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Starting biz meetings at :35 or :05. Not on the half hr.


shootingstar

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He's not a manager and I've met with this employee several times over the last 3 months.  He never starts a meeting on the half hr. Always issues Outlook /Teams invite 5 minutes after the half hr.

Kinda silly.  Even if it's just he and I.  Other times there's several others joining us like today. He still shows his odd habit.

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Gives folks 5 minutes for pee breaks or to grab a coffee between meetings.

I used to try to only schedule 25 or 55 min blocks for meetings, but that is probably less effective than having that gap at the beginning.  If it is my meeting, though, I am finishing it on time or early if possible.

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They have it backwards. In Toastmasters we advertised the meeting from 7-9PM, and arrive early if going to order food. Ordering food was optional but as long as the group ordered at least $50, we got the separate dining/meeting room at Ihop for free - and had no problem meeting that requirement. While regulars knew this, the advertised start time of 7:00 was bogus as the meeting called to attention actually started at 7:06. This avoided the stragglers coming in late and interrupting which the more senior regulars lead with the discipline not to do. Most people arrived by 6:55 and had settling and socialization time before the meeting was called to order. 

We were usually finished around 8:30 but had the flexibility to go long and still be within advertised time.

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3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

He's not a manager and I've met with this employee several times over the last 3 months.  He never starts a meeting on the half hr. Always issues Outlook /Teams invite 5 minutes after the half hr.

Kinda silly.  Even if it's just he and I.  Other times there's several others joining us like today. He still shows his odd habit.

I will do this if I am scheduled back to back go back.  Especially if zoom

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1 minute ago, scottwantstoride said:

I get it - people always seem to login at the last minute and if they have any issues - then they are late - just a 5 minute grace period.

Agreed or a needed bio break. But once it hits the stated time, I start. I

do not wait For stragglers. 

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This :05 thing is seldom done for most meetings I've attended where I work.  I participate on average 10 meetings/wk. from 1/2 hr. to 1.5 hrs. each. Invitations from wide range of depts.  Meeting organizer usually starts anyway on time. I agree about problem of back-to-back meetings.  

I think bio breaks actually sometimes occur during a meeting especially working from home.  A person just slips away and not say anything.

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5 hours ago, Zephyr said:

Have you asked him why?

He said to start on time. Zephyr he is not a manager/nor supervisor with direct reports nor does he run much multi-dept. meetings. Our corporate culture does forgive people dropping in 2-5 min. late. No big deal.

Do we start on time.. with him seheduled @:05?  After 1-2 min. wait.

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Don't get too worried about wrong-time starts or ends: it can drive you crazy.  Like Mike.

I had a high school student with psychological problems who I first met when he ran on the cross country team I coached.  Sometimes kids would come back from a run and say something like, "Michael is speaking in tongues," and my asst. coach and I would look at each other, roll our eyes, then decide which one of us was going to deal with Mike this time.  My asst. coach, Matt, was a special ed. teacher and had some skills handling unusual psychological problems and he got the tricky episodes.

So, by the time Mike became my chemistry student the following year, I was prepared to deal with him in the classroom.

One day, when the bell to end classes rang, Mike began yelling "No! No! No!" to the kids leaving my classroom.  When I asked Mike what was wrong, he tapped his watch and replied, "The bell rang 15 seconds early!  Why can't they get it right?"

After getting nowhere asking Mike why he objected to getting out of class early, I explained to Mike that the bells were controlled by an old system, a dial that rotated once every 24 hours where pegs were pushed into holes representing the times when the bell was supposed to ring.  If the peg wasn't put in perfectly straight or it had a nick on a corner, the bells could be some seconds early or late.  I told Mike it was one of the variables of life he couldn't change that was of no significant consequence and he was going to have to learn to not pay attention to.

He never had a fit about the bell in my class again, but other teachers would ask me on occasion, "What's his problem with the school's bells?"

So, 5 minutes after the hour or half hour?  It's one of the variables of life that, if you can't change it, is of no significant consequence and it's best to learn to not pay attention to it.

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