AIBU to think that team should be available at 9am for meetings?

[Overthebow]

I set up a weekly client meeting for my project team at 9am. I have had a decline from a key team member as it clashes with school drop of time. AIBU to think that 9am is a standard working time and my team should be available to attend important client calls at this time, unless they have a formal working hours agreement in place?

Are they vital to the meeting? Or can you just take notes and fill the employee in after the fact? Flexibly is key in today's workplace.

@Pizzapizzaz

Wow, I genuinely can’t believe the amount of people who think 9am meetings are unacceptable, I have them literally every day and have done my whole career. I wouldn’t even think twice about suggesting one unless I knew people had to travel from their normal work place.

If I'm paid from 9-5, a 9am meeting means I need to start work early to be fully logged on and ready to go for 9am. Fine for a one-off but on the regular? No way. That extra time every day adds up.

Especially if it was happening in person rather than virtually, as I'd have to leave my house even earlier and be at the office in plenty of time to head over to the meeting space.

It's an absolute dick move to schedule a meeting before 9:30 if people start at 9.

I have a weekly 9am team meeting and yes it is a dick move. We are contracted to start at 9:30 so it’s outside of working hours. We were asked for feedback and all said we want the meeting to be later. It’s still at 9am.

We’re still mostly WFH but being encouraged to go to the office. The woman who scheduled it can’t work out why none of us want to do hideous commutes to our horrible office on the days we have the 9am meeting. Doesn’t seem like rocket science to me 🙄

Yabu. It's 15 minutes. It's making life easier for someone. Why not compromise?
I understand the timezone issue but does 15 minutes really make a difference to them?

Yes @Pottedpalm.
I'm finally seeing what people mean by "working in the real world," when they take a pop at teachers. In our wildest dreams could we start at 9.30.

If company policy is WFH, yes, YABU.

@MrsSkylerWhite

If company policy is WFH, yes, YABU.

For calls / zooms they can join from home? Why?

Without contracted core hours there is fuck all you can do about this.

Either change the meeting time, or accept that this team member will not be available.

Working hours are 9-5. I am at work at 9am and I expect to have a reply if I have a problem. I am working for a private sector though so the rules are normal. I don't care about school drop off times.

@KeyboardWorriers

I don't know why people think this is a new thing caused by the pandemic.

I have climbed a long way up the career ladder whilst working 9.30-2.30. I picked up the rest of the work when the children were in bed. I kept clients happy, kept the directors happy, turned out high quality work and if a meeting really had to be outside those hours I found a way to make it work.

As a manager of a big team now, I am far more interested in output/conduct/ etc than what time people clock in and out.

Absolutely this.

I suspect there’s a difference between if that 9am meeting is crucial for that particular staff member weekly or just presenteeism culture.

If it was crucial there’d be more of a discussion/understanding between client/employee/manager.

I’d never ‘decline’ a 9am meeting I knew was crucial without discussion or problem-solving.

So either the colleague in question isn’t crucial to the meeting, or they’re not invested enough to problem-solve.

Both are a manager issue in different ways.

@CallmeHendricks

Yes *@Pottedpalm*. I'm finally seeing what people mean by "working in the real world," when they take a pop at teachers. In our wildest dreams could we start at 9.30.

You're not comparing apples with apples. All the teachers I know work long hours during term time. But they have school holidays largely free. Weeks and weeks with their children that I envy. Swings and roundabouts, different worlds, and so on.

@Lightswitch123

Wow.

This thread.is eye opening.

9am seems like a pretty decent start time.

Lots of companies start much earlier than this.

The business should run around the client preference not the school run.

This! If the client needs a 9 am call, that should come first. Internal meetings are different.

I work for a European company and regularly have 8am uk time/9am CET calls and meetings, and my contractural hours are 9-5.30. It's nothing new in my company.

@CallmeHendricks

Yes *@Pottedpalm*. I'm finally seeing what people mean by "working in the real world," when they take a pop at teachers. In our wildest dreams could we start at 9.30.

Imagine strolling in dead on 8:40 ( start of first lesson in my school), and then switching on the computer and popping to the kitchen to make coffee.. The odd time when bad traffic meant I wasn't in school before 7:45 I was chasing my tail all day. But hey … out the door at 4, no? No.

It's one thing wanting compromise/flexibility from your employer, but quite another expecting that from clients.

If you have team members who are consistently not available during normal working hours, that's not necessarily going to fly with all clients (it certainly wouldn't in my sector) and ultimately they'll vote with their feet.

No one in my large office starts work after 9am. If a client wants a 9am meeting that it should happen

@Postitmug unpaid holidays, remember.

@ItsDisneyBitch

My boss likes to call a meeting at 4.30 on a Friday. That’s a dick move.

Only if you have agreed shorter hours on a Friday.

There’s a lot of talk on this thread about flexibility and goodwill, but with a few exceptions it seems very one sided. People don’t seem to want early meetings or late afternoon meetings.

The only reason I can see that people might object to a 4.30pm meeting on a Friday would be that they don't intend to be working at that time and fancy clocking off early.

@CallmeHendricks

Yes *@Pottedpalm*. I'm finally seeing what people mean by "working in the real world," when they take a pop at teachers. In our wildest dreams could we start at 9.30.

Huh? Of course no teacher could start at that time when school starts earlier. It's a bit of a moot point and just an excuse to talk about how hard you have it compared to others. It's boring

YABU. I automatically decline any meeting invite for 9am, unless I'm messaged to say this is the ONLY available time.

Just move it to 9:15am. Give people a chance to settle in for the day.

@Overthebow

I’m not asking people to be at the office for the meeting. I couldn’t care less where they dial in from, but do expect them to be available at 9am for it.

Well, that's tough shit if this person has to get their kid to school on time. What do you think this person views as more important?

Employers are going to need to learn - and quickly - that this is how things are headed.

Employers are going to need to learn - and quickly - that this is how things are headed.

And if their clients decide to take their business elsewhere as a result, then what?

Yes, you're absolutely right.

ffs

@SusieBob And the employee who makes it plain that they think the school run is more important than a client meeting and a job that presumably pays the mortgage
might just find themselves overlooked for any promotions or other jobs in future.
How about doing what the rest of us do and source some wrap around childcare?

@TheKeatingFive

Employers are going to need to learn - and quickly - that this is how things are headed.

And if their clients decide to take their business elsewhere as a result, then what?

"The supplier who we chose after 6 months of contract negotiations and due dilligence says that one member of the team can't make a 9am meeting".

"Shit, better cancel the whole deal and start all over again".

Yeah... that's not how things work in the real worold.