In business, it’s important to be punctual, to keep to a schedule, and be reliable.  It’s no different when it comes to conference calls.  Sometimes though, it can seem impossible for a conference to follow the agenda or the schedule.  Here are some tips from SpeakingAboutPresenting.com for keeping conference calls on time.

You and the Schedule -  The best way to keep a conference call on time is while it is still in its planning stage.  First decide how long you will actually be speaking--leaving the rest of the time for greetings, introductions, questions, and miscellaneous.  Practice your speaking part aloud while timing it.  Then around that, build the rest of the schedule, including time for every other little thing; 1 minute for a quick update on a project for example.

Select Question Points - It’s natural to “save all questions for the end,” but occasionally this can eat up more time than expected.  If you know a particular stand-alone section generates a lot of questions, have a Q&A for it right then.  This way, the questions are focused on the one section, and not mixed with all the questions for the entire conference call.

Display the Clock -  Well, that’s about it.  Make sure you can see a clock or timer and make sure to start and stop when it says.  The moment you disrespect the time, your participants will too.

There’s a few more points in the link above, but I want to hear about yours.  How do you keep your conference calls on schedule?  Tell us about your methods.

It’s a word that was already in the dictionary, but now has a new meaning.  Google is one of the companies that shaped the modern world, and to do that, it had to have a lot of collaboration.  One thing for sure, Google knows how to run a meeting.

In an article on BusinessWeek.com, I read about Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice-president of search products, and her effective way to run meetings.  Turns out there are several things we can learn about meetings from Google.

“Set a firm Agenda” – To have a meeting with Mayer, you have to submit a meeting agenda that contains what you want to discuss, and how you’re going to budget your time.  The agenda forces people to use their time wisely, and cut through to what is important and what isn’t.

“Carve out micro-meetings” – In Mayer’s own meetings, she takes her big block of meeting time and cuts it down into small chunks, each about one thing.  This discourages distraction by other topics, and focuses discussions on each matter at hand.

“Hold office hours” – As you can imagine, Mayer is a busy person.  But she can’t ignore the employees underneath her, the people who need her attention and decisions on a myriad of things.  To cater to those that need a quick decision, have a hot idea, or need approval on something, she has 90 minutes of “office hours” starting at 4pm every day.  Having that access for mini micro-meetings accomplishes so much more than trying to find time for everything.

Now Mayer uses these meeting methods for face-to-face meetings, but I think her methods would work well with conference calls, especially holding office hours.  We could a set up a conference to go live everyday from 4pm to 5pm, and distribute its number throughout the company.  Then at 4pm, as we leave the office or whatever, we dial into the conference call.  If anyone has something to discuss, we’re available, but not tied to our office chair.