It's annoying at best when someone is late. You schedule a time to meet up with a friend for coffee, lunch, a shopping trip and you sit there waiting... and waiting...and waiting.The person shows up about 30 minutes late with a "Sorry I'm late." and no more being said. You give a polite response of how it's not a big deal and continue on with whatever activity you planned. While inside you are irritated that your friend could not even bother with a call or a text to let you know they were running behind, stuck in traffic or otherwise detained.
People are late sometimes, it is inevitable. If this is the only time they are ever late, then it is definitely forgivable, annoying but forgivable. However, common courtesy should have told them to try to reach you in someway and let you know they will be late.
In a business situation, being late for a meeting can have bigger consequences than just annoying a friend. If you are late for a meeting, the person you are to be meeting with might move on and that can cost you dearly depending on the reason for the meeting. This goes for online as well as offline situations.
If you MUST be late... call, text, message... let them know somehow that you respect their time enough to let them know you are tied up and how late you are going to be. You might still miss the opportunity to meet with whomever are you meeting but at least that person will know you consider their time valuable. This shows you are a professional and might get the meeting rescheduled for you instead of a missed opportunity.
Why don't you actually call them on it? You'd like them to let you know that they're going to be late right? Well, I think it's fair to let them know that it also irritates you when they are late. Telling them "it's no big deal", while polite, does nothing to inform them that that is a boundary you have, and they've crossed it. In fact, you're doing the opposite, and then grumbling about it after the fact. People from different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences have all sorts of different concepts of what "should" be done, and that includes being on time for a meeting or date. Do them a favour and tell them as well as you've told us :)
ReplyDeleteI always do make sure I let people know how I feel on this sort of thing if it happens more than once. The blog post was not about any one person or time in particular, it was an expression that overall I think that people need to be more considerate of other's time.
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