Ten techniques for facilitating conference calls

1. Dial into the meeting early, and welcome people positively and proactively when they enter the call, explaining to new joiners who is already present.

2. Deal with quality problems immediately, for example background noise, people breathing noisily into their phones, etc.

3. If you delay the start because of late joiners, encourage people to go on mute and then again on unmute at a specific time.

4. Open with a review of the aims and key points to be achieved. Acknowledge different interests and viewpoints if necessary to diffuse potential conflicts.

5. Discuss the procedure and the flexibility of the agenda. Ask people not to introduce too many alternative ideas, as this can make controlling the discussion difficult.

6. Communicate the protocols that you wish to be followed, reminding people not to speak for too long and explaining your right to interrupt.

7. Encourage participants to include “isolated” individuals who are participating in the call in an office all by themselves.

8. Manage native speakers to avoid the risk of them dominating the discussion.

9. Ask people by name to comment on the opinions of others, in order to create a group feeling and encourage teamwork.

10. Clarify frequently to support understanding by the whole group.