Apps for leaders: do.com

 

Do.com is the app that kills pointless meetings, writes a thankful Perry Timms

There’s long been an issue with meetings; often necessary but often overly long, laboured and rarely something people go along to with a skip and a jump. Time stealing, back-to-back, no time for even noting the actions: lousy meetings have become a common ill of modern working life.

Do.com is an iOS-only app and integrated suite of functionality. It’s designed to bring meetings to account. Starting from a helpful ‘manage your diary’ standpoint, a series of APIs (Application Program Interface) connect the app to whatever calendar you’re using.

Yet as well as managing the diary element there’s some really useful additional features:

  • real-time stats on how much of the day is in meetings and a zoom in to the next meeting coming up
  • ability to track cost-based information on your meeting time (billable to client or simply tracked for internal use)
  • take notes in meetings and share them (and other notes) with other participants without leaving the app
  • schedule follow-up meetings before departing the existing meeting – and one tap to invite all attendees

Many of do.com’s existing users report significant reductions in meeting times, better action and follow up reliability, and attention to meeting times in terms of cost and purpose.

Synchronizing across iPad; iPhone and Apple Watch, there’s more to this app than a simple reminder and calendar function, it’s making us mindful of meetings: what they’re there for; how to keep them as focused as possible – and efficiently manage the impacts of meetings. That’s something that we could all do with.