The teleconference guide

Teleconferencing checklist

Below you find concerns for organizing and conduction a conference call.

Preparation

  • Inform the participants on time: starting time, dial-in number, conference code etc.
  • Advise the participants to find a quiet room.
  • If you are using a hands-free phone keep in mind that your setup introduces background noise in the conference call. So find a quiet spot and turn the speaker volume not too loud to avoid echo.
  • In the case of dial out: make sure you have the phone numbers of the participants available with preferably a backup per participant. Ask the participants to turn on their phone and to make sure that call's don't end up in their voice mail.
  • Send documents like the agenda and minutes in time, just like for physical meetings.

During the conference call

  • Make sure that you open the teleconference in time.
  • Make sure that it is clear to everybody which participants join the conference call
  • If there are many participants it is wise to agree to mention your name before you speak.
  • Mention the name of the person to who you ask a question.
  • Don't interrupt each other and prevent participants to speak interchangably.
  • Communicate concise and to the point
  • Ensure that each participant has the opportunity to contribution.
  • Close each issue with a brief summary.
  • Plan the next session at the end of each meeting.

Afterwards

Send the minutes of the teleconference as soon as possible after the meeting to each participant.

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