Little Enablers of Late Coming

We are at that time of the year again, the month of December. In the little town I grew up in, this time of the year is always filled with numerous events, concerts, conferences and so on. 

 I believe it’s the same in most places around the world. This is why I have decided to write a blog post on an issues that has long affected us even beyond seasons like this, I’ll be writing on time management and a general respect for time. 

The issue of Time consciousness is one of utmost importance. It’s one discipline that we’ve not been able to completely master and this poses as a real issue that needs to be addressed.  

In this blog post, I elaborate on a perspective that I have come to believe is one of the reasons why the problem persists, which is: 

“People disrespect time because they know that organizers, speakers and every other person disrespects time”

This plays out in different ways which I’m going to be exploring in this Blog Post.  

I ask that we take the burden off the audience for a second and explore how organizers and speakers unconsciously enable late coming. I’ll also suggest little things we can try out to help curb late coming. 

A major problem we have when it comes to the idea of respecting time and this also has a way of enabling Late coming is:

ONE SIDED VIEW OF TIME CONSCIOUSNESS.

This is something leaders and organizers of events must be conscious of.  Emphasizing and criticizing people for disrespecting time by coming late but not doing much to respect time when choosing to keep people beyond the stipulated closing time without forewarning, a justifiable reason or an apology negates the essence of the discipline of Time consciousness.

Unfortunately, we’ve all had that event/church program that made us consciously decide against being punctual because we knew that the organizers keep people beyond the stipulated time of departure. 

"Time consciousness is a two way street"

It’s wrong to come to a place late but it is just as wrong to keep people beyond the stipulated or allocated time. This unfortunately does a lot to enable a lack of punctuality in the future.

A good way to curb late coming is for you and I as leaders to lead the way by respecting time ourselves. This encourages more of the same from people in general

SPEAKERS DISRESPECTING TIME

This may be unpopular but I believe that the standard for the discipline of punctuality is the same for all classes of people, influential or not, speaker or listener. I’m saying that a lack of punctuality is lack of punctuality whether it’s from the part of the audience or Speaker

I’ve been reading a lot of books by John Maxwell. He is a person I respect when it comes to leadership and communication. John Maxwell is probably the most effective communicator and connector I know. He is one of the biggest speakers in the world and also a Minister of God’s word (studied theology).

John Maxwell is invited all around the world to speak. He wrote in one his books that he has made it a point to arrive a day or two days early in the country/city where he is to speak and most importantly, he arrives very early at the event, even before the program starts to have an opportunity to connect one on one with the congregation/audience. He wrote that he is equally always the last to leave because he likes to greet as many people as he can. 

I use John Maxwell as an instance to leave most of us without excuses. 

We may not all be able to do the exact thing as John Maxwell but we can start by encouraging speakers to show up on time because this would go a long way in influencing people at large.  

 I know the punctuality of people can’t be dependent on the ministers and speakers but I can't help but imagine that if all “big shot” invited speakers came to programs before the program began, wouldn't that be so much of a positive influence on people all around the world? 

Again, leaders should only hold their followers to a standard they live up to.

ORGANIZERS STARTING EVENTS LATE.

One thing that I believe will help curb late coming is when organizers of events begin their events at the time they said they would.  

I, of course, do not think that starting on time can provide a permanent solution to late coming but consider the fact that people come late because of a preconceived notion that the program will not start at the stipulated time which most times proves to be true.

I attended a program a while back which was slated for 4pm. I went about 20 minutes late and they hadn’t started. I don’t think the program began until it was about 4:45pm or so.

Imagine that it was a 2-day program which it was actually, what time would an average person go the next day?

If I went 20 minutes late the first day and it seemed like I was early (because people judge Lateness by the number of people who come before and after you which I must say, is a very poor standard for measuring punctuality) the next day, it’ll be much easier for me to come an hour late. 

Again, this is not a permanent solution but it’s worth a try.

Consider that the organizers are expecting people to come late and people are equally expecting the organizers to start late. 

Both parties should try to prove each other wrong and maybe then, we will make progress.

My position still stands though, that waiting for late comers to come before starting a program is unintentionally enabling late coming.

In conclusion, we all know without a doubt that our environment can influence us. John Maxwell even said that a good way to become a better leader is putting yourself in a leadership environment. 

The same goes in the subject of time. When organizers, leaders and speakers respect time in every sense of what respecting time could mean, they’re creating a positive environment that can unconsciously influence the world at large.

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Until my next blog post, Stay Happy..