As we embark on the New Year, now is the time to reflect on the year just gone and start making plans for the year ahead. New Year’s Resolutions are often part of that planning process, and can be a helpful tool for setting goals, provided they’re realistic and not over-ambitious. If you’re setting yourself professional resolutions – perhaps tactics to be more productive, gain a better work-life balance, or master a new skill – may we suggest you consider the oft-overlooked conference call? The chances are, if you have regular conference calls you probably dislike them. Here are 3 easy New Year conference call resolutions that will help take away some of the pain from your everyday meetings.
Resolution #1: stick to meeting best practices
For a successful conference call, you need to stick to meeting best practices. So, ensure you have an objective for the meeting, the right people are involved, and an appropriate amount of time has been assigned to it. Make sure it’s clear to all participants what the agenda is, and that everyone knows how they are expected to contribute. Start and end promptly, and keep everyone on track with clear next steps.
Resolution #2: master the mute function
There’s nothing more annoying on a conference call than unwanted background noise. Make sure you’re not the one bringing this nuisance into the meeting; if you’re taking the call from a noisy place, be sure to put yourself on mute. If you’re the call leader and others have background noise, make sure you know how to mute them, for example from your conferencing smartphone app.
Resolution #3: use screen sharing to keep people engaged
Sharing your screen helps to keep people on the same page and illustrate your point, helping participants remain engaged and absorb information more effectively. It’s really important that the benefits of screen sharing aren’t mitigated by participants having difficulties viewing your screen, so make sure your conferencing solution doesn’t require guests to download anything to view.
Following these resolutions will set the tone for a year of more satisfying and productive meetings. Hopefully you will start the work year revitalized after a good rest, but if you have back-to-work blues, try some of these extra meeting ideas to help to get you inspired about work again. Here’s to a happy and productive 2015!
For more posts on communicating effectively, check out:
5 Tips to Stop Wasting Time on Conference Calls
4 Tips to Keep People Engaged on Your Next Conference Call
3 Meetings to Beat Back-to-Work Blues
How to Not be Annoying on Conference Calls
4 Tips to Stop Wasting Time on Online Meetings
