Why are people late?

[Comrade007]

Our Prime Minister Nahas Angula did not mince his words at the recent new year's meeting of his staff in the PM's office. According to The Namibian apparently a number of staff showed up half an hour late for the meeting, and Angula ordered them into the centre of the old Cabinet chambers where the meeting was held. "Why have you come late? I will not tolerate lateness, here are the latecomers, NBC show their faces to the people, journalists take their photos," Angula reportedly said, also adding that "Africa is the place of latecomers, that is why we are ever underdeveloped, you are the abusers of Government time." And Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) director Paulus Noa was also present at the meeting and said coming to work late can be a form of corruption. "You are actually stealing, at the end of the month you receive a full salary and you have not worked for it because you are coming to work late," Noa said.

May I humbly suggest disciplinary measures are instituted against the culprits? Maybe a disciplinary hearing? Maybe some accountability? See I don't believe Africa is necessarily the place of latecomers, its just that those who come late are never forced to give account for their lateness and made to take responsibility for it. Am I wrong?

[Comrade007]

And now Dr David Namwandi, the Deputy Minister of Education lays into it by condemning "bad habits in education such as laziness, nepotism, jealousy, corruption, tribalism, racism and regionalism." apparently other bad habits he singled out were "late-coming, countless sick leave applications and artificial overtime - and he stressed such habits would not be tolerated in 2012." OK, so what do you intend to do about it, Mr. Minister? It's one thing crying from the rooftop about bad habits its another to spend the political capital you have to do something about it? These issues are not unique to our country, but other countries spend a lot more time and effort and resources on solutions. Cudos for speaking out about it, but talking about these things we have for many, many years. Time for action? Hmm, is the ruling elite really willing to loose all those voters? And what about leading by example? Many political office-bearers are not exactly shining examples and indulge in the same vices. Just saying.

[Andrew1]

Reasons why people are late:

• They’re late and they don’t know their behavior is a problem for others.
• They’re late because they’re living up to a reputation for being late.
• They’re late as an expression of power and they use it as a way of saying, “You’re less powerful, so you have to wait for me; I can keep you waiting.”
• They’re late because they’re too optimistic.
• They’re late because there’s no reward for being on time.
• They’re late because they can’t say “no”.
• They’re late because they’re “drama queens.”

Now what can you do about it?

1. Come clean. Tell your late person what effect their lateness is having on your job performance, your relationship.

2. Don’t label someone late or make jokes about their lateness. It makes it part of how they see themselves and they become stuck with it as a behavior pattern even when they don’t want it. Instead, try this amazingly easy technique to effect a behavioral change. It is so simple that you will doubt that it works. But it does. It works because it immediately indicates to the person how they are perceived by others and they will believe that it is true about themselves. Here’s what you do: the next time this person is late, say simply and matter-of-factly, “It’s not like you to be late.” You will not believe the power of this simple statement until you actually try it.

3. Eliminate yourself from situations that require you to wait.

4. If your late person is of the optimistic variety, diplomatically direct this person to reality. Point out that “you’ll need more time, it’s rush hour” or “they expect heavy traffic at the airport” or “expect the best but plan for the worst.” The optimist requires retraining and you’ll need patience with this person but don’t just do nothing. A reassuring tone of voice and simple statement of fact...repeated frequently...will help the late person rethink their priorities. “Let’s treat ourselves to a little stress reduction,” you say, “and get this out early.”

5. If they’re late because they sincerely love the action and chaos it creates, you’ve got a special problem. They’re action junkies or drama queens. It’s OK for them to be that way but it’s also OK for you to not want to participate. Take yourself out of the Game. “I know it’s exciting to nearly miss an airplane but it’s not fun for me anymore.” “It was exhilarating the first time we had to get that report done overnight but it’s getting boring now.”

6. Reward behavior you want repeated.

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