Ask Lemmy

If I'm hosting 5 minutes early. If I'm attending, 2 minutes early unless I'm the only one attending from my org, in which case exactly on time.

My workweeks are 25 to 50% meetings, the vast majority online. I try to be exactly on time as much as possible, can't afford to be in advance, will notify if I will be more than 3 minutes late. I send a message to participants if they are not all here after a couple of minutes, not to put pressure, but I know it's easy to be concentrating on something and miss the meeting, it happens to me as well.

Zero minutes early to one minute late (for work ones). I hate the virtual meetings, and the software is robust enough I trust it. If it's something else where I have to use my phone (doctor appointment or similar) then more than 5 minutes ahead to make sure I have time to reach out if it isn't working.

1 min early, or right on time. Never late.

5 min early. If you're not 5 min early, you're late.

Honestly, usually it's 4-5 min early: I'll pop in and noodle about prepping whatever, documenting something or just staring out the window a sec to clear my head. I'm usually very satisfied I'm not late by normie standards because being on-time shows a modicum of respect to others. If it's a shit meeting, that's an exception. I have one where I'm noticeably barely-on-time, and everyone points it out.

I'd encourage meetings to lock at the start time if I could, so late joiners wait in the lobby until someone opens the door, and then we'll know whom to heckle.

Three minutes before. No more. No less.

On the dot if I can.

Ha. Bold of you to assume I have some sort of control over these things.
If I join at all, i join whenever the stars align and it occurs to me as something needing to happen.

That being said, I usually intend to join just a couple minutes early.

I shut and lock my door ten minutes before a meeting. Hit the bathroom and then usually log in for a functions check, fix my blinds and pull up the relevant group chat that doesn't have the boss in it.

Organize my notes on my desk, get a coffee or water in front of me. Someone will always be later. I'll sometimes be the first. Let teams let them see that I'm starting it, whatever, everyone knows I'm getting my coffee.

Also, I like to give my colleague a fifteen minute heads up since he'll sometimes forget.

Usually as soon as Teams notifies me of the first person starting the meeting.

How can you not always be the first when youre 5min early, wtf xD

Depends on the context.

• My meeting? Right on time.
• Team meeting? On time.
• A meeting I knew about, was on my calendar, and requires my expertise? Right on time, but a lower priority.
• Something is broken and we're grouping up? Right on time.
• A meeting on my calendar that I don't really need to be in? 2-3 minutes after, I'll finish what I'm currently engaged in or get to a stopping point.
• A meeting I've been invited to with no additional context? 2-5 minutes late.
• A meeting I was invited to with no communication/context that is before/after my normal working hours? If I remember and I'm bored.
• A meeting I was inviting a to outside of my working hours and will start before I come online? Forget about it.

I work for a global corpo, so the last two happen quite a bit. Time is money friend.

If I'm running the meeting, 5 minutes. If it's large group meeting, 2 mins early. If it's 1:1, right on time.

One to two minutes late to most meetings. I don't have time or energy for the BS of "How are you" etc. Let's get down to business.

Caveat is that if it's with a VIP I'll be exactly on time.

I join when the meeting reminder pops up and I click "join", right on time. I don't like small talk, no point in being early.

I join at the exact time it starts. If I join earlier, I may get pulled into unnecessary small-talk platitudes that are like nails on a chalkboard to my depressed-as-shit self.

Five minutes earlier? God damn bro. That's coffee making time.

I join at exactly the designated time. If you wanted me there five minutes earlier, then schedule the meeting five minutes earlier. Don't jerk me around with some expectation that I'm going to do anything other than what you asked for. Also, most of the folks I work with tend to be booked with lots of back to back meetings; so, no one is showing up early anyway. We all show up at the designated time and anyone late can catch up when they show up.

The "early is on time" mentality makes some sense for physical meetings and appointments. For virtual meetings, it just demonstrates that the person has no understanding of how technology works.

On time, even when presenting. Starting early makes other people feel obligated to join early, so I don't do it. No reason to extend the meeting longer than the listed time.

I join anywhere from a few minutes before to a few minutes after, and if I don't want to chit chat I hit the little "coffee break" status and stay on mute.

FWIW I do virtual meetings daily due to 100% remote work.

A minute or two before. Just enough time to ensure my setup is working.

If I'm hosting a presentation, I usually start 15 minutes early so people can connect while I'm semi-afk, with the first slide saying "Presentation will begin shortly. Pour yourself a coffee in the mean time."

Previous presentation I had multiple slides, three I think, each with an example of activities they could probably manage to do before starting.

between on the dot and a few minutes afterwards depending on whos hosting. If i know they're gonna waste time jibber-jabbering at the start I give it a few minutes for that to play out. I don't care about what you did last weekend Janet.

Usually anywhere from 2 to 5min before because my stupid ass laptop has a 50% chance of just forgetting how audio devices work and I have to test them every time.

Usually exactly on time, but if I'm doing something that requires concentration and there's a chance I might lose track of time I might join 5 min earlier so that I don't miss the meeting.

Aren't you always the first 5 min before? I know that the times I joined even a minute or two early I've always been the first.

if im invited then right on time if I host then one minute early, maybe 2. usually. sometimes I have meetings that end 3mins to the next or go over which impact my ability to get to the meeting on time.

Exactly on point, because there's always people early or late. This way I neither have to start it nor be embarresed to be the last.

Also:

A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to

Usually at least an hour early to get a good seat.

My first meeting working in a fully-remote job, I joined a Teams meeting with the whole team (~8 people) 5 minutes early. I wasn't the host, of course.

People were (invisibly) giving me the side eye.

I soon learned that starting the meeting makes a popup appear on everyone's screen saying that the meeting started...and also that a lot of people regularly have back-to-back meetings and can't leave early. (This was mid-pandemic, shortly before it became the norm to end meetings before the hour)

After that, I started joining all virtual meetings either second (by clicking the pop-up that someone else started it), or before XX:01 (or before 1 minute after the meeting time).

In-person, I'll still show up to the meeting room 5 minutes early, or 15 if it's a slow day. But do that too often and people think you're useless, lol

I like arriving early for small talk, instead of having the rushed small talk when the meeting is "supposed" to begin.

Whenever I remember there is a meeting on. Have to keep those damned outlook 15min reminders on screen or I will forget

“A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to”

Exact

In real life meeting most of the value is in the informal side chats that you have just before or just after, in my experience. Unfortunately that basically doesn't happen in virtual meetings, so I join dead on time, or a minute or two in for larger ones.

1-5 minutes late

I like joining 5+ mins early so I can just sit in silence and work while waiting for the meeting to start rather than stressing about needing to lock at the clock (j have adhd and tend to hyperfocus). plus I dont mind a little small talk, but even so no one else on my team seems to want to smalltalk so even if someone else joins early it's pretty quiet

I’ve got so many meetings that I just join whenever it’s started by someone and go about my work until the meeting starts. If I’m not the target audience I’ll go off camera and listen if needed.