Obnoxious Latecomers Suck
Dec 20th, 2006 by Alex
I’m not a fan of people who are late to meetings. It shows a lack of interest in the subject matter and a lack of respect towards the organizer or presenter. I was invited to a brief presentation a few weeks and observed two distinctly seperate approaches to lateness.
The meeting was scheduled for nine o’clock and began promptly. There were no slides, just the presenter discussing an upcoming project that would require some coordination between working groups. Mid-way through, a woman arrived at 9:20. Ten minues later a guy arrived at 9:30. At 9:50 the presentation was concluded.
Uninvited, the woman proceded to ask questions. They were all questions that would have been unnecessary had she been present at 9:10 when the material was being presented. The presenter was patient with her, but was clearly irked that he was having to reiterate things. Meanwhile the guy said nothing, asked no questions, but jotted down a few things in a small notebook.
Now I understand that stuff happens and you can’t be on-time all of the time. However, the guy handled in a more professional manner. Had I been the presenter, I would have refused to answer the woman’s questions.
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