Making Effective Conference Calls

Many executives and workers alike secretly believe that all meetings are actually a waste of time. Interestingly enough, several independent surveys in business periodicals have confirmed that, in fact, meetings are the single largest time waster at large firms—or at least at firms that regularly conduct meetings. This is due in part to the use of conference calls.

Since many business transactions are accomplished through various forms of conference calls it necessary for your business to conduct a professional conference call each and every time one is required. Now, more than ever, technology is available that can make a professional conference call the industry standard. Due to a glut of telecommunications companies offering teleconferencing services, there are many companies that provide a professional conference call at an affordable price.

Now that businesses of all sizes can purchase a conference call services for a relatively inexpensive price, nearly anyone can communicate with clients and employees via the medium of a conference call meeting. This means that it is easier to communicate, but is it always good to communicate when there is very little to communicate? Here's where the need for effective conference calls comes in: if you can effectively use conference calls, then you absolutely should use conferencing technology.

To begin with, you will want to ask yourself whether or not “effective conference calls” can possibly be a reality at your firm. For instance, do you have a lot of employees who are out of the building, but are able to access a computer? If not, can you make effective conference calls to employees in their cubicles while they work? If so, you may want to consider doing this. Employees may become slightly less productive while conferencing, but at least they will be able to work while at a meeting.

The next question you will want to ask is exactly what you need to communicate in the conference call. If your conference call is a set of detailed instructions, rather than an open discussion, why not simply send an email, rather than telling them via conference? Using a conferencing will only dampen productivity, distract them while they work, and leave them half-confused about what you want.

Conversely, if you must discuss a given topic with your employees, you should setup an outline, so that you can make clear and effective conference calls. For instance, you can start by determining the topic of the conference calls—and can then develop it into a list of tasks that must be done or delegated. Or you could separate your outline into tasks that must be delegated and topics that must be discussed. This will make for much more effective conference calls.