnt to model punctuality. We set an example by being consistently on time. We recognize and reward punctuality in family or teams to reinforce the behavior.
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