My Thoughts On Conference Call Etiquette

I was prompted to write this blog post based on my last few experiences with some weekly conference calls. I would have to say that in the last few weeks, a recurring pattern has emerged as it relates to proper conference call etiquette. At one point I finally hung up the phone as there was no way to intelligently discern what was being said due to the background noise and personal conversations.

To stay positive in this post, I am going to list five tips on proper conference call etiquette. These are purely my opinion based on the huge amount of time that I spend on calls every day.
Conference Call Etiquette Tips

1. Dial Into The Conference Call Early – There is nothing worse than having someone show up late to a meeting and interrupt it. Make sure that you dial into a conference call at least five minutes early. Come prepared with materials to take notes, your coffee or other form of caffeine and anything else that you will need.
2. Announce Yourself – Make sure that you announce yourself if it is asked in the beginning of the meeting. If you arrive late, please remain silent unless the call is polled again for latecomers to announce themselves. If you arrive late, then you missed your chance and should not disrupt the call.
3. Mute Your Line – I can’t stress this enough. Typically, most conference call systems these days allow you to enter *6 on your keypad to mute your line. If you have a mute button on your phone, that will suffice as well. Simply un-mute yourself as needed when you need to speak and then mute yourself again when finished.
4. Keep Background Noise To A Minimum – There is no worse conference call etiquette than hearing someone carrying on a conference call in the background, or worse, using the restroom while on a call. For goodness sakes, have respect for the others on the call. If you have other discussions or events happening around you, either refrain from being on the call or mute yourself as to ensure others that are actually on the call to participate can do so.
5. Stay On Topic – Often times, I hear others bring up topics that have no place in the call. Even if the conference call has no agenda, it usually has a purpose such as a live training call, updates and announcements, etc. This said, don’t start discussing support issues if the topic is marketing advice. There is a proper time and place to discuss such items and it is disruptive to the leader of the call if he/she is taken off-topic to address a non-related discussion point.

There are a multitude of other bullets that I could bring up, but I would probably never finish this blog post. These address the majority of the common patterns that I see in the calls that I attend. Feel free to comment on this post if you have ideas or others to mention.
This being said, I look forward to seeing you on the future calls.