Do's & Don'ts of Conference Calls

​Since the government order to stay and work from home, we are all in the midst of trying to make this balancing act as productive, easy and painless as possible. I am lucky to say that my workload has probably tripled over the past two weeks. And, while I am grateful to be busy and have business, it is also a sobering reminder that a lot of people out there do not have jobs right now and our economic future is uncertain on a global scale. A lot of our work meetings and information sharing is done through technology and group/conference calls, virtual meetings and video conferencing. I wanted to offer a few tips to lead to a successful meeting that works out for everyone. 

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Do's and don'ts 

1. Do set-up and test. When setting up a conference call, teleconference, meeting or video chat - be sure to check the source of service for your meeting. Does it work, can people access it easily, does it cost money, can your participants participate without signing-up, does your mic work, can you hear yourself speaking. This is probably the most important, as you want the process to work and you want to be able to successfully share information. Test, test and test again. If you have used one before then be sure to use that reliable one again. 
2. Do log-in early. If you are the host log-in extra early and establish the connection. It is somewhat embarrassing/disrespectful for the host to log-in late and everyone else is waiting for you. 
3. Do set a clear guide, agenda and follow it. If everyone on the call knows what you are going to be speaking about and in the order you are going to discuss the items in, it will assist with being efficient, cognizant of time constraints and respectful of other people's time and efforts. 
4. Do let people know to only speak one at a time. It is very frustrating to speak and be heard - when someone jumps in, in an effort to talk over you and then... no one can hear and you really get no where. So, as a participant be aware that you can wait your turn to speak and add comments, but while someone is speaking do your part to be an active listener. 
5. Don't eat during the conference or don't chew food while you are speaking. This is just customary proper etiquette, use the restroom prior to the call, eat prior to the call and be an actively participating listener. 
6. Don't drive or go outside while on the call - it is distracting to hear ambient noises, turn signals, vehicle sounds, wind blowing and etc while you are in the meeting. 
7. Do sit in a quiet location or place your phone on mute if you are not speaking. 
8. Do hold your phone close to your mouth when speaking. If you place the phone more than 2 feet away, say on the dining room table or across the room... most won't be able to hear you very well.
9. It appears iPhones can group call up to 5 people and Samsungs may be able to call up to 6 people at one time (I am not 100% sure of this but that is what my research showed). Sometimes just plain old calling on a phone works best.