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Ask Slashdot: Should We Hang Up on Conference Calls? (ft.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what-do-you-think? dept.

Make everyone stand. Work to an agenda. Don't let people go on endlessly. There are plenty of suggestions on how to run meetings so they are not a waste of time. People pay less attention to a bigger waste of time: the multi-participant conference call, argues a story on Financial Times. The story -- shared by an anonymous reader and which may be paywalled -- makes a case against the need for conference calls: You know the drill. An invitation arrives in your inbox with a date and time, a list of participants, numbers for dialling in from different countries and a sign-in code (followed by the pound or hash sign). I have had dozens of these invitations to conference calls, particularly those to discuss forthcoming panels and events. None of the calls has contributed much to the eventual event. I know this because my role is often to chair the eventual event. This is the first difference between a conference call and a face-to-face meeting: it is clear who is chairing the meeting, whereas it is seldom clear who is chairing the call. On conference calls, there is usually someone listed as the organiser, with their own sign-in code (followed by the pound or hash sign), but they are often not the most senior person on the call. The organiser, I can say from experience, is seldom the person who is going to be chairing the planned event. Usually, they are the person who organised the call. That may be a senior person; it may be their personal assistant.

The call organiser may take the leading role in the call. It is hard to tell because -- unless you have met several times before -- it is difficult to know who is speaking at any time. Unlike in a face-to-face meeting, you cannot see people's faces. As participants "arrive" in the conference call, they usually say, "Hi, this is Diane", or are announced by a recorded voice like entrants to a 19th-century ball -- "Simon Oates has joined the call" -- but after that you have to listen keenly for any voice marker (an accent, a shouty tone) that will help you identify who is talking. That is if you can remember who is on the call in the first place. What do you think?

7 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. They're proof-of-work for useless managers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    90% of the time, conference calls are simply a concrete way to show effort for project managers and other useless layers of middle management. These people have to make noise and occupy space on calendars, or else uncomfortable questions will start to arise about what exactly they're contributing to the company.

    1. Re:They're proof-of-work for useless managers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have countless coworkers that I have never met since they are on different continents, but I manage to accomplish quite a lot of work with them and recognize their voices. Face to face is usually not necessary. Even within the same site (a huge site), it is more efficient to use the phone than have half the participants make a 40 minute round trip walk to the other side of the plant.

      It is my experience that the person running the call will prioritize topics so that people can be released incrementally and as soon as possible from the calls.

      I'm sorry you work with a bunch of idiots.

    2. Re:They're proof-of-work for useless managers by jbengt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      On the other hand, I've been in a great number of meetings "wasting my time" listening to discussions on topics that do not need my participation, only to hear something that very definitely could affect my part of the project, but I was the only one who realized that.
      People should understand that sometimes "wasting time" is actually a necessary part of the process. (This does not include truly unnecessary or poorly run meetings, of which I've seen my fair share, also.)

  2. What do I think? by djbckr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Conference calls do tend to waste some time, but the person who wrote this article is just a whiner. You take the good with the bad.

    1. Re:What do I think? by ranton · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The full article is paywalled, but reading the summary is a complete waste of time. Of course there are difficulties with conference calls. I doubt anyone really enjoys the format. But you need to have other solutions before saying we should just do away with them.

      Conference calls serve a necessary purpose. I would certainly prefer to meet with all of my coworkers / partners / clients face to face for every meeting, but no one is going to spend $10k for a status meeting with a client across the country.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  3. Remote Employee Benefit by deKernel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One of the greatest advantages of working remotely is that you just put your phone on mute and continue to actually get work done.

  4. Heinlein had it right in TMIAHM by Theaetetus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But Prof didn't get excited; he went on smiling. "Manuel, do you really think that mob of retarded children can pass any laws?"

    "You told them to. Urged them to."

    "My dear Manuel, I was simply putting all my nuts in one basket. I know those nuts; I've listened to them for years. I was very careful in selecting their committees; they all have built-in confusion, they will quarrel. The chairman I forced on them while letting them elect him is a ditherer who could not unravel a piece of string--thinks every subject needs 'more study.' I almost needn't have bothered; more than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better--and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest..."

    I've had very useful conference calls, but hardly ever with more than three people on the line.