Conference Planning Summary
The following links take you to the corresponding section on this page.
- Good Conference Call Protocol
- Agenda
- Scheduling and Preparation
- Technical Set Up
- Begin The Conference Call
- During The Conference Call
- Attention and Engagement
- Interactive Techniques
- Evaluation / Feedback
Good Conference Call Protocol
- Join the conference call on time. A conference call is a scheduled meeting and people will be waiting for everyone to join. Being on time is a sign business of professionalism.
- The host or moderator should advise all participants of the basic rules of conference call etiquette prior to beginning the conference.
- Make sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed.
- Never put a conference call on hold, it is not only confusing to participants but also considered to be rude.
- If you use a cell phone or a speakerphone, use the mute feature when you're not talking to filter out any background noise.
- If at all possible avoid using cell phone in conference calls due to possible poor connections or static on the lines which can interfere with the quality of the conference call.
- Make sure each participant temporarily suspends their call waiting feature so guests aren't confused or annoyed by the beeping sounds.
- If your phone system has built in background music or announcements, don't use the hold button during the conference call.
- Upon first entering the call and any time you speak, you should identify yourself and not assume people know who is speaking, especially in large conference calls.
- When speaking, avoid paper rustling.
- Announce when you are leaving from/returning to the call.
- On long calls, offer bio breaks and "quick stretches".
- Speak clearly. Slow down if you are a "fast talker".
- Be aware of the impact of accents and slow down accordingly.
- Be enthusiastic and use a tone appropriate to the group.
- Vary your voice tone - avoid monotone presentations.
Agenda
- Advise your participants of the date and time of your conference call in advance of the meeting; be sure to include different time zones if relevant.
- Send out a reminder to participants for calls that are scheduled far in advance.
- Set an agenda for the meeting that includes goals, participant expectations and timing; send this to participants as soon as possible.
- An hour on a teleconference generally cannot accomplish quite as much as an hour face-to-face. Plan your time accordingly.
- Ask participants to review the agenda prior to the call.
- If you expect active participation from all participants, consider the impact of volume of comments on time available when determining the number of agenda items.
- Prepare any supplementary materials necessary for the meeting.
- Decide on roles. The meeting presenter does not have to be the same person who is looking after the call facilitation duties.
- Ask your participants to identify themselves each time they speak. In groups, some speakers may sound alike or it can be easy to lose the thread of conversation with many speakers.
Scheduling and Preparation
- Take into account participant availability just as you would for a face-to-face meeting.
- Consider time zones when scheduling; communicate local time or how to calculate local time when sending the meeting announcement.
- By showing multiple times zones, you can both show the reach of your company, which also helps ease the time conversion for your participants.
- Have an attendance list with name, email and phone number in case you need to contact an individual before, during or after the call.
- Distribute supporting documents/files well before the call starts.
- Inform participants if they have to have any additional resources, presentations, etc. for the call.
- Find out if there are any individual time constraints (i.e., someone has to leave early) and adjust accordingly. This is particularly important if you need the input or participation of someone who needs to leave early/join late to achieve the goals of the call.
Technical Set Up
- Send all participants the necessary dial in number and pass-codes (if any).
- Be clear to participants if you are offering a toll free number or if they are responsible for long distance costs. With international groups, make sure your number includes the international country code.
- Have a back up plan for potential technology failure.
- If the call leader controls the start/stop of the call and may have to leave early, have a second person with leader privileges so the call does not get cut off.
Begin The Conference Call
- As the host or presenter, it is helpful to log on early and be the first online (5-15 minutes). This eliminates confusion if guests dial-in early.
- Turn off call-waiting. Most call-waiting features can be deactivated by dialing *70 before dialing into the conference.
- Greet and know who is online (roll call, etc.).
- Review and, if needed, adjust the agenda.
- Instruct each participant to state his or her name when speaking to avoid confusion. For example, "This is Karen, and I'd like to mention..."
- Require attendees to refrain form putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would disrupt the conference. Ask participants to use their mute feature instead.
During The Conference Call
- If possible, use multiple speakers to avoid "boredom" with one voice/presenter.
- Use people's names to get their attention.
- Assign people different roles - note taker, timekeeper, "keeper" of unanswered questions, etc.
- Consider "break out sessions" or subconferences, where pairs get off the main call, call each other, interact and call back on to the phone bridge.
- During the call, stop and ask for feedback from specific participants instead of from the entire group.
- Postpone any discussions that are not relevant to the conference for another date and time.
- Promptly deal with any noise or distractions.
- Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.
- Clearly state when you are ending the conference. Often a guest can be left on the line not realizing that the conference has ended.
Attention and Engagement
- Track who is talking so you can call on those who have not had a chance/chosen to speak up.
- If the group gets off the agenda, get back on topic, but take note of the side issue for later attention.
- For decision-making processes, re-state or repeat key issues as you get closer to a decision point.
- If your participants can be online at the same time they are on the phone,
consider web-based collaboration tools to create shared electronic notes, flip charts, etc. Sometimes allowing "side chats" or "chat breakouts" can increase participant engagement.
- If there is a large group and participation is required, try to keep a small number of people from dominating the call.
- Share leadership duties to help less engaged people become more involved in the call. Ask individuals to "lead" sections of the agenda.
Interactive Techniques
- Brainstorm - ask participants to make a note of others' contributions.
- Location Maps - For widely distributed groups that meet regularly, create a map with pictures of the participants near the location on the map. Distribute the "map" to the group or publish on a web page.
- Take minutes and use them for follow up. Distribute as soon as possible after the meeting and highlight follow up steps and required actions.
- When appropriate, recap what was discussed during the meeting or what the next steps are.
- Offer an opportunity for final/closing comments.
Evaluation / Feedback
- Use some form of feedback or evaluation tool to help improve subsequent calls. A simple after action review (what did we intend to do, what did we do, what would we do differently)
can be done at the conclusion of a call, or could be done with a questionnaire, a survey or an email post-call.
- "Just Three Words" - the technique is to do a round of comments from everyone on the call requesting that they only use three words
in their response. For example, at the end of the call you might say "what three words describe
your experience of today's call?" The notes from these exercises can then later be reviewed and observed for similarities, differences and patterns.
Simple, Reliable, Inexpensive Conference Calls.
