All of the information required to understand current organisational expenditure exists in people’s calendars. It is now common practice for people to create meeting invites in their own calendars, and to accept invites from other people’s calendars. And with the advent of scheduling assistants, people actively stake out the time they need for scheduled events and travel so that other meetings do not coincide with what they have planned.As a result, calendars have become an accurate record of how people spend their time, and how much of that time is taken up in meetings and travel.
Inspirometer’s add-in tool works with Outlook to effortlessly collect this data and present it back in analytical form, enabling people to see how their time breaks down into different types of meetings, and the balance of characteristics for those meetings: single/recurring; virtual/physical; etc.
Inspirometer’s hierachical account system, allows this data to be collated into team, departmental, and organisational pictures, enabling (for the first time) organisations to see their investment in meetings, and how that breaks down, in real-time.
Data updates effortlessly and automatically whenever people open their Outlook, and the results can be seen instantly by anyone with the permissions to do so. Individuals can see how well they are utilising virtual and asynchronous technologies for collaboration, and the extent to which their meetings have clear objectives and agendas. Management can observe trends, and identify where help is required. The only effort is in the installation of the add-in, which requires about 10 minutes and a few clicks of the mouse.
To install the add-in for yourself, follow the simple guidance available here.