Team Members Late To Meeting

When we have long meetings, it’s important to take short breaks. But what’s supposed to be a 15 minute break always seems to turn into 25. How do you implement punctuality?

The Team Doc Says…

It’s important that the team set meeting ground rules at the beginning of the session to guide their actions. Punctuality should be one of those groundrules. All members of the meeting are responsible for making sure the groundrules are followed. That saves the facilitator from always being the “bad guy.”

Plus, the facilitator needs to demonstrate the expected behavior and make sure that he / she is there on time every time the meeting reconvenes. The facilitator needs to go ahead and start whether everyone is in the room or not. Often just the embarrassment of walking into a room that has something in progress will help a person change their behavior.

Also, if the late person tries to divert the discussion to what they have missed, nip it in the bud and advise him / her that you will bring them up to speed at the break.

In no way, shape or form should the offending party be allowed to control the session by this type of behavior. If you need additional help, you might want take a look at my special report How To Conduct Meetings That Achieve Results.