Phone Conference Etiquette

In today’s work culture, more and more people are working remotely. Conference calls are more necessary than ever to keep remote employees connected. When you’re on a conference call, do you remember to mind your manners? Here are some tips for proper etiquette when you have a phone conference meeting.

The meeting should start on time. Just because you aren’t meeting in person doesn’t mean you should be tardy. Remember to be respectful of everyone’s time. Also, be sure to announce yourself when you join. If the members of the call are not well acquainted, you may also want to give a detailed introduction with your name, title, and involvement in the meeting. Additionally, you should have a plan for the meeting. There should be a designated person to lead the discussion, and there should be an agenda in place for what needs to be covered. The leader’s job is to make sure everyone sticks to the agenda.  

As the meeting gets going, anyone not speaking should be on mute. Real life happens, and you may not be able to find a quiet room for your call, so make sure you mute yourself to avoid distracting background noise. If possible, you should take notes during the call, and it would be helpful to share those with the other attendees. In addition, if you have questions you need to ask, have those prepared in advance. When the discussion ends, the person leading should summarize what was accomplished and assign any action items. You should end the meeting on time and allow everyone to give a clear and polite goodbye to sign off.

We hope these tips will help you in your future conference calls. If you are scheduling conference calls more frequently and need to upgrade your phone system, contact us today. We can set you up with a great system to improve your phone conference experience.