Meeting Timer

Time each speaker or agenda item in turn, and see the overtime and the expected end time

List your speakers or agenda items in order, set a time for each, and one Start button times them one after another from the first turn. A short chime sounds when 1 minute is left, and when the time is up the clock does not stop: it keeps counting the overtime as +1:23. While the meeting runs you also see the planned time remaining, the expected end time, and how far ahead of or behind the plan you are.

Say 6 people will speak in a 30-minute meeting. Enter 30 under "Meeting length" and press "Split evenly", and each person gets 5:00. When the meeting ends, the time each turn actually took stays on screen as bars, and "Copy log" puts it in your meeting notes.

Why use a timer in a meeting?

Meetings tend to run past their slot, and every extra minute comes out of other work. In a survey published in Harvard Business Review in 2017, 65% of 182 senior managers across industries said meetings keep them from completing their own work, and 71% said meetings are unproductive and inefficient.

Changing the format alone can change how long a meeting runs. A 1999 study of 111 groups of five people found that meetings held sitting down ran 34% longer than standing meetings, with no better decisions. Scrum, the agile framework, goes further and gives every event a maximum length (a timebox) and fixes the daily scrum at 15 minutes.

Dividing the time among people can also keep a few voices from taking over. In a 2010 study, 699 people worked on tasks in groups of 2 to 5, and groups whose members took turns more evenly did better across a range of tasks (collective intelligence). That is a correlation, so it does not prove a timer raises performance, but setting the order and the time in advance is the simplest way to even out turns.

How to use the meeting timer

1. List the turns: In the list, type each speaker's name or agenda item and a time. Enter a time like 3 (minutes), 2:30 (min:sec) or 2.5 (minutes). A turn with no name is called "Turn 3" and so on.
2. Set the times: Type a value under "Time per turn" and press "Apply to all", and every turn that has not started gets that time. If you fill in "Meeting length", the timer shows how much you have to spare or are short against the planned total, and "Split evenly" divides the length by the number of turns.
3. Set the order: The up arrow moves a turn higher, and "Shuffle" picks a random speaking order. During the meeting you can edit or shuffle only the turns that have not started, and someone who arrives late can be added at the end with "Add turn".
4. Run it: Press Start and the first turn begins. When a speaker finishes, press "Next turn", and press "+1 min" to give someone more time. With "Move to the next turn when time is up" switched on, the next turn starts the moment the set time ends.
5. Put it on screen: "Full screen" fills the screen with the timer panel: the current turn, the time left, the progress summary and the meeting flow, in large type. In full screen, Space starts or pauses, the right arrow goes to the next turn, and Esc leaves full screen.
6. Keep a record: Press "End meeting" on the last turn to see the actual time taken and the difference from the plan. "Copy log" copies the time used per turn, and "Copy link" copies a link that carries the current list and settings.

Time per person by meeting length and headcount

"Split evenly" divides the meeting length by the number of turns and rounds down to 5 seconds. When it does not divide evenly, as with 7 people, some time is left over. The table below matches what this timer computes.

To reserve time for an opening or a wrap-up, subtract it from the meeting length before you split. To keep 5 minutes of a 30-minute meeting free, enter 25 and split, and 5 people get 5:00 each with 5 minutes left. In an agenda meeting you can also add a closing turn of its own, such as "Wrap-up and next steps".

Set times for common meeting formats

If a meeting follows fixed rules, enter those times as your turns. These are well-known examples checked against the source text.

The "Debate" example is a classroom setup that fits constructives, rebuttals, open debate and closings into 18 minutes. Competitive debate leagues each use their own order and times, so adjust it to the rules of your event.

Reading the colors and alert sounds

• Time left: A circular ring fills clockwise and the time left appears in the middle. If even 1 second remains, it shows 0:01.
• Almost up: When the time you chose under "Time-almost-up alert" (1 minute by default) is left, the ring and digits switch to the accent color and a sound plays once. Treat it like the yellow light at Toastmasters: time to start wrapping up. If a turn is no longer than the alert time (say a 1:00 turn with the 1-minute alert), this alert is skipped.
• Over time: When the set time ends, a chime sounds three times and a + sign appears before the digits as the overtime counts up. The overtime is drawn as a second lap on the ring, and the block in the meeting flow gets hatching.
• Tab title: While a meeting runs, the browser tab title shows the time left and the current turn, so you can check it from another tab.

Common mistakes

• Planning the total to match the meeting length exactly: A few seconds go to every handoff and screen change, so a fully packed meeting ends late. Leave a few minutes of slack inside the meeting length.
• Taking overtime out of later speakers: If later turns make up for earlier overruns, the people at the end get less and less time. When "Versus plan" turns to behind, decide in advance whether an item moves to the next meeting.
• Pressing +1 min again and again: An extension is added to that turn's plan and is listed separately as an extension in "Copy log". If extensions are frequent, it is fairer to lengthen the turn from the start.
• Not hearing the alert on a video call: Unless you share computer audio when you share your screen, the alert sounds only on your own computer.
• Refreshing during a meeting: While a meeting runs, the browser asks once before you close or refresh the tab. If you refresh anyway, the progress record is lost and the list returns to its starting state.

Limits and cautions

• Time is calculated from the moment you started, so it does not drift while you are on another tab. However, a browser may slow its timer checks in a hidden tab to once a minute at most, so the on-screen digits and the automatic advance catch up when you return to the tab. The alert sounds are scheduled ahead on the audio clock, so they play on time.
• If the computer goes to sleep, the alert may not sound. For a long meeting, lengthen the time before the screen turns off.
• The list and the log live only in this tab and are not kept on a server or in browser storage. There is no feature for viewing on another device or controlling the timer remotely.
• You can enter 1 to 40 turns, each from 0:10 to 120:00, and a meeting length of 1 to 480 minutes.

As of The meeting formats and research results in this article were checked on 2026-10-15 against the Scrum Guide, the Toastmasters time record sheet, and the abstracts and articles of each paper. The current 12th edition of Robert's Rules could not be opened, so the text describes the published 1915 edition.

Sources

• 01Schwaber K, Sutherland J. The Scrum Guide (2020)Daily scrum 15 minutes; sprint planning up to 8 hours, review 4 hours, retrospective 3 hours (one-month sprint)
• 02Woolley AW, et al. Science 2010;330(6004):686–688699 people in groups of 2 to 5; the collective intelligence factor correlated with more even turn-taking in conversation
• 03Bluedorn AC, Turban DB, Love MS. Journal of Applied Psychology 1999;84(2):277–285111 groups of five; seated meetings were 34% longer than standing meetings, with no better decisions
• 04Perlow LA, Hadley CN, Eun E. Stop the Meeting Madness. Harvard Business Review 2017182 senior managers; 65% could not complete their own work, 71% called meetings unproductive and inefficient
• 05Toastmasters International. Time Record Sheet, Item 1175 (Rev. 10/2024)Green at 5 minutes, yellow at 6, red at 7; disqualified under 4:30 or over 7:30
• 06Robert's Rules of Order (1915), summaryTwice a day on one question, up to 10 minutes each time
• 07Chrome for Developers: Heavy throttling of chained JS timers (Chrome 88)Timer checks in hidden tabs are slowed to once a minute at most

Frequently asked questions

Related tools