<Beep> “Who joined?” “It’s me, Frank.” “Oh, hi Frank.”
<Beep> “Who….?
<Beep>. “Oh, another. Who is on?”
<Beep>
<Beep>
“Sounds like a lot of people have joined, so we should begin. So who do we have on the call now?” asks the leader of the conference call.
And the free-for-all begins! One person begins to say her name, then another tries and still yet another, and before you know it, no one can hear who is speaking. Does this sound familiar to you? The unstructured conference call.
How many of you have been on a conference call? (Insert “hands up” emoji.) We all have. Thanks to modern technology, we have the ability to bring together groups of people quickly and efficiently. As a leader, this can be a very useful tool. Yet, given the “less-than-formal” nature of a call, many leaders don’t approach these with the same intentionality as an in-person meeting. A simple action in order to demonstrate your leadership on a conference call with your team is to begin by taking role to confirm attendance.
For example: Contrast the scenario above with the following:
Leader: “We are going to begin the call in 2 minutes. At that time, I am going to take roll. I will call your name, and if you are on the call, please respond with, ‘Here,’ to let us know.” When 2 minutes passes, the leader begins taking roll by calling each person’s name and awaits a response. Quick, efficient, and in control of the call from the beginning.
Give participants on your conference the confidence that you are in control as the leader. Confirm their attendance by taking roll.