Being on time for appointments is gracious

We all face situations from time to time that can cause us to be late for meetings and appointments. Chronic tardiness, however, can diminish our professional reputation. It also irritates others. How is your track record?

One reason people are often late is that they fail to manage transition time. Transition time is the time required to move from one activity to the next and/or from one location to the next, whether it’s just down the hall or across town.

Here’s an idea to improve punctuality: Write in your planner not just when the meeting starts, but also when you are going to leave to go to the meeting. Allow a little extra buffer time too because we are often stopped by a co-worker in a hallway, and there is always the possibility of a traffic jam.

Punctuality communicates to others: “I’m a professional and you are important to me.” Tardiness sends another message.

Make it appoint to always be early to appointments and make it fun. Schedule appointments at off times like 9:58 am, or 12:22 pm and my favorite is 5:55 pm.