Voice Time

Volume #17 - March 2001

I live on the coastline north of Boston and we've just had a huge snowstorm. Dealing with Mother Nature always provides valuable lessons, and I've learned to have great respect for wind, water and waves. However, the lesson I learned from this storm, has a unique twist and tremendous application for how we do our jobs.

Rather than risk getting hit in the face with biting, blizzard winds and stinging snow and sleet, the venue for a meeting I was supposed to attend was changed to a teleconference. Teleconferencing is not new to me - as I'm sure it's not new to most of you. I conduct teleclasses on the phone and do a good portion of my coaching on the phone. I also collaborate with a number of other coaches and consultants and we often hold meetings on the phone. But this particular incident really impacted me and raised my awareness about how we put too much emphasis on face time in the workplace.

About 15 coaches were scheduled to meet to discuss the beginning of a new venture. The meeting was being held by a colleague who is starting a big project. It had been scheduled to last for six hours, which included a "get-to-know-you" lunch. Because of my commute to the meeting site, I had to block out the entire day.

When the weather caused a cancellation, it presented a big predicament - getting a date on 15 people's calendars is not an easy feat and my colleague was faced with having to start from scratch, with the window of time rapidly closing. I suggested we teleconference using a bridge line, but this required that we hold the call to an hour. It meant we had to stick tightly to a precise agenda. What we were going to accomplish in hours of discussion was now collapsed to just one.

In addition, the meeting was supposed to provide an opportunity for all of us to get to know each other better. I had established relationships with a couple of the people, had briefly met one or two others, but didn't know the rest at all. Although we didn't get to share lunch, and "see" each other, working on the phone in a focused way, we did get a sense of each other. The person with the devil's advocate personality still raised necessary points and the person with the need for clarity still asked questions that we were glad to hear. And the person whose humor helps build bonds was still able to arouse laughter.

The beauty of our experience was that it worked wonderfully. Even with a group of strangers on the line, I began to know people without seeing them, just as I do when I'm coaching on the phone or holding teleclasses. And we made terrific progress. At the end of the hour, all of our questions were answered, and we left the call with as much knowledge of the project as we probably would have had if we met for six hours.

In this age of too much work and too little time, voice time works! However, it requires several skills, one of which is active listening. One of the reasons this session and other meetings I've been involved with work so well is that listening is a core competency for coaches. When you are really focused on listening to people who are RESPECTING EACH OTHER AND TIME, you can accomplish an amazing amount of work in a short span. So here are some guidelines for conducting meetings on the phone:

1. Go around the "room" and have each person introduce herself. This helps to orient people to the voices of others.
2. Establish firm ground rules of etiquette based on RESPECT and LISTENING. Say your name before you speak and don't interrupt when others are speaking. Stay focused on the main points of the conversation. Keep your comments and questions short and to the point. Don't use a cell phone or a speaker phone. Keep your mute button on unless you are talking.
3. Have one person lead the meeting, holding firmly to a well thought-out, point-by-point agenda.
4. At the end of each point, the meeting leader should briefly recap what has been said and ask if everyone understands the issues, is in agreement, or has further questions.
5. If a point can't be agreed upon or a question completely answered in the time allotted, establish who will handle the issue outside of the call and establish how they will get back to the group with the information.
6. Designate someone to take notes and to disseminate them via email after the meeting.
7. Have all the participants send their email addresses to the note taker so that she can reach everyone. She can also send the compiled address list along with the notes so that people can follow up with each other.
8. Determine next action steps and gain clarity about who will do what, when.
9. At the end of the session, save enough space for a quick check-out, allowing each person the opportunity to say thank you and good-bye.

As for this particular group, we still want to have lunch with each other and get to know each other more. But I've learned that over time you can bond with people without seeing their faces. Moreover, you CAN achieve desired results without meeting face-to-face. And, if you plan more meetings using voice time, you can save yourself and others precious hours

.The more you use this technology wisely and the more you get your company to let go of the need for face time, the greater balance you and your team members can achieve.

COACHING QUESTIONS

1. How open is your organization to working on a voice-time basis as opposed to a face-time basis?
2. What can you do to help shift your culture toward greater acceptance of voice time?
3. What's holding you back from using this technology more often?
4. What skills do you and your team need to learn?
5. How can you make your teleconferences more efficient and effective?
6. What communication skills do you need to build?

Copy © 2000 Virginia O'Brien All s Reserved

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