During daily development team stand ups we have a 5 minute countdown timer; this ensures that everyone says what they have to say in the time given. Anything longer must be worthy of our time. Anything else can be discussed via instant message, or whatever afterwards. This is a perfect solution for keeping up to date on development progress with regards to projects on a daily basis for us.

Client-facing meetings on the other hand, whole other kettle of fish! It’s hard to restrict the time that you give to those paying for your services, despite wanting to keep meetings as succinct and lean as possible, with a buffer of “bullshit time”!