As a tech professional, you may have an idea what the number-one bad habit is for most tech managers. It isn’t taking on too much work, missing deadlines, failing to delegate responsibilities or even being overworked. It isn’t about personality conflicts or problems with the management team. Ready for the answer?
The bad habit most tech managers share is failing to be on time for meetings, interviews, work and other responsibilities on their calendars. In other words, while tech managers are great at what they do, they are not the best at personal time management.
Being Late Shows Irresponsibility
No matter how responsible you might actually be, being routinely late to work or to meetings shows irresponsibility. It shows that you value other things at work or in life more than your job or your co-workers. When you are expected to be at work by a certain time, or in a meeting by a certain time, it is not only good business ethics to be there on time – it is mandatory. In fact, being on time is considered late these days, so do your best to arrive a couple of minutes early.
Being Late Shows You Don’t Care
When tech managers are late to meetings, to work or for conference calls, it shows others around them that they do not care enough to be punctual. To be late one or two times is understandable in today’s fast-paced world; you might have scheduled meetings too close to each other without realizing it or your conference call went long because of a problem that needed to be fixed immediately – these are understandable incidents. But if you are routinely late, it tells others around you that you do not care about them or the scheduled task, and that what you are doing in place of it is more important to you.
Being Late Causes Stress
Routinely being late for meetings or conference calls is stressful. And, the stress just doesn’t affect you, it affects everyone around you. Co-workers and superiors will feel anxious when you are late because they worry if you have the materials for the meeting or if you are rushing to finish the presentation that you need for the meeting. When you make it a point to arrive on time, you will reduce the stress in both your life and the lives of all those around you at the office.
How to Avoid Being Late
As a tech manager, there are plenty of ways to avoid being late to meetings or conference calls. Some of these methods include the following:
- Avoid overbooking your schedule as much as possible
- Learn to say ‘no’ when you have too much on your plate
- Do not save ‘extra’ tasks for the last minute
- Always use reminders on your desktop and mobile calendars
- Consider setting your watch five minutes fast
- Prepare for the next day today
- Schedule important events for off-peak hours
Being late is a bad habit that most tech managers share. But you don’t have to be part of the crowd. Instead, try to avoid it as much as possible so you and those around you can accomplish tasks in a timely manner.