Distractions derail productivity in any business setting. Businesses need to ensure that their teams are always running efficiently in order to meet deadlines and achieve goals.

This is true for conference calls, too, and meetings in general. Without everyone on the call being able to devote their full attention to the topic at hand, discussions may be limited, decisions may be delayed and productivity may ultimately suffer.

In this blog post, we will discuss some of the common ways people get distracted while on conference calls – and how to remove those distractions. With these pointers, you will have your team on the right track in no time.

Inattention is common on conference calls

Unfortunately, it is all too common for conference call participants to succumb to a wide variety of distractions.

According to one study cited in an article from The Atlantic, more than 60% of respondents said that they worked on other tasks – or did something entirely unrelated to work – during conference calls.

What are those people doing? For the most part, they’re doing other work. About 65% said they are doing another work-related task and 63% said they’re sending and checking emails.

Unsurprisingly, there are some tasks unrelated to work that people also try to tackle while on the phone. More than half of them said they are sometimes eating, a little less than half said they have been in the bathroom, one in five respondents said they are shopping and one in 11 said they are sometimes exercising – while on a conference call.

Why everyone needs to pay attention

Now more than ever, it’s critical that call hosts try to keep all participants fully engaged when conferencing. If they’re on the call, then their input is valuable. The best decisions are made only when all important input is included when reaching those decisions.

As is the case in many other meeting types, conference calls work best for discussing ideas that need more than one source of input to best unpack. That’s why full participation is so important.

With full participation, everyone can stay on the same page, know that the input they bring to a team is indeed valued and feel more empowered as a member of a team that works together on reaching decisions and moving forward.

However, participation can only be maximized when the environment that each caller is in allows them to pay attention and not be distracted. Let’s get into how you can set your team up for more successful conference calls.

Create the perfect call environment

It all comes down to the environment when trying to keep everyone focused while conferencing.

Now, if you are using free conferencing services like ConferenceTown.com, then it is highly likely that most people on the call will not be joining from the same location. That means everyone will need to pay close attention to implementing these best practices in order to have the most productive conference call possible.

Consider trying to find a low-traffic, quiet room before joining a conference call. This will help create an environment in which it will be easier to avoid being distracted by people walking by or others having their own conversations.

If there are multiple people in the same location, then try not to have each person call in separately. This could potentially create problems with one person’s technology lagging behind the other’s, which would only create distractions.

Instead, have individuals in the same location call in from the same device. That way their technology does not compete.

Always test conferencing technology before the meeting

Both call hosts and participants need to be fully in control of all aspects of their environment before hopping on a conference call. This is especially true for technology, which can cause a wide array of issues that only distract from the call while more time is spent troubleshooting the issues.

Before starting a conference call, check to makes sure each of the following pieces of equipment is working properly and that you know how to operate them correctly

• Microphone
• Speaker
• Phone or other device for joining the call

It may also be worth your time to invest in a headset with quality noise-canceling microphones that can help improve overall call quality and decrease the change that outside noises will become distractions. Noise-canceling earbuds can also accomplish this.

Keep discussions on track and productive

Nobody enjoys rambling – especially listening to one. Unfortunately, it can happen to anybody during even the most important conference calls. Conference call hosts would do well, though, to keep all discussions flowing on a productive path.

Rambling opens the door for distractions. It leads to people tuning out and looking for other things to do.

Forbes magazine provides a couple of suggestions for easily and nicely stopping a rambler in their tracks. One way is to create a signal of sorts for people who are rambling to wrap up and make their point, such as hitting the pound sign or notifying the host that you’d like to ask a question.

Another solution is to simply ask if they could continue their discussion offline with a few people instead of having it during the call.

Set shorter meetings

Long meetings lead to more distracted participants. Another solution Forbes suggests for battling distraction is to simply shorten the length of meetings and conference calls.

The 30- to 40-minute time frame seems to work best when trying to keep everyone productive and paying attention.

Encourage participation

Finally, you can easily combat distractions by keeping people engaged. Encourage participation from everyone during the call.

If some people have not spoken up in a while, either call on them or use a conferencing solution with a messaging feature to see if they have anything that they would like to add to the conversation.

It’s OK to keep people on their toes, too, and call on folks randomly from time to time.

Enjoy a better free conference call

Now that we’ve covered ground on how to keep people on task and less distracted during conference calls, it’s time to find a better free conferencing service.

That’s where Conference Town comes in. With our service, you can enjoy a free conference call that focuses on providing high-quality audio and many features that other services make you pay for.

Don’t settle for just any free conferencing solution. Sign up and try Conference Town today.