Have you ever been on one of those calls where you hear all the beeps, background noise, someone’s dog barking and the host says stupidly obvious statements like:
‘Did someone just join?’ ‘Who just joined?’
Teleconferences can be highly productive if the host is focused and the team is wiling to give their undivided attention to the meeting (as if they were meeting in real life).
Many of you know, (and I have been guilty of this) using our EMV (email voice) while attending teleconference, we check our email, multi-task and totally disrespect the people on the call.
Here are ten strategies to maximize results from your next teleconference.
Set agenda and guidelines– regardless of how long the call will be, set a specific agenda and circulate to all participants in advance. Allocate specific timeframes to each speaker. If they have an allocated agenda item, every participant should adhere to that time frame. Also ensure the team knows the ‘rules’ of your teleconferences to increase effectiveness.
Understand functionality – know how to use all aspects of the technology and write instructions for others, you can leave it beside the phone or in your boardroom. Be effective at muting bells and sounds, know how to record and minimize noise levels.
Turn off cells – that’s right, turn to silent or turn it off – nobody is indispensable! In teleconferences it is rude to answer calls or send text messages while another meeting is occurring. You have voicemail and your callers will always be able to reach you. One of my media clients has a basket outside the meeting room and everyone is required to drop in their cell phone before entering the room – their meetings are more productive and people are focused.
Keep quiet – it is difficult to hear on a teleconference if people are shuffling papers, sending text messages, heavy breathing, having side bar conversations – don’t do it. If you are on a large call use the relevant keys to mute your phone. Be still and listen to the whole conversations.
Short conversations – not everyone around you wants to hear your plans or unnecessary details so keep conversations short and on point. Remember the cost of teleconference calls is expensive (think of adding up everyone’s salary on the call… what is that meeting cost)?
One speaker – this courtesy assists participants hear the entire conversation. On some teleconference facilities if one person speaks it cuts out the sound for everyone else.
Time sensitive – where possible, restrict calls to business hours (unless the job indicates otherwise). Cell phones and teleconferences have made us more accessible to other team members, be sensitive to different time zones and people’s personal lives.
Conduct on landline – If you are on your cell you may experience dropouts or low signal areas making the call frustrating (for you and other attendees) and you may miss out on important information. Calls to cells can be expensive so try to save money with landlines if possible.
Be considerate – keep conversations on topic, don’t move from the agreed agenda unless vital, keep information relevant to participants and don’t use language or jargon that may not be understood by everyone (especially when dealing with technology or complicated projects).
Create actions – at the end of each call confirm action plan, agreed owners and restate objectives. Never have a call ‘just for the sake of a call’ – every request of someone’s time needs to be considered to ensure time is maximized.
Teleconferences are a vital part of business and to achieve greater results from this productive meeting style apply these strategies and your teleconferences will achieve your objective.
