Best Practice Conference Calls
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Best Practice Conference Calls Be Your Best on Your Next Conference Call www.BetterConferenceCalls.com
by Brandon Munro and Gihan Perera
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction....................................................................................... 3 2. The System: Overview ...................................................................... 22 3. The Seven Biggest Mistakes ............................................................... 23 4. What Makes a Conference Call Different? ............................................. 28 5. The People: Roles and Outcomes ........................................................ 39 6. The Process - Overview ..................................................................... 47 7. Etiquette and Technique .................................................................... 50 8. Special Techniques ........................................................................... 64 9. From Start to Finish .......................................................................... 81 10. Types of Conference Calls ................................................................ 113 11. Difficult Conference Calls ................................................................. 124 12. The Technology – Overview ............................................................. 137 13. Scheduling the Call ......................................................................... 139 14. Connecting to the Call ..................................................................... 142 15. Conference Call Services.................................................................. 148 16. Recording ...................................................................................... 155 17. Technology Tips and Techniques ....................................................... 158 18. Next Steps .................................................................................... 169 Appendix: Comparing Conference Call Services ........................................... 176
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1. Introduction Conference calls – sometimes known as “teleconferencing” – are becoming more common in the business world. However, because they are still relatively new, many people don’t handle them well. Unfortunately, for many businesses, they are no longer an optional extra; they are a business necessity.
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This is a book about making better conference calls. It will teach you world’s best practice when organising, leading or participating in a conference call.
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Who is this for?
Do you fit all three of these criteria? 1. You work in an organisation. 2. You make conference calls.
3. You’d like to make them more effectively. If so, this book is for you.
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We’re not trying to persuade you to start using conference calls. We assume you’ve already decided that conference calls are useful for you; and now you’d like to use them more effectively. We’ve written this book to help you whether you’re just starting out with teleconferencing or whether you’re experienced. Either way, learning more about this communication tool can give you a big advantage in meeting your outcomes.
What is a conference call?
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You probably know what we mean when we talk about “a conference call”. However, sometimes different people use slightly different terminology, so let’s get this clear right now.
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When we use the term “conference call”, we’re talking about a meeting of more than two people, conducted over the telephone (or Internet). A conference call is just one of the tools of electronic communication in modern business life. To understand where it fits in, consider these two criteria for grouping these tools:
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⇒ Interaction: How much do the participants get to contribute within the conversation? The level of interaction increases as the number of participants grows, and they have increasing ability to contribute. Books have low interaction (it’s all one way, from the author to the reader); presentations have medium interaction; and discussion groups have high interaction. ⇒ Bandwidth: How many different “channels” are used in the communication? The more senses are engaged, the higher the bandwidth because we pick up different communication cues.
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Books have low bandwidth (just reading words and viewing static pictures); telephone calls have medium bandwidth (audio); video has high bandwidth (audio and video).
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To put it in perspective, here’s the “big picture” of electronic communication, showing where conference calls fit in, along with examples of other communication tools:
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As you can see, a conference call is highly interactive, with all participants able to contribute. This means everybody’s contribution can be valued, and one person doesn’t necessarily have the power to dominate. However, it also means you require discipline and focus to make it work effectively. On the other scale (bandwidth), a conference call falls somewhere in the middle. It’s more than just written material, so participants infer a lot from tonality, pace, pause and other vocal cues. In fact, because they don’t have visual cues as well, they infer even more from your voice.
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What makes this technology so compelling now?
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Teleconferencing has been available for years, but a few things have recently made it more compelling and engaging. When we first started using conference calls in the 1990s, the services weren’t as widely available; when they were, they were costly or required long-term contracts; call quality and reliability were poor; and the systems weren’t designed with non-technical people in mind. All of that has changed now, in a number of ways.
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Technology First, the technology is far better than ever before. Any business now has access to high-quality conference call services that make teleconferencing viable, practical and easy to do. You no longer need to invest in advanced telephone systems, your own ISDN lines or special training.
Service cost
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Next, conference calling is also more cost-effective now than ever before. This has always been the case when you compare it with the cost of travelling to meetings, but it’s now even low cost in its own right. You don’t have to sign up for long-term contracts; the calls themselves aren’t expensive; you can choose options with or without operator assistance depending on your budget; and participants themselves have access to cheap long-distance telephone plans.
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Mature Internet
When you also consider the Internet as an option, teleconferencing becomes even more attractive. It’s cheaper (sometimes free!); you can share documents and materials easily; you can view participants’ screens during the call; and you can conduct your calls from anywhere with Internet access.
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Cost saving The low cost of conference calls is particularly important in tough economic times, when business travel is often slashed unless it’s absolutely necessary. Most organisations are becoming more aware of their carbon footprint and finding ways of reducing business travel without compromising business effectiveness. Conference calls are becoming the norm, not the exception.
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Accessible technology
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What about video conferencing? Yes, that’s certainly growing in leaps and bounds as well, but it has two drawbacks:
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⇒ It’s still not a mature technology for everybody. If you’ve ever been on a Skype video call over a slow Internet connection, you know exactly what we mean! ⇒ You need more sophisticated equipment for video conferencing. Besides, in most cases you don’t need video to run an effective conference call. Provided you operate your telephone conference calls efficiently and effectively, they are more than adequate for your meetings. In fact, we believe that teleconferencing, done properly, is more effective than video conferencing in most instances.
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Connected world Finally, in today’s business world, teleconferencing is sometimes the only option available. If you’re negotiating a deal in Johannesburg, dealing with head office in London, outsourcing work to Bangalore and contracting to consultants in Sydney, it’s simply not practical to bring all the participants together into one room. Even if you don’t think this applies to you right now, it will soon!
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What makes this book different?
This book is about skills, not technology
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If you’ve been looking for resources about conference calls, you probably know already that there’s other material out there. Most of it describes the technical aspects of conducting a conference call – what system to use, what numbers to call, how to do the recording, and so on. You’ll also find some resources about conference call etiquette.
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This book is different. We do talk about conference call systems, and we do cover many areas of conference call etiquette. But that’s not our main goal. Our main objective in this book is to teach you effective conference calling skills. This means we’re different in three key ways: 1. It’s about business skills, not technical skills.
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We assume you’re confident, professional and competent in your business life. We’ll show you how to translate and transfer that confidence, professionalism and competence to conference calls as well. 2. It’s about the call as a business function. A conference call is just one of many business communication tools. We’ll show you where it fits in, when it’s most appropriate, when it should not be used, and how to make it support your real business objectives.
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3. It’s about being comfortable with the technology.
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You can get by without knowing the technology well, but if you want to be truly world’s best practice, you need to be at least comfortable with it. We do talk about technology in this book, but not just to give you as much as a technical user manual. Instead, we show you how to choose and use the technology in a way that’s most appropriate for your business outcome.
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Who are we? Brandon Munro
Brandon is a corporate lawyer and company director. He is a specialist in the execution of complex corporate and financial transactions, such as mergers and
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acquisitions or corporate finance, and regularly deals with cross-border transactions, bringing together parties in different organisations, time zones and countries. He recently returned to his home town of Perth, Western Australia after spending the last two years based in Czech Republic working on transactions for Australian clients in Eastern Europe, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He has been using conference calls for fifteen years and finds them to be an essential tool for the fast-paced intensity of transactional work.
Gihan Perera
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Gihan is an Internet consultant who shows clients how to leverage their expertise on-line. Many of his clients are professional speakers, trainers and presenters, who not only have to participate in conference calls, but often have to make sales presentations and training presentations using this medium. He, too, has more than fifteen years of experience with conference calls, both with larger corporations and smaller businesses. He uses conference calls in various forms – including client calls, strategy meetings, panel discussions, interviews, teleseminars and webinars.
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Together, we have over 30 years of combined experience and logged thousands of hours with conference calls. We’re both keen students, and we’ve distilled the lessons we’ve learned into this book, so you too can learn from our experience.
Coming Up … In broad terms, an effective conference call comes down to three things:
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1. The right people on the call.
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2. Functional and reliable technology to conduct the call.
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3. An efficient process for conducting the call smoothly.
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Based on this, here’s a broad overview of what you’ll find in this book.
The System We start with some general features of conference calls and how they fit into the overall landscape of electronic communication: ⇒ The Seven Biggest Mistakes
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⇒ What Makes a Conference Call Different?
The People
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Of course, a conference call isn’t effective without the right people on the call. In this chapter, we’ll look not only at the people on the call, but also the specific roles they play during the call.
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The Process
This is arguably the most important section of the book. In it you’ll learn about the process of putting together a best practice conference call, including: ⇒ Etiquette and Technique ⇒ Special Techniques ⇒ The Process From Start to Finish
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⇒ Managing Different Types of Conference Calls ⇒ Handling Difficult Conference Calls
The Technology This is emphatically not a technology book. However, because technology is such an important part of effective conference calls, we do cover some aspects of it:
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⇒ Scheduling the Call ⇒ Connecting to the Call
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⇒ Conference Call Services
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⇒ Recording the Call
⇒ Technology Tips and Techniques
How to read this book
We’ve planned this book so it’s logical to read it from beginning to end. If you’re new to conference calls, that’s exactly the way we recommend you read it. However, if you’re more experienced and would just like some tips to raise your skills to another level, you can certainly dip in and start reading specific chapters.
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6.The Process - Overview Being good will help you perform at your best – and be noticed
So far we have explained a lot about the system of conference calls, looked at the people on the call and the roles they play – and now it’s time to consider just how to conduct very best practice conference calls.
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This part of the book is about being the best at conference calls. From your personal perspective it’s about developing the techniques and skills to be at your best – and be perceived by others as the best and most credible communicator. From an organisational perspective it’s about achieving the best outcomes and making the best use of time and resources.
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The next few chapters fit together as follows:
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Here’s a summary of these five chapters:
⇒ It’s important to demonstrate good conference calling etiquette, so we start with a chapter on Etiquette and Technique. In addition to prescribing the best practice etiquette, this chapter includes a wealth of techniques that will ensure you are confident and impressive on the call. ⇒ The next chapter, Special Techniques, helps you build and maintain credibility, details some vital verbal and vocal skills and explains how to handle questions effectively – additional techniques that will set you apart from the crowd.
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⇒ Then we move to From Start to Finish, which is a detailed, step-by-step guide to ensure every conference call is truly effective - for organisers, participants and the Chair. We’ve split the chapter up into chronological order: Planning the Call, Scheduling the call, Before the call, Starting the call, During the call, Ending the call, After the call and Recording the call. ⇒ In Types of Conference Calls, we explain certain types of calls and cover some specific tips and issues that apply to each of them: Informal meetings, Regular scheduled meetings, Board/committee meetings and Large meetings.
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⇒ Many of the questions we are asked concern dealing with difficult conference calls or situations – so we have dedicated a chapter to this topic: Difficult Conference Calls. This is essential reading for anyone who might find themselves in awkward or difficult situations whilst on a conference call – which is most people!
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7.Etiquette and Technique In this chapter, we describe the ten main things we prescribe to clients as best practice conference call etiquette. For each, we have included some further explanations and handy comments.
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In larger and more formal conference calls, follow this etiquette precisely. If the call is smaller, all participants are familiar to each other or you want to run the call informally, you can adapt or even dispense with some of these points.
1. Find a quiet environment with good call quality
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In a Nutshell: Ensure you are in a quiet environment. Shut your door if possible and do not take the call in an open plan office. Let colleagues or family members know you are not to be disturbed. If you are at home, be aware of children, pets, washing machines, kitchens, vacuum cleaners, etc. Make sure your chair or desk doesn’t squeak when you move. Use a land line where possible. Avoid taking calls on your mobile/cell phone or cordless phones that sometimes buzz. Turn mobile/cell phones off (or at least to silent) and mute e-mail chimes, IM alerts etc.
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It’s surprising just how much noise comes across in a conference call. Not only is background noise disruptive but it can affect your credibility and indicate a lack of respect for other conference call participants.
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This is particularly important if you have a home office or take calls after hours from home. You might not even notice that darling little Penelope hums when she plays with her toys on the floor – but it will annoy the life out of everyone else!
Headsets are better than speaker phones for hands-free use
If you want to be hands free, headsets are better than speakerphones. Speaker phone microphones are designed to attract and amplify all the sound in the room and sometimes make your voice sound like it’s in a tunnel or underwater. Also make sure your speakerphone can both receive and transmit at the same time – some speakerphones don’t allow you to speak and hear at the same time cutting off fragments of the discussion.
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2. Be on time
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In a Nutshell: Participants should dial in a few minutes before the scheduled start time (during the “line open time”. The Chair should start the meeting on time, regardless of whether all participants have dialed in. Whenever possible, the Chair should finish the meeting on time.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Unfortunately most conference calls start late or have late comers. And don’t forget there are far fewer credible excuses for being late
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when you are in your own office or just need to travel from the lounge room to the home study! Starting a call on time rewards those who did the right thing and exposes tardy participants, particularly since they must announce themselves and can’t just slink in unnoticed! When this happens, participants make a special effort next time to be better organised.
Effectiveness drops sharply when calls run over time
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Similarly it’s very important to finish the call on time. Usually people will have something else to do after the call and will become agitated if the call eats into that time. Invariably the effectiveness of the call drops, either because participants get tired, they start doing other things or they become annoyed with the process. If an agenda item is so vital that the call must be extended, then the Chair should ask all participants for their permission and allow a short break for people to rearrange their immediate plans or warn the next meeting they will be late.
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3. Identify yourself and address people by name In a Nutshell: When you first enter the call, announce yourself by name, title and organisation. Ensure uninvited participants are not on the call and
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immediately announce anyone who wanders into the call. If you wish to have colleagues (e.g. junior professionals) on the call, do this by prior arrangement with the Chair or Organiser. Identify yourself before speaking or answering general questions. Address people by name when you ask a question of them.
Announce anybody else listening in on the call
You must always announce yourself when you come on the call (sometimes the conference call service will do this for you). Similarly, if the boss drops in to show some interest, make sure everyone knows by announcing them – it’s not career enhancing to inadvertently expose your boss to the home truths about their management style!
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However, the requirement to identify yourself before speaking can be dispensed with for small conferences where voices are distinct and well know to everyone on the call. If in doubt, identify yourself anyway – it doesn’t take much time and demonstrates your familiarity with conference calling etiquette. Example “It’s Brandon speaking. How much was the quote?”
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For larger calls, be more formal. Example “This is Gihan Perera, First Step Communications. I would like to comment on David Smith’s problem and suggest a solution.”
Address comments or questions to specific people wherever possible
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Remember that you can’t just look at someone to show who you are talking to. So address people by name when talking to them. Also make sure you direct your comments or questions to specific people.
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Example
“Gihan, can you please comment on the technology implications of this approach?”
This avoids awkward silences while people figure out who is supposed to answer the question or otherwise wonder if they have permission to speak (or if they can avoid speaking!)
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4. Stay silent while waiting for the call to start In a Nutshell: Allow other participants to make the most of the minutes before the call formally starts. Don’t socialise or start talking about the content of the call.
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This is an example where physical meeting conduct is inappropriate for conference calls. When you meet in person it’s important to use time before the meeting starts to build relationships, lower the tension in the room or try to extract information from your opponents.
Avoiding chat before a call starts shows respect for everybody’s time
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However, conference calls are different. If participants do the right thing by dialing in five minutes before the start time, it’s important that their time isn’t wasted and they can get on with doing other things. Equally, if a key participant is late and the Chair elects to delay the start for them, the time wasting effect on other participants should be minimised by letting them use these minutes how they wish. Finally, frequently participants count on this time for last minute preparation or revision – which can make a big difference to how well they can participate in the call!
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5. Be polite In a Nutshell: Do not speak over people, interrupt, make sarcastic comments, make side comments or make personal attacks on people. Pause frequently to allow for comments or questions and thereby limit interruptions.
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Of course, good manners should be part of any business activities, but they are particularly important for conference calls. A lack of basic courtesy can discourage people from being open and honest or even saying anything at all – and therefore seriously reduce the effectiveness of the call. Even only two people talking at once can make it impossible to hear or follow the discussion. People who are difficult in person are often worse on a conference call so it’s important that the Chair controls them.
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As with any meeting, disagreements are inevitable on conference calls. In fact, it’s good to encourage different opinions and critical thinking. However, it’s vital that all participants conduct themselves with courtesy and allow the other point of view to be heard. If a discussion starts to get out of hand then the Chair should pause the meeting and implement formality into the debate, such as giving each speaker 60 seconds to put their point of view without being interrupted.
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6. Use mute when not speaking In a Nutshell: Mute your phone when you are not speaking to eliminate background noise and improve call quality.
This is an important habit to develop. If you are in a room with colleagues it allows you to discuss issues between yourselves or agree a position before putting it forward to the call.
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Make sure you have a button or light on your phone that tells you at a glance if you are muted. Remember to un-mute when you start talking - or you might get a complex over why nobody takes any notice of you! Oh, and remember to mute again when you have finished talking, before you start muttering how the conference Chair doesn’t follow conference call etiquette very well‌ or say something worse!
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7. Avoid audible distractions In a Nutshell: Avoid pencil tapping, humming, sighing, paper shuffling, smacking lips, etc. Do not eat during the call. Turn off call waiting and do not put a call on hold.
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Again, you’d be surprised how many of these sounds are amplified in a conference call - particularly the habits you didn’t realise you have (are you a heavy breather or do you suck air through your teeth when you think, for instance?)
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If you are making the call through a PC, be aware of where your microphone is – rearranging paper a few centimetres from the microphone can sound like you are caught in a blizzard! Muting the call won’t help if you need to do most of the talking. If you have call waiting on your phone, turn it off because the alert beeps can be heard by all call participants – which is rather annoying when your mother assumes you must be in the garden and will eventually hear the phone ringing if she keeps on dialing... Similarly, putting a call on hold will not only let everyone know that you have snuck off to the bathroom, but will also bombard them with annoying hold music
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until you get back. If you need a break, excuse yourself and mute your phone (remembering to re-announce yourself when you get back).
8. Avoid multi-tasking In a Nutshell: Turn off e-mail, mobile/cell phones, etc and give your full attention to the call. If multi-tasking is essential then ensure it is muted.
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There is nothing more annoying than to give an eloquent, clear, well constructed and witty synopsis of Australian takeover law – only to have a participant say “Huh? Oh, sorry, I was distracted. Could you cover that again?”
Multi-tasking is more tempting when calls are managed badly
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Unfortunately some people like conference calling because they can be doing other things at the same time. And in many circumstances the call is not run very efficiently, so participants get edgy and feel they need to be doing other things to justify the time spent on the call. That’s why we strongly advise you as the Chair to make sure conference calls are efficient and effective. In return you can expect the undivided attention of all participants.
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In some instances you need to multi-task to participate fully in the call. For instance you want to quickly check some figures, confirm a fact on the Internet or send an instant message to your secretary to bring more coffee. In these cases make sure you use mute to ensure the typing or return messages don’t distract other colleagues (or have them think you are checking flights for your next holiday!)
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9. Stay on track and ensure private matters are solved outside the call
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In a Nutshell: If something involves only some of the participants, have the discussion privately outside the call – or in a separate conference call. Don’t conduct side conversations just because the person you need to talk to is on the call.
This is one of the biggest time wasters in conference calling – where two participants start dealing with an issue that is not critical to the other members of the call. A good Chair should always insist that the issue is “taken off line”. Alternatively, adjourn the call for a brief period while they solve the issue on
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another call – allowing other participants to take a break or work constructively on something else. Another sin is for participants to opportunistically deal with an issue because the person they want to talk to happens to be on the call, which is distracting and time-wasting for the other participants. Talk to them about it after the call.
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10. Respect people’s valuable time
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In a Nutshell: Be succinct in what you say. Present information clearly and in a structured way to avoid repetition. Do not talk unnecessarily or allow the conference call to stray off topic. Don’t give detailed reasoning where a simple answer will suffice.
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This is really the crux of conference call etiquette. Invariably business people don’t like having their time wasted – and equally appreciate having their time respected. In addition to the first nine points of etiquette (many of which relate to time wasting) don’t spend longer saying something than is necessary, don’t grandstand and don’t give gratuitous details or explanations just to prove you have thought something through properly.
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This is very important when you are on a call for your specific area of expertise; an area which is not shared in common by other participants. In this case remember that not everyone will share the same enthusiasm or passion for what you do and so don’t need the level of detail that you have. Be careful not to fall into the trap of showing off your knowledge on a subject. Instead, give the answer to the question and offer to elaborate if people want more detail.
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Example
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“Brandon speaking. I can confirm there are no stamp duty issues with the transaction structure. I can go into my reasoning now or outside the call if anyone needs it.”
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17. Technology Tips and Techniques Choosing a conference call service is just part of the battle. It’s a big part of the battle, admittedly, but there are some other things to keep in mind as well. In this chapter, we’ll look at some of these other factors, which apply whichever conference call service you use.
Be prepared for technical problems with the call!
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Technical Problems
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Gihan sometimes says that every additional piece of technology you use reduces your chance of success by one-third. That was said with tongue firmly embedded in cheek, but there is a grain of truth to it. Despite improvements in technology – dramatic improvements – problems do occur, and you need to be prepared for them.
Poor telephone connection
First, of course, if you’re using the telephone system, some participants might have a bad connection. This has been the case since the telephone was invented, and is likely to be true forever!
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Some possible solutions: ⇒ Ask participants to hang up and call again; ⇒ If possible, ask them to use a land-line phone with a fixed handset; rather than a mobile phone, a Bluetooth headset, a speakerphone, or a cordless phone.
Have a back-up technology ready in case you need it
⇒ If you’re the Organiser and many participants are having trouble, it might be the conference call service itself. So hang up the entire call and re-start it.
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⇒ Have a back-up technology ready – for instance, having everybody’s phone numbers rather than using Skype.
Poor Internet connection
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Similar problems can occur if you’re using the Internet for the conference call. In this case, you could try some other solutions as well as those we’ve already mentioned: ⇒ If possible, ensure everybody is using the best Internet connection possible. In general, a wired connection is better than a wireless connection; and of course the faster the connection the better. ⇒ Tell participants to minimise their use of the Internet – browsing the Web, downloading e-mail, backing up data to an on-line server, and so on – during the conference call.
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⇒ If participants are planning to share big files with other participants during the call, send them the files in advance. ⇒ If participants having trouble are using video, ask them to “downgrade” to audio only, which is faster to transmit over the Internet. ⇒ As a last resort, if they are still having trouble, consider asking them to send their responses to the Chair in writing (in a chat window, using Twitter, by email or by SMS – whatever technology is available), and the Chair reads them out to other participants. This is obviously far from ideal, but it could be a reasonable workaround to allow the rest of the conference call to proceed.
Call drop-outs
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A related problem is having participants drop out of the call from time to time. Sometimes they can work around this by re-connecting, but it can be frustrating for them and other participants if this happens frequently.
Plan for the possibility of having to abandon the call
This can happen both for conference calls over a standard telephone line and conference calls over the Internet. The causes are similar to those for bad connections, so try the solutions we’ve already proposed above. Above all, keep in mind that sometimes your only solution is to abandon the call altogether, so plan ahead for that possibility. For example:
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⇒ If you’re working to a deadline, don’t wait until the very last minute to hold a conference call to make important decisions. Schedule the call as early as possible so you get another bite of the cherry if the call has to be abandoned.
Deal with the most important issues first
⇒ If the call is very important, have a backup plan in case the first option fails. For example, your first option might be a free conference call service, but if that fails, you can quickly tell your participants how to use the alternative paid service. It’s more expensive, but might be better than struggling with the first option or re-scheduling the call.
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⇒ Deal with the most important things first, so if you do have to abandon the call later, at least it isn’t a complete failure.
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⇒ As the Organiser or Chair, if you do have to abandon the call, follow up with participants to tell them what’s going to happen – e.g. re-scheduling the call, downgrading to an e-mail discussion, using a private on-line forum instead, or whatever you decide to do. The call had a purpose, so if that purpose wasn’t achieved, don’t leave them wondering what to do.
Secondary Communication – “Real-Time Caucusing” A conference call, like a face-to-face meeting, operates at two levels. The first, more obvious, level is the open participation, conversation and discussion. The second, more subtle, level is the private communication between participants.
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In some conference calls, this second level – the ability to create a caucus for a private conversation during the call – could be as important as the overt discussion that takes place on the call. You can’t use visual or tactile communication, as you would in a face-to-face meeting. Instead, make use of other technology, such as the following: ⇒ Skype includes a chat facility for private conversations;
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⇒ GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar allow participants to chat to the Organiser and presenters (but not to other participants);
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⇒ If your conference call service doesn’t offer this facility itself, do it yourself anyway using another Instant Messaging service, or by sending text messages from your mobile device (If you do plan to send text messages, make sure you switch your phone to silent mode).
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⇒ Create private Twitter accounts for yourself and the other participants you’d like to chat to, and use that Twitter stream for communicating with each other during the call. A drawback to using these secondary communication channels is that it’s one more piece of technology to manage during the call. However, if it’s important enough to do, it’s worth investing the time in doing it properly and becoming familiar with it.
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It’s also important for all participants in this group take this secondary communication seriously. After all, the whole point is to allow people to make important comments privately, so you can’t afford to miss any messages. In fact, you have to be more vigilant and alert than ever. For example, if you’ve decided to use text messages, you’ll have to keep looking at your phone, because you’ve probably also turned it to Silent during the call.
Agree on verbal codes or cues to signal to your colleagues
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Finally, if you are muted, you can phone another participant with an alternative mobile/cell phone during the call. Just be certain that both of you are muted, to avoid embarrassing disasters!
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Of course, you don’t have to rely only on technology for your private communication. You could arrange some secret words and phrases in advance, to signal something special to your colleagues (for example, if you suspect somebody is lying). They would pick up on your cue, and either change their overt responses or switch to one of the other secondary communication tools we’ve mentioned.
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Using Self-Operated Services The simpler conference call services simply provide an open telephone line without any control. More sophisticated services give you some control as the Chair. This could be important, particularly if you’re working with a bigger group or with a difficult topic.
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The exact controls vary between services, but in principle they offer a similar set of features.
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For example, one popular service publishes this quick reference guide for the host (Chair) to control the call:
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These are instructions for the Chair to use on their telephone during the call. For example, they press to mute all callers except for themselves. If the Chair feels overwhelmed with this technology, and wants to just concentrate on the content of the call, a separate Organiser can manage these functions.
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Using Operator-Assisted Services Although the self-operated service puts full control of the call at your fingertips (literally!), you can go one step further and use a service that includes an operator to do this for you. If you use a professional service, you don’t just get a person who presses the right buttons when you ask them to; you get experienced operators who know how to make a conference call work effectively.
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In addition to pressing the right buttons at the right time, they can also do things like:
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⇒ Calling participants directly to connect them to the call, rather than waiting for them to join it; ⇒ Screening all new participants to ensure they are entitled to be on the call, and keeping a register of callers (this could be important for governance, compliance or legal reasons); ⇒ Turning individual microphones on and off as required; ⇒ Collecting questions from the participants, and presenting them in a logical order; ⇒ Record the call, edit it and send you the audio file and/or transcript.
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Sharing Material Some conference call services allow you to share material with other participants during the call. The exact method of doing this varies depending on the service, but here are some things to consider: ⇒ Share whatever you can with participants before the call. This gives them time to scan, prepare and respond; rather than just react with their first impressions.
PDF is the best format for sharing read-only documents
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⇒ If you do need to wait until a certain part of the call before sharing, have the document at hand. You don’t want other participants to be waiting on the line while you’re running a search on your hard disk!
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⇒ Share read-only documents in PDF format. That’s the safest format to ensure most participants can read it. If you don’t already have software to convert documents to PDF, get www.pdf995.com free, or use a free on-line conversion tool like www.zamzar.com. ⇒ Other common formats, of course, include Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If you’re planning to use these formats, check to ensure all other participants can open them easily. This might seem obvious, but a participant using a shared computer in an airport lounge might only have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader and not the other software. It’s prudent to always have PDF versions of your
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files anyway, just in case an unexpected situation like this arises during the call. Most of these guidelines apply equally when you’re sharing Web addresses. Send them in advance if possible; have them handy; and avoid Web sites that require a specific Web browser or extra plug-ins.
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18. Next Steps If you’re new to conference calls, we hope this book has given you the confidence to participate in them more actively, as well as the practical skills to use in the calls.
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If you’re already experienced with conference calls, we expect this book has given you some insights and ideas to fine-tune your experience.
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Whatever your level of experience, we strongly recommend you put these new skills into action as soon as possible. It’s one thing to read about them; it’s another altogether to use them in a real situation with other callers on the line, various technology options and the need to act in real time.
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We’d love to get your feedback – either positive or negative – about your experiences with this book and with your conference calls. You can e-mail us at info@betterconferencecalls.com.
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About Brandon Munro Brandon Munro is a director of Caprodite Transaction Execution Pty Ltd (www.caprodite.com), a Perth based firm which assists clients with the execution of sophisticated corporate transactions in a capital markets context. He specialised as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in a leading Australian law firm before moving to a commercial role managing a variety of transactions conducted by the Australian and overseas subsidiaries of an Australian Stock Exchange listed conglomerate. He subsequently held Executive Director roles with a private equity firm and a boutique funds manager before moving to Czech Republic to pursue business interests in Eastern Europe. He recently relocated to Perth, Western Australia.
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Brandon has worked in a variety of countries including Australia, United Kingdom, China, Czech Republic and South Africa, and he has conducted conference calls with participants from every continent, including from a research base in Antarctica! Brandon has been a non-executive director of several private and public companies in the natural resources and asset management sectors.
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About Gihan Perera Gihan Perera is a consultant, speaker and author who works with smart, passionate businesspeople who have a message, idea or entrepreneurial business practice. He works with them to leverage their products, services and business practices – particularly with their on-line strategy. He has clients throughout Australia, as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Canada.
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He is the author of the books Secrets of Internet Business Success, Low Cost Promotion, Write Now, Get Traffic Fast (now in e-book form), Write Profitable EBooks (also now in e-book form) and Magnetic Messages. He has also written numerous e-books and created audio products on effective Web sites, Internet strategy and success with information products. Visit GihanPerera.com for more about Gihan’s speaking, consulting and mentoring services.
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Copyright Copyright Š 2009 Brandon Munro and Gihan Perera. This is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. THIS IS NOT A FREE PUBLICATION.
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Disclaimer
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The material contained in this report is general and is not intended as advice on any particular matter. The authors expressly disclaim all and any liability to any persons whatsoever in respect of anything done by any such person in reliance, whether in whole or in part, on this report. Please take appropriate legal advice before acting on any information in this report.
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