- 13.10.2015
-
Michał Misiak
- Categories: Business Communications
Teleconferences are so popular because companies seek to improve work performance by reducing time (and money) spent on business travel. Therefore, when preparing a teleconference, we have to put a lot of emphasis on effectiveness.
An effective teleconference, just like a face-to-face group meeting, requires appropriate preparation and administration. Without them it would be a mere chat among a larger group of people that will not achieve the objectives set before the meeting. Here are the steps that should be borne in mind when arranging a business teleconference.
Preparing the teleconference
1. Objective and agenda
Specify the objective(s) of the meeting and, if it is not focused on a single issue, definitely prepare an agenda (a list of issues for discussion) together with the expected time needed to discuss each agenda item. Meetings without agendas tend to end up in chaos, leaving important things unaddressed.
2. Who participates
Prepare a list of participants (only people actually needed to discuss the subject) and check the availability of key persons on the planned teleconference date (or possibly adjust the date to availabilities). NOTE: Respect the time of participants – in the case of longer meetings check in advance whose presence is required for each part of the meeting. Specify the start times for further parts of the meeting to be joined by subsequent participants.
3. Setting the teleconference parameters
… i.e. the timing, type of teleconference (dial-in, where the organiser calls the participants, or dial-out, where the participants call the organiser, or if you are going to use the online teleconferencing options), need for international phone numbers, recording and level of security. Depending on the service provider, either it is enough to select the right options using an online dashboard (like in the case of telemeeting), or you will need to email the provider.
4. Sending the invitations
- Send invitations to participants, including the following elements:
- objective of the meeting
- agenda
- start date and time – if persons from different time zones are to participate, you should communicate the meeting time separately for each time zone (e.g. Chicago 8:00 am, New York 9:00 am, Dakar 1:00 pm, Madrid 3:00 pm, Kiev 4:00 pm, Delhi 6:30 pm)
- planned duration of the teleconference
- telephone number and PIN to access the teleconference room (for dial-in access) + a contact person to solve potential connection problems
- planned list of participants
- participant information, if the participants of the meeting do not know one another (e.g. Jane Smith, Sales Manager at Y, 11 years in the home appliance business)
- materials which should be read by participants before the meeting (such as X brand launch strategy for the Hawaiian market)
5. Check attendance confirmations and send reminders
One day before the teleconference check if all attendees have confirmed their participation. On the teleconference day, send a meeting reminder by email or text message.
Choose the location and set up the telephone
- a place from where you are going to run the teleconference – preferably enclosed space with a door sign “do not disturb” and all distractions, such as tablet computers, smartphones, TV, radio switched off.
- network coverage – use a corded landline telephone if possible. If not, choose a place where your mobile or cordless phone has a really good coverage.
- muting – an important telephone feature for participants whose surroundings are not perfectly peaceful. By using this function when not speaking, they prevent other people from hearing the sound coming from their rooms. However, you should not use this option when you participate in the conference from a silent room. This way you will hear casual remarks from other participants while someone is speaking, such as “yes, yes, right” or “I don’t think so”.
- convenience– headsets are the most convenient teleconferencing equipment. They must feature a mute function, mute indicator and built-in volume control (to adjust the sound level to participants speaking in a soft or loud voice). A Bluetooth enabled headset will need no cable. If you do not use a headset, you will be uncomfortable holding the receiver to your ear for a long time. However, be careful when using the speakerphone function, because while the microphone is farther away from your lips, it also picks up a lot of other background noise (even the sound of turning pages).
- switch off missed call notifications– turn off the notification sound on your phone, as it would be annoying to you and others.
- avoid using the hold function– if you have music on hold, everyone will hear that.
Do you prepare for teleconferences in a similar way?
In our next post, we will discuss the rules of effective teleconferencing.
0
0
0