﻿ The Secrets to Successful Telephone Meetings | Entrepreneur
Magazine  The Secrets to Successful Telephone Meetings  By on
October 27, 2009  Not only is the phone convenient, it’s also
cheap. A national telephone conference can cost about 60 cents
per minute per employee, so six people in a two-hour conference
call might, for example, cost about R432. Compare that with the
thousands of rand spent by a single employee flying to a
destination, hiring a car and paying for meals and a hotel. The
ease and time-savings are also very attractive. Badly planned,
however, telephone meetings can be reduced to uncontrolled
jabbering. Here’s how to set up an effective one:  1. Keep it
simple.  Ideally, the telephone meeting should last less than 30
to 45 minutes. People are unable to concentrate on long phone
calls. They become tired or bored; their attention wanders; they
need to take a break. Design your meeting so that it is short
and to the point. That way everyone can focus on the issues and
participate effectively.