On friday I had called a prospective candidate for a Managerial post to my house to give him a feedback on his employment interview. The meeting was to be in my house due to the delicate nature of this recruitment that called for discretion due to the sensitive relationship we have with his current employers. It is to be said that we know each other fairly well professionally.
I called him up at 6 pm and asked him to come over. He said he can make it only at 6.45 pm as he had to pick his wife. I said fine. I have a bad habit. When people tell me that they will come at a particular time, I wait for them and get irritated if they dont turn up. I started getting jittery and twice picked up the phone to give him a piece of my mind. Finally, he turned up at 7.10 pm, a full 25 minutes late and gave me the routine excuse of getting stuck up in traffic (on a friday evening?). I didnt say much other that "Punctuality is a way of life. Either you have it or you don't. You have a right to do whatever you want to do with YOUR TIME but you have NO RIGHT to WASTE THE OTHER PERSONS TIME".
A very tardy person to begin with, I have made an effort to change and am rarely late these days. How do I do this? Simple. I don't cram my schedule. For example, on those days I have an IGNOU Class, I dont agree for any meetings between 5 pm and 9.15 pm, eventhough the class is between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm. Though people might be offended initially when I turn downt their request, in the long run they tend to fall in line and start appreciating you.
So how do you go about if you are tardy.
One solution may be to do less, but Murphy's truism "Tasks always expand to fill the time allotted" ensures that you will only get less done in more time! Another solution is to use organizational tools that help you to work more efficiently. Though we can't make more time (there are only 24 hours in a day), we can make ourselves more effective.
Remember, always Commit less and Do more. This will thrill the customer, both internal and external.
