Did you arrive late to a meeting yet again?

Are you looking for ways to successfully navigate your way through a challenging time management situation?

You hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it’s happened.

You’re late to your meeting.

How frustrating and embarrassing is that?

You’re late, so you might as well throw up your hands in defeat, and take as much time as you need, right?

In this post, you’ll find several practical tips to help you manage your time effectively after arriving late to meeting.

As strange as this may seem, it is possible to waste time after you arrive late to a meeting.

It all has to do with how you handle or manage your lateness.

Make use of the following tips the next time you find yourself arriving late to a meeting or appointment.

Don’t be a time drain for others.

While you may have had a late arrival, you don’t need to turn your lateness into a highly obvious, or even painful scene.

Sneaking around a flip chart easel or tiptoeing your way along the perimeter of a conference room won’t win you any bonus points with your fellow meeting participants. 

Okay, so you arrived late to the meeting. Things happen. What’s done is done.

You don’t have to draw any more attention to yourself.

Find an empty seat or place to sit and get yourself settled in as soon as possible.

Stop telling stories.  

Do you defend your latenesses with detailed stories? Do you go on at length about the massive traffic jam you encountered on the highway, the incredible train delay, or the inconvenient bus accident?

If so, you might want to give up this habit. You really don’t have to go into detail as to why you are late.   

It’s a waste of time for you and everyone else at the meeting. Plus, it breaks up the flow of the entire meeting.

It is important, however, that you quickly extend your apologies to the parties involved after the meeting has concluded.

State the obvious and end it at that. You can say something brief like, “My apologies for being late.”

Make use of the time available to you now. 

Arriving late to a meeting doesn’t absolve you from working, participating, or giving others your attention, and time.

You successfully made it to the meeting; so why not contribute to it? Don’t let your lateness dictate whether or not you should speak your mind.

How can you make the most out of where you are, right here, and now? What ideas or insights can you bring to the meeting? Don’t be shy! Your thoughts, comments, ideas, and feedback are valuable.

How about you? What do you think is the most important way to manage your time when you’re late to a meeting? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!