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 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 our thought leadership practice and to achieve greater results from this productive meeting style apply these strategies
and your teleconferences will achieve your objective.
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