How To Plan Telephone Conference Calls

Knowing how to plan a conference call, like knowing how to plan many things, is best learned by planning - and then taking notes on what worked and what didn’t for next time. Feedback and evaluation are crucial parts of planning for a conference call, as they give you the information you need to improve the effectiveness and participation of subsequent conference calls.

Here, however, are some tips on how to plan a conference call, especially designed for those who are new to conference calling. These tips will work whether you’re using a landline for an audio conference call, a video conference call, a Web conference call or even a cell phone conference call.

Including in your planning for a conference call should be your call’s agenda, the preparation of the technical equipment set up, preparing your schedule and materials, knowing how to start a conference call, some guidance on telephone conference call etiquette, how to keep the participant’s attention and encouraging their participation, how to plan for and encourage interactivity.

The first step in planning a conference call is creating your agenda. You should determine and note the conference call’s goals, the expectations of the participants and the appropriate timeframe. Keep in mind that while it’s difficult to keep the attention of a large group for more than an hour on a conference call that does not include video, do realize that an hour on a teleconference is not generally going to get as much work done as a face to face meeting would in an hour.

Part of the how to’s of planning a conference call is the realization that participants, if allowed, are going to ask questions and give feedback. If, for example, you have 10 people on your landline or cell phone conference call, and each spends 1-3 minutes addressing each agenda on the call, an hour will only be enough time for one or two topics.

Another part of the planning process is determining who is going to take on what tasks. You may have one person handling pre-call preparation such as invitations and distribution of agenda, participant list, entry codes and phone number; another might chair the meeting while a third does most of the speaking and a fourth handles the technical end of things - muting and unmuting, handling questions, and so forth.

Participants should be a minor part of the planning as well, with each participant familiarizing her or himself with the agenda.

Technical planning for a conference call includes a determination of the format - whether telephone landline or cell phone conference call, video teleconferencing, or Web-based. You might also opt for TTY equipment for participants who are hearing impaired and, if you are using a chat room method of teleconferencing you’ll want to set up simultaneous transcription.

Always put a back up in plan in place should there be a last minute technological problem.

The preparation and scheduling for the business conference call should include optimization of time. In other words, choose the best time for the availability of the most people. Consider the participant time zones, determining how many or few are in each zone. When announcing the conference call advise of the hour specific to the participant’s time zone, or some easy way for the participants to convert the hour to their time.

Make sure each participant has all materials needed well before the conference call, and all are aware of any Web site or document they will need open during the call.

The chair should have an attendance list handy at all times before, during and just after the meeting. The list should include name, company name, title, phone and e-mail of each participant.

Knowing how to plan for a conference call means knowing how to start the call and how each participant and the chair and speakers are expected to behave. The chair should be on the call prior to anyone else - generally 15 minutes before. Someone hosting the event should greet each caller as she or he arrives. You might consider having early arrivals greet the next arrivals and get the team building started early. Ask each participant to announce his or her name before speaking. Review the agenda and announce any changes. It’s also important that at the start of the meeting the chair ask if anyone has any time constraints. Should there be someone who must drop off the call early whose input you’re hoping for you might want to adjust that topic’s timing accordingly.

Conference call etiquette, an important part of knowing how to plan a conference call requires that the location for the call be quiet and that participants turn off or mute their cell phones. A speaker phone is a poor idea for a conference call participant, as are low quality headsets that produce poor resonance. A participant should never put the conference call on hold if there is hold music or messages. Paper shouldn’t rustle in the background nor should keyboarding or announcement of e-mail be audible.

Sometimes participants tend to multitask during a teleconference call if they’re not visible. This can make it difficult to keep everyone’s attention. It might be necessary for the moderator to call on the silent participants periodically to command their attention.

Everyone should announce if they are leaving or returning from the conference call. But if you notice that several are doing so it’s time for a “potty break” probably. Speakers should speak clearly and slowly, especially if there are various accents in the group.

Some important points for keeping participant’s attention include varying the speakers, playing games, go around the room for comments, and make sure not to allow a few to dominate the conference call.

These, then, are the basics of how to plan a conference call.