Tired of meetings that go on forever without getting results? Put a muzzle on the blowhards who like to hear themselves talk too much with the Bring TIM Clock, a digital timekeeper that doubles as a timer calculator which computes just how much money each meeting burns – right in real time.
Placed in a conspicuous area where everyone can see it, the device should help keep business meetings on track, avoiding its eventual degeneration into either a gossip pool or two hours of the boss thumping his chest while patting himself on the back. Of course, you can always just alert people when they’re wasting everyone’s time with unnecessary tirades, but the device keeps the admonition lighthearted. Plus, if some fragile ego feels insulted, you can always point the blame on the device – “That inconsiderate clock!”
Bring TIM is styled like a regular digital clock (and can actually function as one), complete with an oversized Start button that looks like a Snooze buzzer. To use it to track a meeting’s cost, simply put the clock in TIM (Time is Money) mode, set the parameters and hit Start to begin, watching the resulting expense in big, bold figures on the monochrome display in real time.
As much a novelty item as it is a time management machine, don’t count on Bring TIM to give you an exact rundown of meeting costs. However, it could make for some rough approximation that gives everyone an idea of how wasteful most of your meetings really are. Total cost is computed by multiplying the approximate hourly rate per person ($5 increments), the number of meeting participants and the running time. You can adjust the variables during the course of the meeting to reflect changes in the number of attendees or average hourly rate.
If you’re like me, of course, you’d sneakily throw Bring TIM away when you see one in the office. Because being like me makes you the guy who likes to hold meetings and keep it going for hours – you know, Mr. Awesome. Meetings are the greatest organizational invention for avoiding productive work, after all, so why waste it?
[Bring TIM]