The need to find better methods and strategies for keeping connected with employees and colleagues has never been more apparent.

As many employers choose to allow some or all of their employees to continue to work from home to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus within their organizations, more and more people are finding that they need to improve their virtual communication skills.

Now, while there are many options for staying in touch with coworkers nowadays – email, work-centered messaging apps, text messaging, virtual meetings, and more - there remains one option that stands above the rest – and it turns out this solution has been around for a while.

We are speaking of the audio conference call. While technology has offered up many of those other communication tools referenced above, so too has technology improved the way we experience audio conferencing. To this day, audio conference calls are used frequently due to their reliability, simplicity and advanced features that make it rival video conferencing in more ways than one.

But joining an audio conference call is a lot easier than managing one yourself. Sure, hosting a conference call is easy, but managing an effective and productive call takes a little bit of practice.

Don’t worry, though. We have you covered. With these tips for managing a better conference call, you and your remote team will stay on track to meet productivity and other goals for your business.

Audio conference calls are the best solution for remote teams

Not convinced audio is better than video for a conference call? Consider these quick points that will change your mind:

• Audio calls are easier to set up and participate in.
• There is less expensive equipment required with audio compared to video.
• The best free audio conferencing services, as long as they don’t skimp on features, are often more reliable and can meet all of your team’s needs better than free video conferencing services.
• Video requires a stable internet connection – or will quickly drain cellular data.

Still not convinced audio conferencing is the way to go for your business? Continue reading this blog post for more reasons why audio remains the preference for many companies and organizations.

Audio is more user-friendly and reliable for remote teams

Let’s get right to the reason why audio is so popular among today’s businesses, especially remote teams: simplicity. Audio conferencing does not take a lot of technical expertise or high-dollar investments in equipment in order to operate as intended. For many, all it takes is a phone or mobile device to be able to access a call.

In fact, the best free conferencing solutions include HD-quality audio, as well as many other features that have continually improved to make audio conference calls better than ever.

Start your conference call the right way

Now, let’s dig into how to manage a better conference call for a remote team. First things first, you have to know how to start off on the right foot.

No conference call should begin without a detailed, well-thought-out agenda. A good agenda lists not only the topics to be discussed, but also who is going to speak about each topic, instructions for how to dial into the call, when the call is scheduled to begin and end and attachments that may be beneficial to drive discussion and promote more efficient meetings.

Communicate clear goals and expectations

One of the possible downsides to working remotely is an employee not quite being on the same page as the rest of his team and not being sure how or confident enough to reach out and ask for help. It takes a little more effort to seek out assistance when separated by miles of distance instead of a few offices or cubicles.

That’s why it is so important to communicate goals and expectations in a clear and concise manner for your team whenever you are in a conference call. Remember: There are few visual cues for reading whether someone understands what is expected of them, or whether there is confusion among the participants.

A good conference call host will solve this by frequently asking whether there are any questions and gauging whether everyone has a clear understanding of what direction the team is headed toward.

To this end, make sure everyone on the call knows what is expected of them, including why they were asked to be on the call in the first place. Nobody wants to feel as though they have to be on a call just to be on the call. Most people want to be active participants whose input is valued.

Build rapport with the team

It’s difficult to be working from home and not get chances to see and interact with coworkers. So, when in a conference call, be sure to allow relationships to form among the team members. This is key to hosting a successful call with a remote team.

Some tips to keep in mind include asking everyone to introduce themselves – especially if there’s ever a new person brought on the call, allowing for small talk and encouraging everyone who is on the call to participate.

Hosts would also do well to follow the advice from the point above on an individual level with each team member to build a stronger rapport and foster an environment of open communication.

Store meeting documents in a shared space

One final consideration for working with remote teams and managing conference calls is to make sure everyone can access relevant documents at any time throughout the call.

A simple solution for this is to store those associated documents in a shared space that is accessible by all, such as a cloud storage service or within a company network that is accessible from any location.

There are many free online tools for storing documents, so be sure to explore your options. No matter which service you choose though, by keeping documents accessible to all, you will minimize confusion and maximize understanding among everyone participating in the call.

Experience a better free conference call

Are you ready to deliver a better conferencing experience for your team? With Conference Town, you can sign up or start an instant conference call right away that will provide a wide range of features, is easy to use and – the best part – is absolutely free.

Try Conference Town and experience what a free conference call should be.