Respecting Time

In most companies the meeting rooms are bookable. Whenever you want to host a meeting, you create an invite, preparing people for the agenda, and where the meeting is located.

This is all basic.

Companies today calculate on every part of the organization; should this be outsourced? Are we cost-efficient? Could the sales-rep squeeze in one more meeting on a day?

Lead experts are being brought in to secure the workflow, and that ”no time is wasted”. Because as Uncle Scrooge framed it so nicely “Time is Money”.

But how many companies are calculating on the time wasted when waiting for co-workers or decision makers to enter the meeting room?

Have you ever heard that someone was too busy to be on time, leaving 5-8 people waiting?

Have you ever had a meeting interrupted because someone “just have one question” that turns into 2,3,4,5, simply because the interrupting part regard their questions more important than the reason 5 people are having a meeting.

A meeting is not cheap, 5-6 people for slightly more than an hour… is a working day. I know this is basic, but…

A friend of mine, let’s call him Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo, have even experienced that in some companies the booking of a meeting room is not respected, meaning 2 people can cause 5 people to go search for another place to hold their meeting, he even experienced having to go search for crucial meeting attendees – oddly enough his managers doesn’t seem to calculate on the cost of this.

Writing this piece for him, I am currently spending flexitime at home, while I am waiting for a plumber… “I’ll be there at 8” … I hope his time is very valuable because he have now one person waiting …and writing. Only one, but at least I got time to consider my poor friend Joey Joe Joe and his daily battles to have efficient meetings.

Respecting scheduled appointments is respecting co-workers, employees and the entire organization, for people that think more about money than human respect – Respecting scheduled meeting saves money.  

Talking about respect, my plumber is now 40 minutes late…