Ramble Less, Accomplish More: How to Improve Video Call Productivity

Video calls are grueling. 

As if our days weren’t already overloaded with meetings, many people have experienced a significant increase in daily meetings since the beginning of the pandemic. Some companies have even moved up the start time of morning meetings to gain productivity previously lost from commuting. With less time spent commuting, employees have more time for meetings, right?

Our days used to be broken up by refreshing walks from one meeting to the next and the exchange of pleasantries in passing. Now, they’re a never-ending stream of video calls as we sit idly in our homes attached to our laptops. And though our meetings are now virtual, they still have the same problems: derailed by side-bar conversations or monopolized by someone who drones on-and-on until the scheduled 30 minutes have passed and you’ve only covered 50% of the agenda. 

But there is hope.

With the adoption of video conferencing into our daily routines, we have the opportunity to integrate technology into our meetings which can save us from the chronic ramblers, time monopolizers, and side-bar derailers who have plagued the workplace for decades. 

You see, I am a chronic rambler. For too long I plagued my own startup with my ramblings — causing meetings to run long, making others late, etc. Until one day I asked my co-founder, Ethan, to create what we now call TeamSpirit to help me curb my rambling habit. 

TeamSpirit

TeamSpirit is an app that makes meetings more productive by showing:

• elapsed time to help you stay on track
• talk/listen ratio (percent of time you’ve spent talking) to help you communicate more effectively
• friendly reminders when you’re beginning to ramble and it’s time to wrap up your point
  

I asked Ethan to develop TeamSpirit for me because time would slip away during meetings and it was difficult for me to pace myself and stay on track. To Ethan’s (and my) delight, TeamSpirit has helped me curb my rambling tremendously! I no longer have to remember to check the time when I’m in full-screen mode on video calls. I’ve also been able to pace myself better. And best of all, people actually listen and retain more of what I say because I’m talking less! 

Less is more. Who would have thought?

TeamSpirit has been a blessing for our team. With the world transitioning to remote work and video calls, we wanted to share TeamSpirit instead of keeping it all to ourselves. We’re excited to announce that we’re releasing TeamSpirit for free on macOS! Check it out on Product Hunt!

I hope TeamSpirit can help you as much as it’s helped me.