用碼錶管理會議

多數人都受不了冗長的會議。那麼，何不用個碼錶來管理你的會議？就如在籃球上用碼錶計時一般。

怎麼做？你可以在會議開始時，先說明你預備如何安排時間給每個討論議題。例如，這是一個年度預算檢討會議，而有10項投資計劃必須檢討。你可以說，“我們將分配10分鐘給每一項投資計劃的討論。簡報者可以用3分鐘做簡報，然後留下7分鐘給大家討論。”如果有任何項目需要更多時間來討論，事先就協調好。

然後，就用個手機碼錶來計時。時間到了，就發出鬧鈴聲，提醒發言者該停止了。雖然如此做有些令人厭煩，但是是很公平而有效的。每個發言者都會注意控制他的發言時間，其他人也會提高關注度。

Managing meetings with a timer
Most people can't stand long meetings. So, why not use a timer to manage your meetings? It's like using a watch on a basketball. 

How? At the beginning of the meeting, you can explain how you plan to schedule each topic for discussion. For example, this is an annual budget review meeting and 10 investment schemes have to be reviewed. You can say, "We will allocate 10 minutes for each investment plan to be discussed." Briefers can take three minutes to brief and then leave seven minutes for discussion. "If there are any items that require more time to discuss, coordinate them in advance. 

Then, use a mobile phone code timer to time. When the time was up, the alarm rang to remind the speaker that it was time to stop. While it may be annoying to do so, it is fair and effective. Each speaker will be careful to control his speaking time, and others will increase their attention.