Conference calls are one of the most popular forms of communication in the modern-day office. We understand that they can be a hassle at times, but we also recognize the importance of being able to hop on a call to discuss business needs and requirements.
Here are four steps we believe you should take BEFORE conducting a conference call to make the experience much more positive for all attendees.
1. Be organized and choose a facilitator:
Actually take the time to jot down a few items you want to discuss in the call so you don’t accidentally miss anything once the call gets rolling. Communicate who is going to take charge of the call as well. Who is going to be responsible for the agenda? Who is going to keep everyone on task? When you’re not in an actual meeting room, it’s easy to accidentally talk over each other and get a bit off task so being organized and communicating clearly is key!
2. Determine if you’ll need to share visuals or documents:
If you believe your attendees will need a certain PDF or excel document, be sure to email it separately ahead of time (not in your calendar invite). This will save you time during your call because everyone will already have the document. It also allows attendees to review the content ahead of time allowing for better discussion. If you think you’ll need to use screen share, click here to check out our favorite free screen sharing tools.
3. Schedule your call with Ryngly:
By using Ryngly, you can ensure that all of your attendees are on time. Have you ever joined a conference call and multiple people are so late that the actual (now useless) call only lasts 10 minutes because you have another meeting you must get to? Make the most of everyone’s time. Also, if you are inviting a new Ryngly user to your call, be helpful and make sure they’re prepared and understand that Ryngly will call them to join!
4. Pick a quiet location:
If that’s not possible, the least you could do is mute yourself. Thankfully, with Ryngly, the call facilitator can mute you if needed. (Don’t make them kick you off the call with Ryngly’s “Boot” feature.)