Accommodating preparatory work for electronically scheduled meetings

• US 20050256754A1
• Filed: 05/14/2004
• Published: 11/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nastacio, Denilson
• Granted Patent: US 8,407,076 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment

Abstract

Method, apparatus, and computer program products for scheduling and tracking preparatory work associated with electronic meeting invitations. When a meeting invitation is received and tentatively accepted, the user is prompted to enter the expected duration of the associated work. A floating block of time is created, subject to the constraint that it must be completed before the meeting convenes. If both the meeting and the floating block can be scheduled without irresolvable conflicts, they are added to the calendar, and a to-do associated with the floating block may be added to the to-do list. When an invitation for a second meeting conflicts with a first floating block associated with a first meeting, the first floating block may be rescheduled, within its completion-time constraint, to accommodate the second meeting.

Claims

1. A method for accommodating work associated with an electronic meeting invitation, comprising the steps of:

receiving an electronic invitation to a meeting;

associating a floating block of time with the meeting to account for preparatory work for the meeting; and

adding the floating block and the meeting to a user'"'"'s calendar.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of adding a to-do item associated with the meeting to the user'"'"'s to-do list.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of associating a floating block of time with the meeting comprises steps of prompting the user to enter an expected duration for the preparatory work, and using the expected duration as the length of the floating block of time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising steps of determining whether a new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, and, if the new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, moving the old floating block on the user'"'"'s calendar.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of moving the old floating block includes a step of rescheduling a plurality of floating blocks using a bin-packing algorithm.

6. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for accommodating work associated with an electronic meeting invitation, said method steps comprising:

receiving an electronic invitation to a meeting;

associating a floating block of time with the meeting to account for preparatory work for the meeting; and

adding the floating block and the meeting to a user'"'"'s calendar.

7. The program storage device of claim 6, wherein the method steps further comprise adding a to-do item associated with the meeting to the user'"'"'s to-do list.

8. The program storage device of claim 6, wherein the step of associating a floating block of time with the meeting comprises steps of prompting the user to enter an expected duration for the preparatory work, and using the expected duration as the length of the floating block of time.

9. The program storage device of claim 6, wherein the method steps further comprise determining whether a new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, and, if the new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, moving the old floating block on the user'"'"'s calendar.

10. The program storage device of claim 9, wherein the step of moving the old floating block includes a step of rescheduling a plurality of floating blocks using a bin-packing algorithm.

11. Apparatus for accommodating work associated with an electronic meeting invitation, comprising:

a calendar for recording times of meetings; and

logic for receiving an electronic invitation to a meeting;

associating a floating block of time with the meeting to account for preparatory work; and

adding the floating block and the meeting to a user'"'"'s calendar.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a to-do list, wherein the logic adds a to-do item associated with the meeting to the to-do list.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logic prompts the user to enter an expected duration for the preparatory work, and uses the expected duration as the length of the floating block of time.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logic determines whether a new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, and, if the new meeting conflicts with an old floating block, moves the old floating block on the user'"'"'s calendar.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the logic moves the old floating block by rescheduling a plurality of floating blocks using a bin-packing algorithm.