Chronemics is the study of time in combination with communication. The way people view and handle time creates nonverbal cues in both verbal and nonverbal communication and affects the communication itself. There are several circumstances requiring one to be on time during some occasions. The first momentous occasion where one is expected to be early is meetings. Ideally, one should be at least five minutes early for meetings, especially official work-related meetings. Another ideal circumstance where one is expected to be early is appointments (Gerpott et al., 2019). You have to be early for appointments, or they will have to be rescheduled since professionals work strictly on time.
There is no time when arriving late for anything is good. However, casual times when minutes late will be reasonable since those occasions are not very strict on time (Gerpott et al., 2019). A night out with friends is one of the times when one can be five to fifteen minutes late, although one is expected to call or text their colleagues when they are extra late. Parties and major gatherings are other times one can be approximately twenty and forty minutes late, respectively.
Finally, five to fifteen minutes is the standard time to wait if the other person is late. This time varies from occasion to occasion since not all meetings are the same. In an official meeting like an interview, five minutes is the maximum time to wait. This is because most official events operate on tight schedules. Another occasion that one can be late is a class group project meeting. In this case, a student can wait for others for much longer, up to fifteen minutes, since they are not that professional. A date is an informal occasion where people try to impress another person. Keeping time, in this case, may show punctuality to the person you intend to spend most of your time with, whereas waiting for them when they are late may show your patience. In this case, people may not be late or stay for as long as possible to show their patience. The difference in how long one can wait for the other in case they are late is brought about by the purpose and intentions of the meeting, as shown in the different scenarios above.
Reference
Gerpott, F. H., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Voelpel, S. C., & Van Vugt, M. (2019). It’s not just what is said, but when it’s said: A temporal account of verbal behaviors and emergent leadership in self-managed teams. Academy of Management Journal, 62(3), 717-738. Web.