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Effective Meetings by Phone
How to Hold a Teleconference
Teleconferences can be a boon or a bust. On the positive side, they allow people at different locations to attend meetings without having to travel. On the negative side, they can degenerate into frustrating struggles with uncontrolled babble. This occurs because people lack visual contact, which hinders effective communication and provides opportunities to misbehave.
Here's how to set up an effective meeting by phone
1) Plan a simple meeting. Ideally, the meeting should last less than 30 to 45 minutes. People are unable to concentrate on long phone calls. They become tired. Their attention drifts. They need to take a break. Design your meeting so that it is short and to the point. That way everyone can focus on the issues and participate effectively.2) Write out your goal for the meeting. Then make sure that this statement truly represents the result that you want to have at the end of the meeting. Lack of a clear, well-stated goal is the second biggest cause of bad meetings. Next check if a teleconference is the best way to obtain that goal. Cancel the meeting if you can achieve the goal with any other approach, such as by sending a memo, making a single phone call, or thinking through a solution by yourself.
3) Prepare an agenda. A teleconference without an agenda is like a journey without a map -- in the dark. Without an agenda, you will lose control and waste time. Your agenda should include the goal for the meeting and detailed instructions for each part of the meeting. It should be so complete and specific that someone else could use it to run your meeting.
4) Distribute the agenda at least a day before the meeting. This allows everyone to think about your issues and prepare for their participation. If appropriate (e.g., for controversial or complex issues) call key participants to confirm that they received the agenda and to check if they have comments on how the meeting could be made more effective. Use this as an opportunity to listen their ideas, instead of to work on the issues or argue with them.
5) Distribute any materials related to the issues before the meeting. This includes outlines, blueprints, schematics, product brochures, and data. Then, the participants can use these tools to participate more effectively. For example, they can follow an outline, look at diagrams, or read data during the meeting. This helps compensate for the lack of visual contact in a teleconference.
6) Invite only those who can directly contribute to the meeting. Ideally, this should be fewer than eight people. If you invite more people, it becomes very difficult to hold an effective meeting. With a larger group, some of the attendees will become lost as silent listeners, which is a waste of their time. You can always send a copy of the minutes to the people who need to know about the work accomplished during the meeting.
A teleconference is more than a phone call. It is a meeting. And a meeting is a business activity that should be driven by a well thought out goal supported by a detailed plan. With proper planning, your teleconferences will distinguish you as an effective leader.
Even a well-planned teleconference can go poorly. Some people treat any meeting as a casual social activity instead of as a serious business project. And a teleconference brings special challenges because people attend them in the privacy of their office without being able to see or be seen by the other participants.
Use these techniques to hold a more effective meeting by phone.
1) Begin with a quick round of self introductions so that everyone can find out who is present and hear everyone else's voice.
2) Enforce the rule of "one speaker at a time." Multiple conversations ruin a teleconference.
3) Insist that people announce when they join or leave the conference.
4) If people must leave during the meeting, gain closure on any issues that they participated in before they leave. For example, "Pat agreed to prepare a cost estimate by next Monday. Is that correct, Pat?" Make adjustments in the agenda (if appropriate) based on the remaining participants.
5) Keep everyone focused on the issue being discussed. If someone introduces an idea that seems unrelated, say, "That sounds interesting. How does that relate to the issue?"
6) Record the conference. First, this will help you prepare minutes. And second, it encourages people to make meaningful comments. Of course, you should announce that you are recording the meeting before you start.
7) State your name each time that you speak. This helps everyone know that you are speaking.
8) If you are speaking on your desk phone, use the handset instead of the speakerphone. A speakerphone, while useful, distorts your voice, picks up background sounds (like office equipment), and makes a poor impression on the listener. If you must have both hands free while you talk, obtain a headset. Note: It is more courteous to speak to people through the handset (instead of the speakerphone) on any phone call.
9) Speak clearly to make sure that you are understood. Take the extra effort to enunciate carefully and speak slowly. Of course, you want to sound natural.
10) When stating numbers, write them out while you speak because that defines the rate at which everyone else is capturing them.
11) Then ask the receiving party to confirm numbers (or other critical data) by repeating them. Although this may seem awkward, it prevents misunderstandings. Better yet, send written copies of all critical information.
12) When possible, plan your statements by jotting down an outline of your key ideas before speaking. This contributes to a more efficient meeting, helps you appear more thoughtful, and avoids the embarrassment of making a verbal gaff.
13) Use your best, most focused listening skills. Pay addition to content, as well as inflections, voice tone, word selection, emphasis, assumed intentions, and your intuition.
14) Avoid shuffling papers, moving about, or tapping objects. Everyone else will hear the noise. It's distracting and irritating.
15) Reinforce accomplishments by distributing copies of key ideas and agreements during the meeting. You can send these, for example, by e-mail or fax.
16) Stay fully present during the meeting. Avoid working on other tasks, such as reading mail or filing papers. These reduce your ability to participate intelligently in the meeting.
17) Avoid using the mute button to talk to someone in your office during the audioconference. First, this shows discourtesy to both parties - the person in your office and the people in the teleconference. It also takes your attention away from the meeting, causing you to miss important information. And be warned that people have found themselves in serious trouble when the mute button failed.
18) Prepare minutes soon after the meeting. Send a draft to key participants to confirm that your notes accurately describe the results of the meeting. Minutes should be released within a day or two after the meeting in order to be useful. After that, they become stale.
Properly conducted, teleconferences contribute to the efficiency of effective business. Use the above techniques to make sure your meetings do that.