Whether working from office or home, leading and participating in conference calls are essential for doing business in the twenty-first century. Some key points to keep in mind when participating in conference calls are noted below.

- Be on time whether the organizer or participant.

- Make sure you introduce yourself including name, organization or company and why you are relevant to the call.

- If you are the lead on the call, be clear as to the purpose of the call, the agenda and the time limit.

- An agenda sent out in advance of the call is always helpful.

- Additionally, any background material should be distributed to and reviewed by all participants at least one business day in advance of the call.

- Listen to others.

- Do not multi-task. If you are too busy to be on the call or if it is not important to you, assign someone else to participate and represent your function or role.

- Mute the call when you are listening. Others do no want to hear your dog, child, sneezes, lips smacking, etc.

- When you do break in to speak, state you name first and be clear and concise.

- Do not speak over other people or step on them.

- It a debate breaks out on the call, the lead on the call should moderate and put the item on a parking lot for follow-up if appropriate.

- Someone should document the purpose of the call, participants, agenda and key decisions made. It is not a court transcript word for word.

- Five minutes prior to the end of the call, the lead on the call should wrap-up. This should include a summary of any decisions made, any to dos including who owns what and by when, any open issues and how they will be handled and when the next call will be scheduled.

Following these steps makes calls more productive for everyone and better spends the money related to the business or organizations people costs.