Behavioral

What would you do if a coworker constantly arrived late to a weekly meeting?

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Expert Answer

Anonymous

4Strong
Firstly, I would like to review my role in this setup, Am I the meeting organiser? Does this person report to me? Is this person critical for this meeting?
If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, then I would take a leading role in resolving this matter of the person being constantly delayed into the meeting.
I would try to understand if this is the only meeting that he is constantly delayed in or others as well, trying to understand if this is a generic behaviour trait of being late or something keeps him being on time for this one.
If it is a generic trait, I would request him to take note of the situation and politely ask him to be on time, as his presence is critical for this meeting and by being on time he is being respectful of his co workers time as well.
If it is just this specific meeting, then I would try to understand the reason behind that, could be that the person has another meeting just before this which could lead to him shuttling between meetings/ or personal commitments like childcare which could lead to this. In those cases, I would try to find an alternate time slot for the meeting

Anonymous

4Strong
I would find a time to speak with the coworker in private, seek to understand his reason for being late, and identify there are any impediments I could help remove. I would then propose any actions to be taken to remove those impediments, and gently reiterate the impact of them being late to the project, people and also to his brand and trust within the team. I would close the meeting by offering my help and continued support to help improve.

Anonymous

3.8Strong
i will try to talk to him first and find out the reason. If he has any issues with the timing and is there a way for him to make it on time. I assess the situation if it is valid reason and temporary i will allow to be late but ask him to communicate clearly that he will be late. If i feel as per company guidelines its not a valid reason i will request him to attend the meeting 

Anonymous

4.4Exceptional
If an employee was consistently late for a weekly meeting, I would start by addressing the situation privately in a respectful and non-confrontational manner. I’d approach them to understand if there are any underlying issues or challenges they’re facing that might be causing the delays. For example, they might be dealing with conflicting priorities or personal matters that are affecting their ability to be punctual. After understanding their side, I’d explain the importance of being on time, especially for team meetings, since punctuality helps ensure that we stay aligned and efficient as a group. I’d offer solutions, such as adjusting the meeting time if that works for the team, or helping them better manage their workload if it’s a scheduling conflict. Ultimately, the goal would be to resolve the situation in a way that maintains team cohesion while helping the employee improve their punctuality without feeling criticized.

Anonymous

4Strong
I’ll first evaluate my role in the meeting. If I am the owner of the meeting I’ll set some time apart to ask if everything is ok starting with a question like. Hey I’ve noticed that you have been joining the meeting late over the last few weeks, is everything ok, or is anything that I can help with?
Depending on the answers to the question and assuming this person is important for the meeting I would consider the possibility of moving the meeting to a better time or maybe just changing the order of the meeting to ensure the person is present to provide updates or to answer questions. If there is no valid reason to getting late to the meeting or if it continues the issue should be escalated to his manager.
When I was managing the Flutter Team I had to deal with a similar situation. A person from infrastructure was not joining the bug triage meetings and he was expected to provide information about lab ongoing issues. I talked to him in one of our 1:1s and asked the reason he was not joining the meetings. It turned out to be a misunderstanding and an issue with how I set up the meeting. I used the team’s mailing group to set up the meeting and because his name was not explicitly called in the meeting agenda they thought they were optional for that meeting. After clearing the misunderstanding they started joining the meeting consistently.

Anonymous

4Strong
Firstly, I would like to review my role in this setup, Am I the meeting organiser? Does this person report to me? Is this person critical for this meeting?
If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, then I would take a leading role in resolving this matter of the person being constantly delayed into the meeting.
I would try to understand if this is the only meeting that he is constantly delayed in or others as well, trying to understand if this is a generic behaviour trait of being late or something keeps him being on time for this one.
If it is a generic trait, I would request him to take note of the situation and politely ask him to be on time, as his presence is critical for this meeting and by being on time he is being respectful of his co workers time as well.
If it is just this specific meeting, then I would try to understand the reason behind that, could be that the person has another meeting just before this which could lead to him shuttling between meetings/ or personal commitments like childcare which could lead to this. In those cases, I would try to find an alternate time slot for the meeting

Anonymous

3.8Strong
I would ask the employee what is the reason for them being late to a scheduled meeting. I would also ask them to always respond to the invite by agreeing to join or declining the invite in the calendar if they are busy at that time and also to inform in advance. If they have some genuine issue to join at the time of that scheduled meeting, I will try to reschedule the meeting. If it's not possible to reschedule due to other teammates availability, I will connect with the employee one on one and brief them about the meeting. If however they are being late for the meeting intentionally or without any important reason, I will inform our seniors if they are doing it again and again.

Anonymous

3.6Strong
I would want to have a conversation with the employee offline. It is important to understand the reason behind it. It may be that the time needs to be adjusted to better accomidate the employee due to outside influences they can't control.

Anonymous

3.6Strong
I would highlight to them that they should respect everyone's time and be on time. If there is a conflict with the schedule, they can decline the meeting, or we can inform them before the meeting so we can adjust the time.

Anonymous

3.6Strong
The co-worker should be asked in a mail why he has become a habitual latecomer. If he/she forwards some argument which is not the office's responsibility, he/she should be warned in writing. If this fails, the issue should be escalated.

Anonymous

3.4Strong
First, we have to consider if this person is really need to participate in the meeting and if the answer is yes. Next step we have to ensure that the information about meeting time is correctly transferred to him by asking him for confirmation or cross-checked in meeting invitation.
Then we have to inform him if he doesn’t want to join the meeting, please inform meeting organizer but if he wants to join the meeting, he have to act professionally to manage to join the meeting on time.

Anonymous

3.2Strong
I would ask if he/she has any problem with the meeting time so we can change it to a more suitable time. 

Anonymous

First, i will ask him the reason behind arriving late, if he gives the valid reason then we will try to resolve his problem if it is possible otherwise we find substitute of him to attend the meeting.
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Interview question asked to Software Engineers, Data Scientists, Technical Program Managers and other roles interviewing at MPL, Boston Scientific, Mitto and others: What would you do if a coworker constantly arrived late to a weekly meeting?.