CONFERENCE CALLS…
If you are in corporate America today, you KNOW what I am talking about…
I find conference calls very frustrating and VERY, VERY TELLING about how our minds work and how aware we are of the concepts of HARMONY.
I am not sure if you have seen the video that has been going around, but it is a riot and a must see….
The truth, I believe, is that conference calls are not a poor communication vehicle. In fact, they are an amazing means of communication. And, they bring to the surface behaviors and values that speak about us… and sometimes get in the way.
Remember, Harmony requires us to understand and embrace the absolute truth and move the moment toward what we want it to be.
So… what should we read into
when someone whispers in the room and they are on a conference call?
when someone is typing like a woodpecker onto their computer, next to their speaker phone?
when someone’s dog is barking or baby is screaming in the background?
when they are late to the call?
when we start talking over ourselves in the room, so that no one on the line can hear anything that is going on?
The “Conference Call” provides a veil that allows us to be more “ourselves”… and we need to be careful and mindful of that…
When we are in a meeting face to face, we are less likely to be distracted by our email, our texts out of respect to the people we are meeting with… when there is a conference line between us… we allow ourselves the room to be distracted and disrespectful.
When we are in a meeting face to face, we can see signs if the person in front of us cannot hear us. When we are on a conference call, specially people in the room, will whisper something to the group. In my opinion, this is for one of two reasons, neither of which is OK.
1. We forgot someone is on the line and we just aren’t thinking about them, we are only thinking about our thought, not about sharing that thought so that others can hear it.
2. We are saying something that we don’t want the other person to hear.
When your are on a conference call, as with any meeting, be mindful that the people there are there to exchange ideas, and they need to HEAR your ideas for the process to work.
When we are in a meeting face to face, we work to keep our distractions away from the meeting. When we are home, why wouldn’t we close the door to the room we are in? Why wouldn’t we get to a space that is quiet? I understand that is not always possible, but certainly many of the barks and screams are avoidable.
When we don’t have to look at each other face to face, we allow ourselves liberties that we don’t otherwise allow ourselves… WHY?
Is it because we hold ourselves less accountable when we are not looking into people’s eyes?
Is it because we are more easily distracted and less able to maintain focus?
Is it because we can blame it on other things?
We hold ourselves to a lower bar and a lower standard on conference calls. I understand that some of that is human nature. I think it is almost impossible to maintain the same level of attentiveness and engagement over the phone in a group discussion than in a face to face meeting…
But, that is specifically why as leaders of organizations and of the calls, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We need to help everyone else be mindful of the investment that everyone is making, of the opportunity that the exchange represents.
We need to slowly create a culture, not of tolerance of disrespect and lower standards on conference calls, but exactly the opposite.
To achieve harmony and success on conference calls, we need to go OUT OF OUR WAY to make everyone aware that we are indeed on a conference call.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE ON THE PHONE, so please speak up and lets not talk over ourselves.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL for those of you on the line that we can hear what is going on, so please mute your phones, if you have background noise until you need to speak up.
Give the people on the line the “right of way” in the conversation. It is harder for them to “step into” the conversations as they cannot see the physical cues.
CHECK in with the people on the line – to make sure they can hear clearly.
CHECK in when you are on the line – that you are being heard clearly.
DON’T GO ON LONG MONOLOGES (this is good no matter what the meeting method is)…
INVEST a few bucks in decent technology… You are saving time and money by not having to be there in person (all of us)… so invest in a decent phone. Try different things to see what works best. If you are at home – headphones with a mic are much more effective than speaker phones.
SET A TIGHTER AGENDA than usual for conference calls. Make sure everyone knows what to expect when, as there are some folks flying blind on the other side of the phone.
LEAD IT… with less tolerance for talking over each other, and random conversation as it is harder to follow remotely.
ADD VIDEO wherever possible. Seeing faces changes the level of engagement, the investment in the conversation and the overall effectiveness.
Conference calls don’t need to be marginal and limited exchanges if we don’t want them to be. They can be extremely effective and efficient means of communication.
But, DON’T allow yourself to LOWER the bar for conference call exchanges…
To achieve HARMONY… RAISE the BAR on those conversations and exchanges… DEMAND more mindfulness and awareness in the conversation… for you and for everyone involved.
There is real upside and opportunity in every conversation. ON of OFF line...
Remember… every moment counts… don’t let yourself or others, in any moment, “off the hook”.
Get it ;-)
Yours answering to the call of HARMONY!
Nestor