Except for US, UK, German and Chinese, WHY IS EVERYONE ELSE ALWAYS LATE FOR MEETINGS AND CALLS???

[sperbonzo]

Seriously, WTF? This drives me nuts, and has for my whole career. It seems like the people from every other country besides US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, and China, feel like it's perfectly ok to be 15+ minutes late for meetings and conference calls. They seem surprised when people are not willing to sit and wait for 25 minutes on a conference bridge for them to get around to showing up, (without any kind of message explaining that they are going to be late).

I'm not just talking about webmasters here. I'm talking about ALL kinds of business people, from bankers and lawyers to high level corporate execs. Whenever I am setting up a meeting that includes a party from South or Central America, Eastern or Southern Europe, etc.... I dread the fact that I will, 3 out of 4 times, have to try to make a small talk, and apologize to the other parties involved, for the wasted time out of their day.

Personally I find it rude. I make a promise to be at a certain place at a certain time to busy people with whom I wish to do business. Then I just blithely ignore my promise and just show up whenever?

Any one else have to deal with this bull crap?

And can anyone explain why it seems to be considered OK to be late in those places?

[mineistaken]

Part of the culture, common thing to be late = became almost socially accepted.

[TheLegacy]

I have - though I have found the same for US but generally they reply with good reason and have a sincere apology. There seems to be a strong distrust from either side both personally and business. I hear from UK, Russia etc. they screw American's around and the same is true for Russia who feel that America's can't be trusted in doing business for the most part.

Is it true for everyone? No - there are some really great people and business's to work with... same as here. I dislike painting a brush for a whole country and prefer just keeping track of those I feel can't be trusted or honest then go from there.

[AdultKing]

Last night I had four meetings until 1am, then slept and set my alarm for my 3am meeting, didn't hear it and woke up at 4am - rescheduled for tonight.

It happens sometimes. Especially when doing business globally.

[sperbonzo]

Last night I had four meetings until 1am, then slept and set my alarm for my 3am meeting, didn't hear it and woke up at 4am - rescheduled for tonight.

It happens sometimes. Especially when doing business globally.

I'm not talking about that kind of situation, and Aussies generally have a very professional attitude about being on time. I'm talking about calls set up right in the middle of people's day, that over and over people show up late to. In fact, in South and Central America, I have had a serious of weekly calls set up over months at various times on different projects with different people, and invariably, they would be 15+ minutes late for EVERY SINGLE CALL.

On several occasions, this kind of behavior has caused other parties involved in the project to eventually drop out, and move on to partner elsewhere instead.



.

[sperbonzo]

I have - though I have found the same for US but generally they reply with good reason and have a sincere apology. There seems to be a strong distrust from either side both personally and business. I hear from UK, Russia etc. they screw American's around and the same is true for Russia who feel that America's can't be trusted in doing business for the most part.

Is it true for everyone? No - there are some really great people and business's to work with... same as here. I dislike painting a brush for a whole country and prefer just keeping track of those I feel can't be trusted or honest then go from there.

I'm not saying anything whatsoever about trust. I didn't mention it at all, and I don't think about it. I have no issue with trust here. Some people are trustworthy, and some are not, all over the world. Please re-read. I'm talking about being late.








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[AdultKing]

I'm not talking about that kind of situation, and Aussies generally have a very professional attitude about being on time. I'm talking about calls set up right in the middle of people's day, that over and over people show up late to. In fact, in South and Central America, I have had a serious of weekly calls set up over months at various times on different projects with different people, and invariably, they would be 15+ minutes late for EVERY SINGLE CALL

I agree, that would piss me off. My days are always full, to wait 15 minutes for someone to come on to a meeting isn't an option.

[Klen]

Well when it comes to South America,they came from Spain where "doing things slow" is some sort of national sort.In my country being late is also often,tho i personally i am never late unless something is delaying me,i even go earlier to make sure how i will be there in exact second.

[sarettah]

I'm not talking about that kind of situation, and Aussies generally have a very professional attitude about being on time. I'm talking about calls set up right in the middle of people's day, that over and over people show up late to. In fact, in South and Central America, I have had a serious of weekly calls set up over months at various times on different projects with different people, and invariably, they would be 15+ minutes late for EVERY SINGLE CALL.

On several occasions, this kind of behavior has caused other parties involved in the project to eventually drop out, and move on to partner elsewhere instead.



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I had a client like that a while back, was always 15-20 minutes late.

I started telling her a meeting time of half an hour earlier then I would tell everyone else. So she would show up at her usual time and then I would make her wait 5 or 10 minutexs for everyone else to show up. She never even noticed..lol.

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[Rochard]

I am always fifteen minutes early for calls.

Two weeks ago I was a week early. Seems I showed up for a call and no one showed up, and a short later I discovered it was for the following week. Opps.

[sarettah]

I am always fifteen minutes early for calls.

Two weeks ago I was a week early. Seems I showed up for a call and no one showed up, and a short later I discovered it was for the following week. Opps.

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1992-02-04/

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[RummyBoy]

15 minutes is acceptable but if someone doesnt show up and doesnt even explain why. The best policy is to ditch them - because they're failing an important test of protocol.

As you said those people UK, US Chinese, Germans always on time.
I do a lot of business in asia. Go to China and theyre always on time.

Go to India - if someone says "i'll be there in 5 minutes" usually means 1 hour. Or they wont bother to show up or tell you why they didnt show up. Lack of education on what being prompt actually means.

The best way to handle this is that say "We will meet at 5pm exactly."
If they dont show up, call them and ask them whats going on and then decide what to do.

But NEVER wait more than 30/40 minutes - WHAT IS THE POINT?
It's really annoying for me too - so best to develop a system.

[baddog]

Because those are the only countries with reliable transportation?

[mineistaken]

Because those are the only countries with reliable transportation?

Spoken like a stereotypical American

[ilnjscb]

So true - what is hilarious is how angry Germans and UKers get when you are late.

Some places it is a power play, like you all have to be assembled before the VIP arrives.

SA is the worst for this in my experience, though Africans simply don't show up at all.

[faxxaff]

The need to "meet" people is showing proof of genuine weakness in one's personality. That's why people show up late. They mess around and they are having a ball.

[zngb]

Yeah it's a complete lack of respect. I noticed it a lot with Eastern Europe but then again I've had to wait long periods for US contacts too.

[scottybuzz]

pisses me off too.

Try dating a Spanish girl. They are late on purpose.

[American Psycho]

Its called SIESTA

[Lykos]

That depends from person to person not nations.. Am Serbian and am NEVER late... just biz ethics. Don't do to others what you don't want to happen to you!

[Klen]

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1992-02-04/

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Had same situation once,though how it is 7 am while it was in 7pm actually.

[mopek1]

It's part of the culture.

I have South American friends and have been down there on a month long trip and I tell you they are late with EVERYTHING .... dentist, parties, work, etc...

It pisses me off too as I don't like wasting my time.

I remember when the Olympics were held in China that the IOC reported that they were actually ahead of schedule. That is unheard of LOL.

[mineistaken]

That depends from person to person not nations.. Am Serbian and am NEVER late... just biz ethics. Don't do to others what you don't want to happen to you!

Nobody is saying that EVERYONE is like that. Just that from some countries they are more likely to be in one way or another. That is natural. People in South are more relaxed about things, including this. That is just one example. Many things in business are done in a bit different ways depending on the country etc.

[VikingMan]

The state of Florida is the worst. People don't even have enough respect and empathy to call to cancel appointments. They just don't show up. Of course you know that since you live in Florida. That must drive you really nuts.

[milambur]

In general when it comes to organizing, the closer to the equator you go the worse it gets. Cooler minds prevail... ;)

[carpocratian]

It's just a cultural thing. Part of the cost of doing business in some countries.