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?

I was all set to tell you YABU until you mentioned the multiple teams and time zones. I work in a similar environment and am often that dickhead putting in meetings at unsociable times. My colleagues understand, though, and I give enough warning and thanks etc. Without the timezone issue I'd say put it back to 9.30. Even those without the school run appreciate the first half hour of the day for coffee and a check on emails/diary.

Oh yes! This "real world" again.
Who knew it was such a doss?

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

Well it depends doesn't it?

If it's constant and the client needs a lot of access then that is how things work in the real world.

Dialling in at 9am is not unreasonable at all. I have dialled i to client calls from the most bizarre places (including a swimming pool during the summer ). No reason why she can't dial in

@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?

might just find themselves overlooked for any promotions or other jobs in future

Always been the way, always will be. I assume that people that don't go the extra mile by attending the early and the very late meetings make the decision to remain at the level they are currently at.

@MiddleParking

Everyone thinks you’re a dickhead for putting in a weekly 9am call, just so you know.

This!

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.

So why are you asking if YABU, if you have already made up your mind ?

There are advantages and disadvantages of home working - one BIG advantage for many people is that they can be a bit more flexible with their hours. Being able to start at 9.15 rather than 9am makes such a HUGE difference to a parent - in terms of cost, organisation, and job satisfaction as a whole, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot not to set the meeting up for 9.15 or 9.30 instead, just to prove some sort of a point.

Its not a standard working time for me - in my organisation meetings just aren't arranged for 9am because it's acknowledged that people have other responsibilities between 08.30 - 9.30

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.

Have you explained this? Had a conversation with the team member about what is possible. Can they dial from a mobile. They may not have thought about what’s actually possible.

I think yanbu simply because flexibility should work both ways. You don't schedule regular meetings at 9am to facilitate school runs but equally people should make an effort to attend occasional meetings that can't be rescheduled.

I've attended 8am meetings sitting in the car after the school run and 3pm meetings waiting for the kids in the playground. It's the price I've got to pay for the no-questions-asked free time for sports days, parents evenings, picking up kids from school or taking them to activities, wfh whenever I want.

@MonthofMondays

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?

In another life, I used to have regular meetings at 10:30 PM (22:30) because that was the end of the day in California and the start of the day in Tokyo. If someone in Tokyo wanted to put it back 30 mins, it would be finishing at 1 AM. So, yes, that half hour would make a massive difference to me when I had to be in the office for 8 AM!

10am fan here. Adapting one of my favourite lines from Red Dwarf: Lister, on art college: "They had lectures like first thing in the afternoon morning. We're talking half past twelve 9am every (Mon)day. Who's together by then? You can still taste the toothpaste." ;)

Jo

@Postitmug Saying "yeah but you have holidays" is like me saying, "you have weekends."
They're unpaid and therefore irrelevant.

@BiLuminous, if my day officially starts at 10 to 9 (or whenever) as the children start, then every teacher I know stArts around an hour before then. Unpaid. That's the time to "settle in" ffs and get yourself your coffee.

You are the problem.

If it's a weekly call, it's not urgent. It is extremely bad practice to schedule a meeting at 9am. What if someone's train is cancelled?

If your team are taking their kids to school, it's obvious that they are permitted to start a bit later. Companies generally have core hours, which apply to everyone. You don't get to choose the core hours you'd prefer.

We all work with someone like you. In my experience, people like you are generally not very good at your job and are a hindrance to the team.

You get what you give. If that's 0 flexibility then that's what you get back.

You whaaat now?!
The OP is "not very good at her job and probably a hindrance to the team" and not the one who's dossing out of work commitments to do the school run on paid company time?
Jesus, this thread is an eye-opener to some appalling attitudes towards the workplace!

I think if you have a lot of team members wfh and doing school drop-offs then its fairly obvious that 9am is going to be problematic for some of them as a default.

If you want it to start at that time they should be able to make themselves available given a bit of planning to incorporate childcare etc. If you've given them warning and they're still flaking out then YANBU. But I do slightly question why it has to be slap bang in the middle of the school run.

It's hard to gauge without knowledge of the team's specific needs and work patterns though.

[quote CallmeHendricks]@Postitmug unpaid holidays, remember. [/quote]
It's splitting hairs really to say that. They earn what they earn over the course of a year, and one of the (shamefully few, in my opinion) benefits is the extended non-working time during school holidays.

I'm absolutely not a teacher basher. I think their salaries are a disgrace. I just think it's a bit silly to wade into a thread about corporate meetings with the argument "It's so much worse being a teacher!", because you're not comparing like with like.

"Not comparing like with like."

Clearly.

YABU
Regardless of flexitime/core or contracted hours, a regular 9am meeting is not necessary, especially if you would like the whole team to attend.

9.30am is reasonable to give people time to do school runs, log on, read emails received when offline or for people who find it easier to conduct their last leg of their commute after 9am.

The odd 9am meeting when a later time is not possible is okay, in addition to even earlier ad hoc meetings/training courses.

I understand re. the time zones, but this will be a regular problem if you want the whole team to attend. What’s the alternative? - only employ staff without children or other caring responsibilities!??

I work in a very small team for a flexible organisation with core hours. I am contracted to work school hours but often work longer hours, including on the weekend in order to get the job done.

@TheKeatingFive

Sorry, I have no idea why you were quoted in my last post. How odd.

@CallmeHendricks

"Not comparing like with like."

Clearly.

Ok, never mind. What do you want me to say? Yes, all people who are not teachers get paid handsomely for every hour they work and should be grateful for the 20 or so days holiday a year they are granted, therefore they should all be at their desks at 7.30am because that's when teachers clock in?

I was an idiot to hope for intelligent debate on this point.

I couldn’t care less where they dial in from, but do expect them to be available at 9am for it.

How is this so hard?

What you expect doesn't matter, what matters is what's in the staff contract.

If your contract doesn't specify working hours then hopefully the wfh home policy is clear on when staff are expected to be available.

If that's not the case and your company hours are completely flexible then you can't enforce different expectations on your team.

No-one on here knows your companies policies, you need to find out what they are.

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.

Umm no. If you work in any one of a thousand industries where you'd like to make sure things are OK for the weekend, or on call staff, or clear the last emails, or rocks in the corner people call at 4pm Friday to report an emergency they've had since Wednesday and you have a statutory or insurance or safety duty to deal with.

I never 'clock off early' on a Friday. I am frequently there late because of annoying Friday meetings which eat into actual work.

My work once asked us to be in at 7.30am for a meeting (we don't usually have meetings)
The person holding the meeting didn't turn up. There were a LOT of irritated people that day!