«  I am on my way ! »

«  The traffic is bad !»

«  I am across the street, don’t you see me ? »

As Africans, we heard this at least once in our life. 

Recently, I was supposed to have a Skype Interview with one of the big brands in Ivory Coast. I woke up early, got my suit on, did my homework and 30 min early I was ready in front of my computer waiting for the call.

10:00 am,, no sign of the recruiter, even though he was online.

10:05 am,, I send a message, still no response.

10:15 am, another one, still nothing.

11:00 am, nada, nothing, rien.

and at 11:30 am, I received a call, without apologizing he started: We had an issue with the internet ( funny enough it was an internet provider), but we can start now.

During this hour, waiting on the interviewer, I had the time to reconsider this position. It’s true that as recent graduates we are eager for job opportunities and ready to settle down with whoever is willing to take us. We tend to be under pressure because we need money, experience and receive constant reminders from our friends and relatives. We are so desperate to get a job that we often don’t think about whether this company the right fit for us or are we the right person for them. What happened said a lot on the individual but also the company.

First, he had strictly no consideration for my time nor my person, and there was no protocol in the business. Everyone has his personal objectives, and I frankly don’t see myself working in an environment where people are not able to timely collaborate and put every project on a tight deadline or don’t even deliver. I understand that real issues might happen, but it’s important, to be honest enough and tell the person up front.

I had to wait 2 hours at a coffee shop because he thought I wasn't going to be on time. Click To Tweet

I had several stories of the kind where I had to wait for 2 hours at a coffee shop just because the guy thought I wasn’t going to be on time. Or standing at a bus stop for an hour waiting for someone claiming to be across the street, while she was taking her shower. I understand that we can be fashionably late for an event, but in a business setting, that’s intolerable especially without notice.

I read somewhere that the more someone waits for you, the more you feel important and that being late is part of our african culture. So because this is part of our culture we just have to deal with it and not change or educate people about it? It is like having someone who steals, and we find the act of stealing reasonable, just because he is from a thief family.

I recently saw an app called: Heure Africaine. It’s an app that allows you to send a ridiculous excuse to someone while they are waiting for you. While I like the concept, and I would probably use it with my friends, I’m still wondering how we got to this point.

I read somewhere being late is part of our african culture Click To Tweet

We all need to be agents of change and “educate” each other. If you don’t respect my time how are you even going to respect me? We need to start educating our friends, family, and co-workers on the importance of time. If they don’t bother to show up on time: Start without them, leave a 30 min window before and let them know that you are leaving the appointment venue. After a while, they will understand that they can’t play with your time.

Many times I went to concerts or events in my native city where organizers were running late on schedule. Most of the time, they would blame the artists, technicians, the suppliers, and other vendors. As a serious company, why don’t you start inserting “late clause” in your contracts? If you got burned by the fire at least once, you know not to put your hands in it no matter how bright is the light.

We all need to learn the hard way that time is money. If one supplier knows that for being an hour late he might not receive 20% of his commission or miss further contracts, do you think he will still be late? Accidents also might happen, but it’s the duty of every event planner to set an hour or more in their schedule to make sure everything is ready.

I hope this article will awaken people’s minds and change the way they think.

Are you the type to always arrive on time or arrive late? Please let me know if you ever experienced the similar situation, and how you reacted in the comments. It might help someone.