Why do so many work meetings start late?

An attendee at a recent business meeting showed up 15 minutes late. As she checked phone messages, she asked: “So, what’s this meeting about, again?”

That was almost as bad as the academic who showed up 30 minutes late for a meeting she arranged, then told me that “people get used to" her always being late. When she asked to borrow a pen and took notes on a napkin, I decided the meeting was over.

Waiting for a meeting can cause frustration. Credit: Tamara Voninski

What is it with meetings these days? I’m not talking about the plague of poorly-structured, boring, unnecessary meetings. Rather, something more basic: people who continually arrive late to meetings, don’t show or, worse, do not alert you they are running late.

Nobody minds if somebody is five minutes late for a face-to-meeting because another one goes overtime or the unexpected happens – provided the tardiness is occasional, the attendee has the courtesy to let people know they are running late and are apologetic.

I have noted a deterioration in meeting etiquette in the past few years. More people showing up late and assuming the appointment can be moved without notice, or coming unprepared.

Up to half of all face-to-business meetings start late, according to 2018 University of Nebraska research. The study’s co-authors found meetings that start five to 10 minutes late are far less effective than those that start on time. That’s obvious, yet the problem continues.

Consider the cost: More than 11 million business meetings occur in the United States daily, estimates Harvard Business School. If half of these meetings start five to 10 minutes late, that’s an incredible productivity loss. Not to mention the staff who sit around waiting for others to arrive and become annoyed, frustrated and less effective in the meeting.

Call me old fashioned, but I like business punctuality. Arriving at a meeting five minutes early and being prepared to go on the dot says you value your colleague or client’s time. It implies you are professional, well-prepared, courteous – and seeking a meeting outcome.

Do not think I’m ranting about young people showing up late. Most young people I work with are great with meetings. They use e-calendars and e-maps to organise their time. They know if they will be 10 minutes late because Google Maps tell them, and they let others know.

I find the problem is with mid-career people who jam their day with too many meetings: the office "blowflies" who buzz from one meeting to the next and get ahead by networking, showboating and brown-nosing. They are late because they are “always so busy”.

Technology should make it easier to start and finish meetings on time, yet is contributing to late starts.

Technology should make it easier to start and finish meetings on time, yet is contributing to late starts. Smartphones make some people too accessible and easily distracted. They waste time checking text and emails that can wait until later, when they should be heading to a meeting.

Some employees, I suspect, think it matters less if they are late or miss a meeting because the person they need to talk to is easily contactable online at another time. Or that people can quickly work on something else if a meeting is late or cancelled at short notice.

Video technology is another meeting killer. Why do so many video conferences start late because the technology is glitchy? That problem has lingered for years, yet too many meetings are still delayed because the video is not working or people cannot attend via audio. Or some fool gives attendees the wrong meeting dial-in number or forgets to organise one.

Building logistics is another factor. I was almost late for a meeting recently because getting through security at a CBD tower felt like going through an airport. Also, the penny-pinching company had too few reception staff, meaning a queue of people waiting to be directed to different meeting rooms. The meeting host should let attendees know if they need to arrive earlier because it takes longer to get through security and reception.

The security of many high-rise office buildings can also delay meeting starts as guests make their way to the right location.

Companies should have stronger meeting protocols: If you are going to be late, let others know as early as possible. The meeting must start no later than five minutes past the scheduled time; if people are not there, bad luck. If you are more than 10 minutes late, don’t bother.

If an employee is continually late for meetings, hold an intervention. Tell them their colleagues are annoyed and that their behaviour is unprofessional and rude. Exclude them from other meetings if they believe others should wait around for them.

Yes, that sounds harsh and will not work for all meetings or attendees. Some meetings are unavoidably delayed and require attendees to be flexible. Some people are late through no fault of their own and need understanding from others.

It is a question of frequency. Lost time adds up and cancelled meetings can create significant extra work. Nobody should have to tolerate tardy colleagues – or bosses – who treat the office more like a resort than a workplace.

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