How to Build a Phone Tree

Give the message and move on.

Your business, family, church or club may deal with emergencies and celebrations better if you build a phone tree. A phone tree organizes your people to help you contact all of them. You might use a phone tree to warn employees of a road closure, to introduce new members, or for reminders on upcoming meetings or parties. Virtually everyone has a phone, so well-built phone trees succeed, but poorly constructed phone trees break down.

Things You'll Need

• List of all members with their phone numbers

Instructions

1. 

   The coordinator leads the phone tree.

   Identify one person as the phone tree coordinator. This person initiates all communication. Choose a dedicated, reliable and capable person.

2. 

   A phone tree looks a little like a family tree.

   Begin charting your phone tree by listing the coordinator at the top, with her phone number.

3. 

   No key member should have to call more than eight other people.

   Identify three to eight key members, depending on the size of your organization. Make the most reliable people your key members.

4. 

   A row goes side to side.

   Below the coordinator, write the names and phone numbers of all your key members, in a row across the page.

5. 

   Each key member calls up to 8 other members.

   Assign a maximum of 8 members for each key member to contact.

6. 

   A column goes up and down.

   In a column under each key member, list the members assigned for that key member to contact, with their phone numbers.

7. 

   Each non-key member calls a maximum of three people.

   If you have a large organization and still have members unassigned as contacts, then assign a maximum of 3 members to each of the key members' contacts. Continue this pattern until all your members have someone who will call them.

Tips & Warnings

• Give all members a copy of the entire phone tree, and explain it.

• List all phone numbers for each member: house, cell and work.

• Keep emergency messages short; have a website you can refer members to for details.

• When enough time has passed, call one person near the bottom of each branch of the phone tree to make sure everyone got the message.

• When members leave or join the organization, redo the phone tree.

• For emergency messages, instruct all members to keep trying all their contacts' phone numbers until they speak voice to voice, or the phone tree may break down.

• Don't overuse the phone tree, or people won't take it seriously.

• Periodically rotate the key members and the coordinator, or they may burn out.

References

• Dictionary: Phone Tree

Resources

• The SUNY Youth Sports Institute: Sample Phone Tree
• AAUW: Example Phone Tree