Good Professional Habit - Punctuality

Imagine

- You are at railway station or bus stand and you see you train or bus arriving and departing as per the time table.

- You are at award ceremony and chief guest arrives at the designated time.

- You have given appointment and visitor arrives 5 min before scheduled time of appointment.

- You lead an office and all your team members walk in on or before 8.45 am

If you live in India, you would realize that the above scenarios are more of exception than rule here. We probable do not realize the importance of this professional habit which is considered indispensable by every developed nation and organization.

To achieve 100% compliance to Time Punctuality, this challenge needs to be tackled at 3 levels,

- Making people understand the importance

- Teach them time management to achieve this Time Punctuality.

- Display zero tolerance in Professional work environments.

1. Understanding the importance of Punctuality

Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously-designated time.

To realize the value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize the value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute:
Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize the value of one second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Time waits for no one.

When someone does not comply with the punctuality need, he or she subconsciously displays following characteristics:

1. Disregard and disrespect towards the person who is kept waiting.

2. Incapability or difficulty in handling activities (personal or professional) while adhering to given timelines.

3. Disregard for important professional habit of punctuality which is considered indispensable by every developed nation and organization.

2. Time Management

- Set clear goal: Note down the activities & appointments that you would never want to miss. Spend sometime telling yourself how important it is for you.

- Make your action plan: Effective planning is most effective tool against most of the failures. Spend sometime understanding the parameters involved if you want to achieve your punctuality goal. For example you have to reach your customer at some designated time. Plan your route. Find out time required. Start early.

- Take right actions: At any given time, you have choice about what to do. Check the duration you spend on that last phone call. Was it that necessary. Likewise you need to remain conscious about every second that you are utilizing. Make sure that you don’t spend it in way that you repent later.

- Keep list: Always jot down the actions that you need to take in a list and keep it in your pocket. Go through it frequently so that you know what you are expected to do next.

3. Zero tolerance culture.

- Anything that you tolerate without making noise becomes a permanent habit. Talk to everyone about around you about Punctuality. Do not be flexible with yourself.

- When dealing with others, be quick in expressing your displeasure for having to wait because someone else does not understands importance and respects your time.

Let us all come together to make punctuality Hallmark of Indians.