In any work environment, being professional and punctual go together. Punctuality is one thing that everyone at work have to practice. However, it’s more important for managers to be prompt as doing so makes it possible for him to create a professional atmosphere for him and his team.

Not all managers are alike. In fact, different managers espouse a variety of working styles from subordinates. Regardless of the style, however, what all managers want is for their subordinates to act professional and be responsible. Nevertheless, is it reasonable for you to count on your subordinates to be professional and punctual if you’re often late coming to the office and attending meetings, and not up to date? As a manager, if you would like your team to be professional, you will have to exercise professionalism in yourself first, and the first step is to be prompt.

Being punctual has a direct effect on the quality of the deliverables of your team. Your job as the manager is to make sure that your work and your team’s work is of good quality. If you often arrive late at work while your subordinates have been there for many hours, it just follows that they are going to clock out sooner than you. You’ll not be able to keep track of how your subordinates work when you are constantly late. Consequently, the quality of their output will suffer. Your subordinates rely on you for reviews for them to continue with their work. A manager who is always late may cause his team many hours of productive work.

Reaching milestones and deadlines are important and a good manager knows this and will endeavor to be punctual. If you are naturally punctual, you’d put in your best effort to deliver all the milestones of a project on time. Your team will consider you as a person who is reliable and dependable.

An environment of shared trust is also established by punctuality. It is not unheard of for managers to experience unavoidable situations which cause a delay in handing in projects. However, if you have established a reputation for finishing projects on time, the higher ups are not likely to question you if you are late in delivering a project. They’d assume that you have a legitimate problem that is causing the delay.

Practicing punctuality fosters teamwork and camaraderie between you and your team. If the manager is prompt, the team also gets into the routine of coming on time. If you and your subordinates often get to work and leave for work at about the same time, you’re more likely to have more interactions and time to bond.

There are lots of benefits to practicing punctuality at work, particularly when you are a manager. If you’re a manager and if you prefer your team to be responsible, dependable, and reliable then you will first have to observe what you preach, and you can start by being a prompt manager!