How to Pay Attention on Conference Calls

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Is it difficult for you to pay attention on conference calls? Do you find yourself listening to an entire conversation and not remembering anything that was said? Have you ever had to fake technical difficulties to avoid looking stupid when asked a question? If you answered yes, this is for you my friend.

Paying attention on conference calls has been a pretty big challenge for me recently. I am the only remote employee on my team. Therefore, I have to take all of the calls on the phone while the rest of the team are taking the meeting together in person. Boy, does that make things challenging. It has really challenged my attention to stay focused while I’m on conference calls which leads me to miss valuable information that the rest of my team is getting.

But if you, like me, get easily distracted on conference calls, you are not alone. In fact, a study by InterCall shows that 65% of do other work or are otherwise distracted when on conference calls. So to round up, if you have a call with 10 people, 7 of them are distracted. We are at the very least in good company.

So what can you do? Follow these tips to pay attention on conference calls.

Don’t Put Yourself On Mute

Did you panic just a bit there. You heard me right. If you want to make sure that you pay attention, don’t put yourself on mute. This will force you to be engaged in the conversation and participate more freely. Also, this will prevent you from partaking in distractions like eating, responding to emails, or doing a load of laundry.

Offer to Take Notes

If you know other are counting on you to take accurate notes, you will be much more likely to listen and not be distracted. So if there is a call where you know you need to pay attention, offer to take notes and send to the rest of the team. This will make you look like a team player and force your hand to pay attention.

Commit to Contributing to the Conversation

Make it a point to review the agenda and look for areas you can contribute. Doing this before the call will help you pay attention to the duration of the call because you will be looking for the opportunity to insert this knowledge/update/insight. Plus adding to the conversation will make you look good and help you be more engaged in them work itself.

Stand or Walk Around

This sounds counter-intuitive but if you need to pay attention on a conference call, get moving. Stand and moving moves your blood to flow more freely and improves attention, memory, and cognitive abilities. Plus, it’s hard to eat lunch or browse TMZ when you are on the other side of the room. Invest in a wireless headset to make this easy to do.

Give Feedback

If you regularly not engaged in a specific call, you are likely not finding any value in the call. Many times we continue to have recurring conference calls just because we have always had them. If you aren’t finding value any longer, don’t be afraid to connect with the call organizer to provide feedback. You can ask them what the intent of the call is, whether your presence is still required, or whether you can just freshen up the agenda. Sometimes a small change can get everyone engaged again. But the key here is to make sure that you are providing that feedback. There is a good chance that the meeting organizer is unaware and would welcome feedback from the group.

Do you have a hard time paying attention on conference calls? How do you pay attention on conference calls when you get distracted? Leave a comment and share your strategies.

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