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I was raised as someone who is never late. Being late is disrespectful and telling the other person that their time isn't as important as yours. Unfortunately, some people are always late. Whether it is on purpose or a subconscious thing, it is usually a control thing. She may be trying to tell you she is more important than you and she is in charge. Others that are farther down the chain may be late as a way of having some control of the situation.
She may have been stuck in another meeting, but in that case, she should have apologized when she arrived to your meeting.
If she is late to your next meeting, your response should depend on whether you will be meeting with her on a regular basis. If this is your last meeting with her, let it go. If you will be meeting on a regular basis, you may want to say something along the lines of "I see that you have a busy schedule. To avoid wasting company time and money by me sitting here when you are unavoidably delayed, maybe when we have a meeting scheduled you can just give me a call to let me know when you are on the way to our meeting and I can meet you then." I am sure you can word it better, but try to say that you see she is late every time. At the same time make it sound like you sympathize with her busy schedule and you don't want to waste company resources by waiting for her when you could be doing something productive. You are just looking out for the company's best interest .
She should have apologized. But that is it. Don't take it as a personal insult. This happens constantly at my company. You get stuck in a meeting with higher level people and dont have much choice.
Showing up late is a lot more unprofessional than venting.
I think you've got it backwards!
Running a little late is an easily forgivable sin - everyone does it at some point - especially busy people. But venting? At work? About the people you work with? That's something you should avoid doing ever. There's just no good that can come from venting about your co-workers - especially when they're up the food chain from you.
Bottom line, you should probably expect to wait for her occasionally. It may not be polite, but if someone "more important" than you demands some of her time, she's most likely going to take care of them, and make you wait. Just the way it is...
Running a little late is an easily forgivable sin - everyone does it at some point - especially busy people. But venting? At work? About the people you work with? That's something you should avoid doing ever. There's just no good that can come from venting about your co-workers - especially when they're up the food chain from you.
Bottom line, you should probably expect to wait for her occasionally. It may not be polite, but if someone "more important" than you demands some of her time, she's most likely going to take care of them, and make you wait. Just the way it is...
Wait a second...showing up late, wasting payroll and money is worse than finding out that co-workers that work with have had the same experience too? No one should have to babysit and I think the ones on the defensive must be those that like to arrive late for meetings...so hopefully people realize that it isn't always all about them. Busy people should be allowed to be late...tell that to a flight you are trying to catch.
Wait a second...showing up late, wasting payroll and money is worse than finding out that co-workers that work with have had the same experience too? No one should have to babysit and I think the ones on the defensive must be those that like to arrive late for meetings...so hopefully people realize that it isn't always all about them. Busy people should be allowed to be late...tell that to a flight you are trying to catch.
I detest when people are late, but I do agree with the others that the venting is actually less professional than being late. Neither are good, but venting to your coworkers is perceived as much worse. No one in power likes a gossip. They think that if you have time to gossip/vent, you have time to get more work done and you are wasting company time (even if you are on lunch or break). Those higher-ups can relate to the person who was late to a meeting. They have probably been late to plenty of meetings due to other meetings running long. And since you have a blackberry, you should be able to get at least a little work done while you are waiting for the late person.
I am on your side. I am not saying I agree with the above perception, but it is there. I do think it is unprofessional to be late to a meeting, but it is worse to be labeled a gossip or a grump through your venting. That can be career suicide.
10 a.m. isn't a usual time people come to work - so traffic would not be a factor. She comes in around 8:30 a.m. Showing up late is a lot more unprofessional than venting. Everyone has a blackberry so she could send a quick note that she is running late. The thing that bugs me is that she doesn't even apologize...
Don't most of us apologize if we are running late to those waiting on us? Who cares about the other meetings? Don't schedule meetings back to back if you have issues with timeliness...it is more about organization and respect. I like to have at least a 30 minute buffer between meetings for this very reason and I am never late. No matter if I am meeting with the President of the company or one of my employees.
Then you are lucky you can build time into your schedule for a 30min buffer. Most of my day is booked with meetings. Some run long and some don't. I even scedule a reoccurring meeting for my lunch break although I don't always get to use it. I'm at a sr. Manager level or director level depending on department and even I know that sometimes people can't prevent meeting that run over.
I give people ten minutes if they dint show I cancel and reschedule. No skin off of my back and usually I'm happy for the extra time given back to my day
Wait a second...showing up late, wasting payroll and money is worse than finding out that co-workers that work with have had the same experience too? No one should have to babysit and I think the ones on the defensive must be those that like to arrive late for meetings...so hopefully people realize that it isn't always all about them. Busy people should be allowed to be late...tell that to a flight you are trying to catch.
Something seems to be going over your head. When you badmouth coworkers, and especially coworkers who have more pull than you, it ends up going right back to them.
Just because you think you have some friends at work that you think you can confide in, you have no idea who will run their mouth later.
Sure these people may agree with you and smile in your face, I guarantee you it will get back to this woman.
Wait a second...showing up late, wasting payroll and money is worse than finding out that co-workers that work with have had the same experience too?
Wasting payroll? Can't you multitask? You have a blackberry. You could check your emails, etc.
Gossiping is extremely unprofessional. This person is senior to you. If she gets wind of your whining, it could hurt your career.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alley01
No one should have to babysit and I think the ones on the defensive must be those that like to arrive late for meetings...so hopefully people realize that it isn't always all about them. Busy people should be allowed to be late...tell that to a flight you are trying to catch.
Don't be childish and accuse us of being late. You're the one who is sounding like it's all about you.
You feel disrespected. You need to get over yourself and realize it's not all about you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alley01
10 a.m. isn't a usual time people come to work - so traffic would not be a factor. She comes in around 8:30 a.m. Showing up late is a lot more unprofessional than venting. Everyone has a blackberry so she could send a quick note that she is running late. The thing that bugs me is that she doesn't even apologize...
As I've already pointed out, she could be delayed in a meeting with a senior executive. She would be a fool to play with her blackberry while in an important meeting if the moment isn't appropriate---she could be the person speaking or listening attentively, etc.
Wasting payroll? Can't you multitask? You have a blackberry. You could check your emails, etc.
Gossiping is extremely unprofessional. This person is senior to you. If she gets wind of your whining, it could hurt your career.
Don't be childish and accuse us of being late. You're the one who is sounding like it's all about you.
You feel disrespected. You need to get over yourself and realize it's not all about you.
As I've already pointed out, she could be delayed in a meeting with a senior executive. She would be a fool to play with her blackberry while in an important meeting if the moment isn't appropriate---she could be the person speaking or listening attentively, etc.
Very interesting point of view... bottom line is this...regardless of who she is or how important she may seem to be...being late, w/out apologizing, is simply rude and i nconsiderate. It is a good indication of how she runs her department and how she feels about the value of others. My suggestion to the OP would be, in the future, to either email her, page her or call her prior to the meeting to confirm the time. That will give this very busy person a chance to compose herself and advise of the meeting time.
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No one should have to babysit and I think the ones on the defensive must be those that like to arrive late for meetings...so hopefully people realize that it isn't always all about them. Busy people should be allowed to be late...tell that to a flight you are trying to catch. 
Who cares about the other meetings? Don't schedule meetings back to back if you have issues with timeliness...it is more about organization and respect. I like to have at least a 30 minute buffer between meetings for this very reason and I am never late. No matter if I am meeting with the President of the company or one of my employees.
Wow...
