Whenever a conference calls takes place it is really important that the experience is one that is productive and that communication goes as smoothly as possible. It does not matter what your role is as maintaining proper etiquette is always something that is mandatory. When etiquette is nor respected, the morale of all participants will be affected, deadlines will be missed and misunderstandings can lead to huge long-term problems.
If you want to have a great conference call, Louis Hernandez Jr says that etiquette is paramount. Here are some rules that you should always respect.
Create A Quiet Atmosphere
You need to be in a room that is quiet and as away from disturbances as possible. That guarantees you can hear what is happening and misunderstandings are minimized. If there is a dog barking, people are talking around you and so on, misunderstandings are practically guaranteed.
Telephone Equipment
Always use a phone that can minimize background noise. Most of the cell phones and regular phones will pick up interferences and noises. That automatically causes trouble as you cannot properly hear others while they will not hear you well.
Properly Using Telephone Technology
Modern conference call equipment includes a mute button. This is really important as it will help you to have a much more productive conference call. A mute button needs to be used whenever you do not talk. Alternatively, the conference moderator can use advanced features that allow him to mute a specific conference participant that talks too much. Just make sure that you un-mute a person if you use such a person.
Always Be Present On Time
When you are a conference leader it is very important that everything starts on time. You cannot wait for those that are late as people that are present at the designed time should not be left waiting. If you are a participant, do all that you can to be on time. This is so that you do not miss some things that are really important.
Introductions Count
You want to be sure that all people that participate in a call will introduce themselves or that they are introduced by someone. Relationship building is important and introductions are the first steps taken towards that. All people have to be comfortable and it would be really hard to do this with people you do not know.
Clarifications
It is normally really difficult to know who the person is when he talks during a conference. That is why you want people to say their name before talking. This can be avoided with the video conferences but should be mandatory with voice-only conferences.
Eating And Drinking While On The Call
It is not at all a good idea to eat while you are participating in a conference. Chewing is something that should not be heard. The same thing can be said about drinking water but in this case you can easily use the mute button. Do not chew gum and do anything that would cause extra noise in the conversation.