Time is of the essence

MANY of us attend various meetings and business appointments which may require us to show up promptly. However, some of us take the issue of punctuality lightly or for granted. This leads to a waste of time for the other party. In certain cases, our lack of punctuality may jeopardise the business deal or cause negative perception of us.

In my recent appointments with many different personalities, I found that it has become a common practice among people to come 20 or even 45 minutes late. This is probably the “standard Malaysian time” now. And we tend to blame our delays on traffic and difficulty in finding parking.

I used to be not punctual long ago. Now, I feel the agony as a result of someone else’s tardiness.

The corporate culture of multinational corporations has trained me to be punctual over the years. Being punctual means being earlier than the agreed time. I make a point to reach 15 or 20 minutes earlier than expected and this conforms to punctuality.

Being punctual gives me a great deal of confidence. On the other hand, I often have to wait for others’ late arrival.

I will fill in the waiting time by doing my other work such as my personal scheduling and planning but when the meeting time is delayed, it causes the meeting to finish later than scheduled or within a shortened time.

The delays in coming for meetings and appointments will cause the domino effect on other planned tasks or the quality of the meeting.

Each of us must be serious about being punctual, regardless of who will be at the meeting. People often give priority only to someone who is in a higher position than them.

All-round punctuality ensures effective time management and higher productivity. VIGNESWARAN KANNAN Sitiawan, Perak