From the course: Time Management Tips

Make phone calls more productive

From the course: Time Management Tips

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Make phone calls more productive

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- It's fun to play around with all the apps and games on your phone, but, occasionally, you're going to make a real phone call to a real human being. These phone calls can be productive or they can be a waste of time, depending on how you approach them. Here are some tips to get the most out of that time that you spend talking to people on your phone. First, never, ever, ever multitask on a human being. Give them your full attention. If you get distracted by something on your computer screen or by trying to do another kind of work while you're on a call, inevitably, you will experience the moment where you will have to back up and somewhat sheepishly say, can you repeat what you just said? These kinds of moments are incredibly time-consuming. Additionally, if you multitask on a human being, you're communicating to them that they are less important than whatever it is that you're doing at the time. If you're going to take the time to get on a phone call with someone, make it your top priority. If you can't make it your top priority during that time, then try to reschedule the call. There's nothing wrong with doing this. In fact, it will communicate to the other person that you're interested in giving them your full attention. Next, as much as is reasonable, try to make and receive only scheduled phone calls. This is something that I practice myself. If someone calls my phone, I let them know in the voicemail that I rarely respond to phone calls unless we have a scheduled meeting. I give them directions on how to schedule a meeting with me. Some may find that impersonal. But understand my reasoning behind it. I'm trying to avoid the inevitable back and forth that happens when you play phone tag with someone. When you just pick up the phone and call someone randomly, unless their job is to respond to your phone call, such as customer service, odds are, you're going to be interrupting them. It's going to be hard for them to pull their attention away from whatever they're doing in the moment and focus on you. By scheduling an appointment with a person, you're establishing a mutual expectation that you're going to focus on each other during this call. This leads to my next tip, which is show up on time. Not only will this show them that you respect their time, but it will benefit you by helping you maintain a habit of respecting and using your calendar properly. The next tip, make sure that you can hear each other clearly and try to avoid distracting background noise. During my private coaching days, it's not unusual for me to spend several hours on the phone. And I've found that although there are a lot of wireless headphones on the market, I have yet to find one that is reliable. This is why I prefer a wired noise-canceling headset. Currently, I use theBoom, which uses military grade technology. Use whatever headset you prefer. But before you start getting on professional phone calls with people, test it out with a friend or a family member, and make sure that they can hear you without glitches or interruptions. And if you're in the middle of a phone call and you start to experience a bad connection, don't be afraid to pause the conversation and let them know. Recently, I told someone, hey, I'm only hearing about 50% of what you're saying; should I try to call you again and reconnect? That's much better than having a lengthened partial conversation where both sides are just sort of understanding each other. And my last tip, listen for action. When you're on a phone call with someone, many times, there will be a moment where you or they will say, I'm going to follow up with you, or I'm going to send you an email. Whatever the action is, gather that into an approved gathering point, and process it according to the system that I teach in Time Management Fundamentals. And this way, your phone calls go beyond mere conversation and translate into real action. Like all meetings, phone calls are about the action you take. And when people see that you speak with them and consistently follow through and act on what you've discussed, they will come to trust you and depend upon you more.

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