Have you ever taken a conference call while commuting? How about when out shopping? Or lying in bed? If so, you’re not alone, as a recent study from career website eFinancialCareers found that over half of us (54%) don’t pay full attention when on a conference call.
The poll, titled ‘The Money Never Stops’, was carried out across 1,700 professionals working in Singapore’s financial services industry (as well as 695 in Hong Kong and 306 in Australia) found that almost three-quarters (72%) of those polled are required to participate in conference calls as part of their job.
However, it was what they were getting up to while on the conference call that provided the most illuminating results…
What goes on during a conference call?
Over half of the women (56%) and over half of the men (53%) polled admitted to not paying full attention while on a conference call and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most common activity while on a conference call is surfing the web.
Half (50%) of all respondents admitted to doing this an d it’s not something that would not go down well with UK business types who named this as their number one conference call bugbear.
Just under half (49%) admitted to eating while on a conference call, while 47% have taken a conference call while on holiday.
A quarter (25%) have dialled in while commuting, though it’s surprising this figure isn’t higher, while one-in-five (20%) have joined a conference while on another call or lying in bed!
Other odd places to take conference calls include; the golf course, a cycling track, the toilet (!), the shopping mall and, amazingly, the shower and the swimming pool!
None of which really constitutes proper conference call etiquette!
Below is an infographic based upon the findings…
How to conduct a conference call
If you’re having trouble getting things right on a conference call, check out this short video on conference call etiquette, or have a read of 9 tips for proper conference call etiquette
For more tips on what not to do on a conference call, follow The 5 commandments of conference calling when working from home – and let us know what you have been up to while on a conference call, in the boxes below.
