How to deal with schedule-wreckers

There is nothing worse than a chronic latecomer to work meetings. It is frustrating and a waste of everyone?s time. But what if that latecomer is your boss? Wall Street Journal?s Sue Shellenbarger has some advice for dealing with tardy bosses.

Most offices have at least one?the manager or executive who is chronically late for meetings.

These schedule wreckers get tied up, sometimes in another meeting, sometimes mysteriously, and leave a half-dozen colleagues idling in a conference room for 10 minutes or more. Not only is everyone losing those 10 minutes of work time, but also, the dead time mounts as one meeting runs late and delays the next, creating a domino effect on the calendars of people who weren?t even at the meeting.

Colleagues may seethe with frustration, work later or take work home to catch up, yet few speak up and object?especially if the late arrival is the boss.

About 37% of meetings start late, by an average of nearly 15 minutes, according to two 2014 studies of a total of 860 workers. Meetings that start late also end 15 minutes late, on average, compared with 3.51 minutes late for those that start on time. Meeting delays put participants in a bad mood, potentially hurting creativity and performance, says a study led by Steven Rogelberg, a professor of organisational science, management and psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Nearly one in four participants say they?re frustrated when a colleague is six to 10 minutes late; 14% lose concentration. Others feel insulted, disrespected or just plain mad.

How to talk to a ?schedule-wrecker?

Given how annoying lateness can be for fellow employees, Sue Shellenbarger has given this advice on dealing with the culprit:

• If the cause is poor personal time management by the latecomer, start and end meetings on time and refuse to brief latecomers on what they missed.

• If late arrivals make a narcissistic colleague feel powerful, tell him that his repeated tardiness is damaging his image.
• If a colleague loves the drama and tension created by late entrances, tell her colleagues are bored by her behavior.
• If participants are allowing themselves to be overbooked via online calendars, change the default scheduling to allow a 15-minute buffer between one meeting and the next.

• If a boss doesn?t realise her chronic lateness is hurting morale and forcing people to stay late, gather feedback from employees and have a coach or trusted colleague deliver it.

Read Sue Shellenbarger?s article in full at on.wsj.com/1eDlgHc