Meetings in my company chronically start ten minutes late. Why? Because nobody ever says, “Please make an effort to be here on time.” Instead, people say “it’s Okay” or shrug it off until tardiness becomes an institutionalized behavior. What is going wrong here? Why doesn’t a published list of guidelines stop the bad behaviors? The answer is that guidelines are worthless unless someone enforces them. Lists don’t stop bad behaviors. Leaders do.
In practice, people look to the project manager to be the gatekeeper or meeting cop. Most people don’t feel comfortable counseling other human beings about bad behaviors. It's not a skill taught in business school. As the PM, if you tolerate bad behaviors, you will lose the respect of your team. So tell your team that you are going to make a serious effort to start your meetings on time and finish 5 mins early (as a courtesy to give them time to stretch before their next meeting).
Here's a practical tip to get your start your recurring team meeting on time:
- Create an instant message Group with everyone who participates in your recurring meeting
- Send an announcement to everyone in the group to remind them, "Our meeting will begin promptly in 5 mins."
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