Since the start of the pandemic, working from home has become the norm for hundreds of thousands of employees across the UK. W
Figures from Statista, the market and consumer data specialists, highlight how 38% of workers aged between 30 and 49 are doing some work from home as of February 2022. Age appears to affect remote working opportunities, as just 23% of younger workers aged between 16 and 29 report that they are working from home. 21% said they are unable to do so.
When working from home, a conference call is the only way to stay in the loop where meetings are concerned. And although our service is easy to use, there are certain rules you need to abide by when on a teleconference.
To make sure you don’t make a show of yourself on a call with up to 100 other people listening in, make a not of our top 9 tips for proper conference call etiquette…
Top 9 tips for proper conference call etiquette
If you’ve ever been on a conference call where people show up late, forget to mute while they’re eating, or have completely separate conversations to the one going on on the call, you’ll know the importance of good conference call etiquette.
Try to follow these simple rules:
1. Know the conference call date and time
Make sure everyone knows when your conference call is – you can do this with our free SMS reminder service – and make sure to keep the conference call dial-in number and PIN to hand so you are not scrambling to find it at the last minute.
2. Call in early
Don’t be late to the call, especially if you know you will have to contribute to the discussion – people are on a strict time limit and may have to leave before it is over if you hold it up from the start.
3. Use the mute button
If you’re working in a noisy office, a bustling coffee shop, or you’re at home and the dog won’t shut up, use the mute button when you’re not talking to help keep distracting sounds to a minimum.
4. Introduce yourself before speaking
If there are a lot of people on the call, and most are not in the same room, it helps that you introduce yourself before speaking so other participants can better understand the context of your comments. If you’re in conference with people from another company, it may also help to state your role, company, or location after your name.
5. Be prepared
Prepare for a conference call like you would any other meeting, long silences as you scramble around for notes or try to think on your feet are magnified during a conference call.
6. Pay attention
There are loads of distractions to hand when you dial in to a conference call – emails in your inbox, coworkers, work piling up on your desk, social media, to name but a few – and just because the other people in the meeting can’t see you, it doesn’t mean you can get lost in these distractions. Don’t be the one who always has to ask the person to repeat their question, because you wasn’t paying attention.
7. Try to keep a good signal
This can be tough if you’re conducting a call on the move, but try to stay in a place where you have a good phone signal – a bad connection could cause static or make your voice beak up when you speak, or may even drop the line to disrupt the call even more.
8. Follow the leader
Every conference call should have a clear, defined leader who not only keeps the call on track but sends out the agenda ahead of the call, keeps track of time and sends out any follows ups or invites to additional meetings.
9. Stick to the agenda
Always provide and, importantly, stick to, an agenda while on the conference call – this is the responsibility of the leader of the call, so if the conversation is straying and they’re not keeping tabs, give them a nudge.
How to get a conference call all wrong
As you can see from the Office Team infographic below, there are a few common annoyances and distractions when it comes to conference calling. That’s why it’s essential to
And this video from Tripp and Tyler shows how these conference call faux pas would look in an in person meeting.
Business woman image by magnetme from Pixabay
