Better Three Hours Too Soon Than a Minute Too Late. by William Shakespeare
Here are the negative effects caused by late arrival:
- Latecomers are holding up others and hurting the productivity of everyone who has to wait
- Latecomers are demoralizing those who do bother to show up on time. This sometime starts a chain reaction where everyone starts showing up 5 then 10 then 15 minutes late to the detriment of all.
- Showing up late disrespects others’ time. It is interpreted as ‘The latecomer thinks he is more important or has better things to do than I do.’
- Other people extend lateness to meeting to expect tardiness in other arenas such as project deadlines. Thus, managers label late comers as high maintenance and dependant on others since the manager infers latecomers will be unreliable to be self-regulating. The manager has additional work to check on the work of the late contributor.
- Late people start a domino affect that can set entire groups, departments, and projects back. That hurts reputations as well as budgets and plans.
- Latecomers can get a reputation as ‘in need of attention’, ‘show boater’, ‘egomaniac’, and more.
