Why Using A Meeting Timer Is The Secret Weapon For Instantly Better Meetings

Why Using A Meeting Timer Is The Secret Weapon For Instantly Better Meetings

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Are you tired of those useless, never-ending meetings? Have you had a terrible meeting today?  You are not alone, but there is a better way.

Employees are wasting up to 2 years of their lives sitting in useless meetings and no wonder as three-quarters of people have never received any formal training on how to conduct a meeting.

Meetings are currently facing a renewed backlash with some high-profile companies sharing their loath for them. Elon Musk recently sent an email to Tesla employees telling them to just walk out of bad meetings and that excessive meetings were the blight of big companies.

His advice is to keep them short and infrequent. But in a world where it is ever easier to schedule meetings, how can we keep productive in the ones that are necessary?

Why Should You Be Using A Meeting Timer? Because All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

It is interesting to see people when they are in an internal corporate meeting.  Everyone hates them, yet most are just resigned to the fact that they have to be there.  It seems like no one is linking the fact that if they take control and leave this meeting early, they can get home to their kids, go to the gym, work on their side hustle or, in fact, anything that they complain they do not have time for.

Perhaps this is why companies are now moving towards timing their meetings. Samsung recently said that they are trying to save wasted time by incorporating meeting timers as a push towards a 'work smart' culture.

Google has long used a time timer as to make the time in meetings "visible and tangible, so it changes the way people think about time passing."

So Which Meeting Countdown Timer Should You Use? Meeting Timer Software Or Hardware?

Apart from just using a clock, which timer should you be using? The main decision boils down to whether you want to use software or hardware.

There are a few different timing solutions available from Amazon, with the Time Timer being the most simple and visual.

If you are running more complicated large meetings such as events, then you might need professional hardware to control the time on behalf of another speaker such as this one from Kettner Creative.

If you want to keep on track yourself or want the ease of not carrying a physical timer everywhere with you then there are some PC based timers that could help as well as a slew of countdown timers as phone apps.

How Using A Meeting Agenda Timer Can Be Even Better

The trouble with all the timers above is that they do not help you during the meeting.  The advice to 'start on time, stay on time, stick to the agenda and end on time' is always in the top 5 ways to make meetings better, but as Yogi Berra says, "in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."

Staying on time is easier said than done.  Especially if you are the one running the meeting, trying to keep time and taking notes.  When things inevitably go awry, it can be an impossible mental arithmetic task to work out how to get back on track.

MeeTime was an app designed specifically for timing meetings. MeeTime will start when the meeting is supposed to start. If you are behind, guess what?  You're behind. However, MeeTime will help keep you on track with beautiful visuals showing how much time is left and who is on point for each section of the meeting. Plus, it is easier than ever to finish a meeting on time with MeeTime.  Should things not go to plan, the "Auto time remaining" setting automatically apportions over/under-runs across the remainder of the agenda.

Do People Like Me At Real Businesses Use MeeTime Meeting Timer?

Absolutely.  Don't just take it from me, read these testimonials:

"This is a great, great idea and it has massive potential.  I truly believe that this has got great potential to help a large number of people!" ~ Chris Bateman, Global Senior Manager, World Class Supply Chain, Molson Coors Europe.

"I think the visual aesthetics alone make it far easier to keep pace during a meeting instead of watching a clock. Great start for a new app!" ~ Carlye King, Project Manager, Revenue Management & Optimization, Nielsen.

"This is an awesome idea! I love this," said Richmond Nash, Productivity Coach.  "It is indispensable to have an app that breaks down the agenda of a meeting by each point and the time frame for each! I'm in a lot of meetings and this is going to be a go to app!!"

"Does exactly what it says on the tin.  The interface during the meeting itself is easy to understand and has all the info that you need.  I liked the congratulations summary, I could see how much time I'd saved for myself and others and it's allowed me to talk of the benefits of meeting with me - we always achieve our objectives within the time allocated!" ~ Paul Rowe, Commercial Enterprise PMO Business Partner, Molson Coors International.

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MeeTime is already being used by employees in big organisations including Goldman Sachs, Rolls Royce, Nielsen, Hewlett Packard, DXC and Molson Coors, among others.  It can work for your organisation too and for less than a cup of coffee you don't need to save much time to get a return on your investment.  Why not give it a try?

Download now or find out more

To find out how MeeTime can help calculate the cost of your meetings, read this now.

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MeeTime Meeting Timer is already being used by employees in big organisations. Why not give it a try?