On time
Why punctuality is non-negotiable for founders and how to be always on time
Quite a few founders I know want to create a culture in their companies, where everyone always lives up 100% to every of their commitments, but find it unnecessary or too challenging to show up to meetings on time themselves. Given the important function of leaders as role models and setting the culture there is a problem with this behaviour that one would think is obvious, but in my experience is not at all.
I am quoting most of this article verbatim from Matt Mochary’s article On Time which is part of his very useful (and free) Mochary Method Curriculum. This is a great resource for aspiring founders / CEOs. I recommend buying his book which is easier to read and navigate, but all the content is there in Google Docs.
I only added headlines for the three parts, one additional comment and in the end share a few practical tips to consider:
Why it is critical to be always on time
It is critical to be on time for every appointment you have made or let the others involved in the meeting know that you will be late as soon as you realize it. This action is common decency, yes, but it has greater significance.
There is a person on the other side of your agreement to start the meeting at a specific time. They have stopped what they are working on to attend the meeting on time. If you do not show up on time, they cannot start the meeting, but they also cannot leave because they don't know if you'll show up the next minute or not.
Each minute they are away from their work is a minute of productivity you have stolen from them. This action is not only disrespectful but also counterproductive. If the attendee is a customer, investor, or recruit, they will not engage with your company. If they report to you, they will keep quiet but resent you. There is no winning scenario when you waste someone's time.
I would add two points to stress the importance even further:
Ultimately, this is about respect or the lack thereof you are showing towards the other party, especially your team members. Actions speak more clearly than words … .
Being late sets the tone (and culture) about living up to commitments. If it is ok to show up late to a meeting, as role modelled by the founder, some employees might interpret that it is also ok to complete their deliverables later or only partially. It can derail an execution oriented culture.
When you are late, let others know at the earliest possible moment
But life happens. Calls and meetings run late, or traffic doesn't cooperate. Even with careful planning, it's not possible to be on time for every meeting. The good news is that you don't need to be.
It is only critical to let the other members of the meeting know that you will be late as soon as you realize that you will be. And you must come to this realization (and let the other attendees know) before the meeting starts, through whatever channel will get to them the fastest. Ideally, you'd let them know about the delay before they must break away from whatever they are doing before the meeting.
Be Present
In addition to being on time, you must also be present. Being present means that you are composed, prepared, and focused on the subject matter. It can take a few minutes to "get present" -- prepare the agenda, research the topic and the attendees, etc.
Therefore, I recommend that you plan to arrive at an outside meeting fifteen minutes before it is to begin. For a meeting in your office, wrap up your current project five minutes before the scheduled meeting time.
To make this easy, I recommend scheduling 25 and 50-minute meetings only (Google Calendar even has an automated setting for this). This buffer will give you five minutes each half-hour and ten minutes each hour to gather yourself.
When in the meeting, I often see CEOs making the mistake of constantly checking their messages. They cannot get away from being "on," if even for a second. This habit is disrespectful, but it also defeats the purpose of the meeting, which is a collaboration with the attendees present. It sends a message that the meeting's content is relatively unimportant. Furthermore, it also breeds a bad habit for the entire company—one that will be hard, if not impossible, to break down the line.
During every meeting, leave your phone in your pocket or face-down. Staying committed to Inbox Zero will help you focus on your meetings and make the most out of your assembled—and valuable—talent.
And if the meeting is not efficient, then make it so.
Practical Tips
Use your calendar well
Ensure you have buffer time between meetings - see above
Put time to move from one location to another into your calendar, and make sure there is buffer time (for delays, finding parking etc.) already in the schedule. Especially when working hybrid, it is sometimes challenging as you don’t always know from where you will be working. Normally, I decide Friday afternoon (or over the weekend) from where I will work and then plan and enter all the commute times for the coming week.
Also, ensure you have a room and/or technology booked and ready before the start of the meeting (another reason to show up early, in oder to kick out squatters)
Also put personal time, from going to the gym to time for lunch or breaks into your calendar so that you have a full picture of your commitments.
Alarm clock
I normally turn off all notifications, incl. calendar alerts, in order to avoid distraction (there are many articles that recommend this). Especially when working deeply and at home this can lead to missing a scheduled meeting. To avoid this, I have now the habit of setting an alarm clock sufficiently early to get ready for the calls.
Getting things done
I will write a separate article about this. Generally, the more you are organised and the clearer about your priorities, the easier it is to stay on schedule. Getting things done, or GTD, as a comprehensive method, but takes some time and discipline to implement (Matt Mochary also has an article about GTD). With tools like Todoist or other Task Managers, it becomes increasingly doable.