Always Ask Your Conference Call Participants For Input!

October 7, 2012 By Byron Van Arsdale Leave a Comment


Lee Polevoi posted Get The Best ROI from Conference Calls on blog.intuit.com (September 13, 2012). Great article yet I don’t agree with this idea:

It’s OK to occasionally ask participants for their input on the topic being discussed. (Tip: Ask people by name, rather than tossing out a generalized request for feedback. People pay more attention if they think they’re going to be called upon to participate.) Keep people involved, so they resist the temptation to multitask.

Here’s suggestion 3 (of 3) for growing your conference call leadership skills.

 

Always ask your participants for input and rarely call on them by name

 

 

Many conference call leaders attempt to ‘control’ their conference call rather than lead them. What’s the difference? Control employs force and manipulation where as leadership draws upon engagement and collaboration.

If the conference call leader wants to eliminate multitasking, all he or she needs to do is start the call off with momentum and make the meeting more valuable than any other activity a participant can choose from.

 

Why?

Inviting input from the participants does not mean your meeting will be taken over by meaningless drivel. You still need to keep the meeting focused. Yet, the more you invite input, the more “ownership” the participants will take in making the meeting successful. If you make your conference call valuable to your participants, and you invite them to actively participate, they will not multitask.

I challenge every conference call leader to stop playing the “gotcha” game with your participants – using the fear of being called upon as a way to force them to mentally stay in the call. No one likes being made to look stupid in a group. Besides, participants have discovered amazing ways to counter this insane power game.

 

How?

Before each conference call, find out what is important to each of your participants. Then work your agenda to include something valuable to everyone. Finally, consistently deliver value to each participant in every meeting you lead.

 

Benefits?

For the participant: They will be heard. This is a far more rare experience than most people realize. When you listen to your participants and highlight the value of their input, your participants will happily show up on your call ready to ‘get stuff done.’

For you, the leader: Control is an illusion. Anything that improves your clarity around leading and working more productively with your team is a huge accomplishment. Leading a group is easy when everyone is engaged.

 

Leader Mindset:

Your intention is to fully engage your conference call participants in a way that makes it more valuable for them to focus their attention on your meeting than any other activity. Collaborative leadership skills are essential for advancement in your career.

Think of your participants as your customers. Make the time they spend on your conference call valuable. Invite, identify, and acknowledge something brilliant within their input. Demonstrate this during your meetings and multitasking will be a non-issue.

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No More Lame Conference Calls Saves Alien Planet

October 22, 2011 By Byron Van Arsdale 28 Comments

Lead Great Meetings Averts Intergalactic War over Lame Conference Calls! Get your copy today!

 

 

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Use This Super Simple Strategy to Derail Whiners and Complainers

October 1, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

Whether you are leading meetings, doing sales calls, or even interacting with a friends or family, sooner or later you will encounter someone who is a constant complainer. One of the characteristics of an effective leader is their ability to handle perpetual whiners without putting the other person down.

In our book, No More Lame Conference Calls – The 6 Principles You Need to Lead Great Meetings, we outline a simple way to deal with this issue. The technique is to use the word “Pause.”

Regardless of the setting, “Pause” is a powerful word that can help you keep difficult situations under control, especially when someone on your meeting becomes angry.

For example, assume that one of the people on your conference is whining about your company’s lack of support and your boss is sitting in on the call. The way you handle this situation can determine whether you step up to the next level in your company or become stuck in a nowhere job.

Here’s how to use “pause.”

“John, could I ask you to pause for a moment please? If I understand you correctly, you are unhappy with the level of the company’s support of the sales team. Is that correct?”

Assuming that John says, “Yes,” then ask, “John, could you recommend a single step that we can take to fix this situation?”

This is known as a “pattern interrupt” and is an effective way to break a tense situation.

“Pause” is a polite way to stop the rant. More importantly, by asking John to come up with a solution, the onus is now on him to offer a solution rather than just complaining.

“Pause” is also particularly effective with windbags. Here’s what to say:

“John, would you please pause for a moment and sum up your point in a single sentence?”

Or if Mary has wondered off on a tangent, you could bring her back to the point by saying,

“Mary will you pause for a moment. We were discussing what our Twitter marketing strategy should be. Do you have anything to add to that specific topic?”

CAVEAT: When using “pause,” keep your voice and your tone neutral. Any anger or frustration that you may have about the person or the situation must not show in your voice when you say, “pause.” Failure to follow this guideline can create hostility and derail what you hope to achieve.

Whether you’re leading a meeting in a face-to-face environment or on a conference call, using “Pause” is one of the best ways to improve the effectiveness of your meetings.

Posted by Bernice Ross, LeadGreatMeetings.com

Do you need more tips on being an effective leader? If so, check out our Let Me At It! Leadership Training Program designed specifically for people who lead conference calls. This program helps you integrate the Six Principles of leading powerful meetings from No More Lame Conference Calls with  a 3-5 minute audio tip, five days a week, for eight weeks. Don’t settle for lame when you can be playing at the top of your game!

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