What Is a Conference Call?
Briefly, let’s start at the very beginning. A conference call is a telephone call in which more than two people participate. Conference calls can be used for business or pleasure and can include people in different locations. Making a conference call is easy. Participants simply need to dial into a conference bridge, which is typically provided by the conference call service provider. Once everyone is connected, the host can start the call. With the recent pandemic, the importance of conference calls has been elevated.
The pandemic has forced a lot of people to work from home. This means that they can’t just walk over to their colleague’s desk to ask them a question. They need to be able to talk to their colleagues over the phone. Conference calls are the perfect way to do this. They allow people in different locations to talk to each other. This is important because it allows people to share ideas and work on projects together.
The pandemic has also forced a lot of people to discontinue business travel. Conference calls are a great way for people to connect with colleagues when traveling to meet in person is not an option. Now that you can answer, “What is a conference call?” let’s further explore conference call etiquette.
Conference Call Etiquette Tips
Ah, conference calls. They have the ability to make meetings so much more convenient, but like any technology, remote collaboration can come with a certain amount of “learning pains.” After all, it takes a while to adjust to new ways of doing things – especially when technology is involved. But, ultimately, conference calls and other forms of remote collaboration can improve conference call productivity and elevate the efficiency of an organization’s business processes.
Improve Conference Call Productivity
Just like in-person meetings, however, remote collaboration can quickly become a waste of time for those involved if it just becomes a way to fill calendars with no defined purpose. If you want to respect the time of all parties involved and keep your business productive, a little conference call etiquette can go a long way.
So here are 10 conference call etiquette tips to keep your conference calls smooth and increase your conference call productivity.
1. To increase conference call productivity, watch the clock and make good use of everyone’s time
When you schedule a conference call, set strict time limits and stick to them. That’s not to say calls can’t ever or won’t occasionally go over, but it’s important to make a sincere effort to respect everyone’s time. Not only do people lose focus when conference calls drag on, but they also have to adjust the rest of their schedule accordingly, potentially throwing off their agenda. Be respectful and watch the clock.
2. Define “To-Dos” with deadlines and who owns them to improve conference call productivity
Conference calls have a tendency to be slightly less formal and structured than in-person meetings. As a result, it’s easy to drift into an hour-long conversation about a particular topic and come out of it with little to no action items. If you want to really improve conference call productivity and the overall effectiveness of your conference calls, make defining action items a priority. Be sure to give them specific assignees, deadlines, and deliverables.
3. Have an agenda, clear objectives, and role expectations
Agendas are important for meetings in general, but they’re an absolute must for conference calls. Knowing who’s leading the meeting, what needs to be accomplished by the end of the call, and who else is contributing are all key factors to making sure your conference call doesn’t turn into an obscure brainstorming session. That leads to the next point.
4. Stay on topic
We’ve all been in meetings or on calls where you come to talk about one thing, then an interesting point comes up that the group wants to explore further. A half-hour later, the group has gone down a long rabbit hole and the original purpose of the meeting has yet to be discussed.
Elaboration is necessary. Debates are bound to happen. These are natural and conducive elements of good meetings, as long as they aren’t taken too far.
Don’t let your meetings get hijacked by off-topic discussions. Dive deeper on points when necessary, but always keep the underlying goal of the meeting in mind and make a point to schedule discussions around other topics that come up along the way. And if your call does take a turn, a conference call etiquette tip is say, “That’a valid point, and I’m making a note to address it in a future meeting. I’ll make sure it’s added to the agenda next time.”
5. Introducing all participants is good conference call etiquette
One awkward aspect of conference calls is the inability to see participants. Without introducing everyone on the call before the meeting starts, it can be difficult to keep up with who’s on the line and who isn’t. This gets even more awkward during sales calls and others that involve several parties that may or may not be formally introduced.
Eliminate the possibility of referring to someone in third person when they’re actually in the meeting and the awkwardness of being on a call with people you don’t know by making introductions and properly identifying everyone on the call before it begins.
6. Use a screen sharing application to improve conference call productivity
When you’re referencing a document, it’s best to use a screen sharing application so everyone can see exactly what you’re referring to.
Cloud applications like Google Drive and Dropbox make it tempting to simply let everyone in a conference call access the document themselves, but that only adds unnecessary confusion. When you go that route, you have to make sure everyone’s looking at the same document, is on the same page, and can find particular aspects of the document you’re referencing.
In the end, file sharing in a real-time setting such as a conference call ultimately causes more confusion than it’s worth. Avoid the friction and use a screen sharing application.
7. Enhance conference call productivity by using visual aids
People retain much more information from a visual and oral presentation than they do from what they heard from an oral presentation alone.
When you use visual aids, be sure to number and clarify all slides used in your presentation. This helps when either you or someone else on the call references one of your slides. It can get confusing to explain which slide you’re looking at, and sometimes the confusion can throw off the momentum of a meeting.
So use visual aids in your conference calls to keep everyone engaged, but be sure to organize and label your visual aids in a way that makes them easy to reference during a discussion.
8. Paying attention is good conference call etiquette
No one likes talking to someone who is preoccupied or only halfway paying attention. Plus, it’s embarrassing to be called on in a meeting when you don’t know what’s going on. Everyone’s busy, but it’s important to make sure that when you’re on a conference call, you take steps to eliminate distractions.
Put your phone on “do not disturb” mode or simply turn it off during the meeting. Don’t fall into the trap of checking your email. No matter how casual it may seem, you’ll be tempted to respond to something you see, and just like that, your mind checks out.
If the topic of the conference call requires you being at your computer (as it most often does), try closing out all apps that may send distracting notifications.
Most importantly, practice exercising some good old fashioned self-control during meetings. You and the other people on the conference call will appreciate your full attention (and you won’t get embarrassed for not knowing what’s going on).
9. If leaving during a conference call, it’s good conference call etiquette to state you are leaving
It’s extremely frustrating to be on a conference call and pose a question to someone you think is on the line, only to be met with silence. You don’t know how long they’ve been gone or if they missed the entire conversation. Now you have to fill them in on what’s going on before you can even get their input on the topic.
Announcing when you’re leaving gives everyone on the call the opportunity to ask any final questions or make any final comments before you leave. It also prevents them from feeling the frustration of talking to someone who is no longer on the line.
10. Use Unified Communications solutions to your advantage to improve conference call productivity
Unified Communications solutions are business phone systems that integrate business tools onto a single communications platform with advanced applications for things like chat, conferencing, presence indicators, and much, much more. These Unified Communications (UC) solutions have made inter-office communication much easier, and they can help tremendously with conference calls.
Aside from the actual conference call capabilities of Unified Communications solutions (which they make extremely easy), UC solutions also give you the ability to set your phone and chat status to “In a Meeting,” minimizing distractions and improving communication with co-workers. This tells everyone what you’re doing and signals that you’re not to be disturbed unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Next Steps
Want to see how a Unified Communications solution could improve your business? See the benefits businesses are enjoying after making the switch to UC. Download the free eBook now!