How to Be an Effective Conference Call Participant
May 4, 2011 1 Comment
I’ve mentioned before that the virtual world at Affinity Express means we have many conference calls on a range of topics all week long. In another post, I suggested ways to structure and lead these sessions to produce results as the organizer or facilitator. Today, I wanted to take a different angle and cover ways to improve the experience for you as a participant and for the rest of the team.
Prepare
Read agendas, project lists and other documentation sent out ahead of the meeting. Scanning material while trying to listen means you are not giving your full attention to the conversation and you missed the opportunity to ask questions or get clarifications prior to everyone dialing in. That wastes time and leads to longer, repetitive calls that waste everyone else’s time. Recently, I was in a meeting where a salesperson brought up a new product that was under consideration for development. It was clear he did not listen the last time or read the minutes because he was actively selling it when we de-prioritized the offering. We had to “remind” him that we were not moving forward. That was ten minutes of our lives we’ll never get back! Read more of this post
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