Sure it can feel a little dated, but one book I love reading – just for its sheer chutzpah – is What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School (1984) by sports management pioneer, Mark H. McCormack.

For McCormack, it's the practical stuff that matters. And for work-hours productivity, his view is simple: get phone calls and meetings under control, and everything else will fall into place; although, if writing today, McCormack would no doubt include email.

We deal with meetings and email in later chapters: in McCormack's 1970s and 1980s heyday, the phone was the office terrorist, and remains an irritant to be reckoned with, not least because it's now in our pocket. So how do we make the telephone our servant rather than our master?

McCormack's primary, if rather surprising, tip is to seldom accept calls. He wants time to think about a phone call rather than be flustered by the interruption of someone calling. Refusing the call – or these days simply letting it ring to voicemail – means he can decide whether, and – if so – when, to return the call. He can also calculate what the caller is likely to want, as well as his preferred response.

If unable to avoid the call he quickly tries to gather his thoughts – perhaps injecting a false delay (such as a made-up caller ‘on the other line’): anything to give him some time mentally to prepare for the call.

I'd certainly agree with this. Some of the most regretful telephone conversations I've ever had – some still burning in my memory – came about from taking calls when unprepared. It's a no-brainer: we wouldn't expect to start a 100-metre sprint the second we wake up – especially with our opponent fully prepared. So we're bound to be at a major, and unnecessary, disadvantage when taking a call without warning.

Equally, when making a call, McCormack implores us always to plan what we want to say. If necessary, write a short script or some bullet points. We should also know what constitutes success for the call and have in mind our approach for achieving it.

‘If you're not crystal clear in your own mind what you want to accomplish,’ says McCormack, ‘you probably won't end up accomplishing it.’

And quickly get to the point of a call, he adds. Most callers are keen to waste time at the start of a call, assuming there's need for a warm-up. But this leaves you not knowing whether the call is valuable or not. Far better, says McCormack, to attack the crux of the call head-on and then add some personal points at the end, but only once you've got what you need and know that the call's been productive.

Of course, this may require firmness. Sales callers, in particular, have a habit of going around the houses – perhaps trying to ‘build rapport’ with their ‘prospect’. It quickly irritates me (and McCormack) and I always cut in with a curt ‘what can I do for you?’ which usually gets them to the point.

Make calls work

McCormack takes call scheduling very seriously – producing a list of the calls he needs to make (with numbers) and estimating a time for each call, which he then tries to stick to. He even conjures an ending if necessary, perhaps through a manufactured meeting that's about to start or a visitor in reception. Certainly, he says, once you have what you need from a call you should try to end it as soon as possible (or at least change the subject).

I'd heartily agree with this. Many is the time I've achieved my call objective and then nearly blown it by continuing to sell my need – a classic insecurity of the under-confident. Yet, it's obvious that if you keep fighting after victory's declared there's only one other possible result: defeat!

That said, McCormack is keen we accomplish something from every call. If our goal (however small) isn't achieved, we should try to get a time/date for a definite response (even if just for a follow-up call). If that's not possible, get a date for them to consider a follow up. And, if that's not achievable, we should just forget it says McCormack.

‘Any further pursuit is almost certainly going to be a waste of time, and just in knowing this you've already accomplished a great deal’, he concludes.

McCormack also has a lot to say about phone tag – that wasteful game in which we're constantly leaving messages for each other. His view: don't play it. This can be achieved by not leaving a message for them to call back but, instead, stating a time you will call them, which keeps you in charge of the process.

If dealing with another human (perhaps a PA) it's worth trying to explore the right time to call back, although McCormack also suggests a cheekier approach: leaving a longer message with your stated intentions, and asking them to call back if they disagree. Of course, while fine for someone with McCormack's executive clout, for the rest of us this may lead to wasted endeavour as we pursue projects others haven't agreed, although it makes a reasonable bluff if we think the other party's stalling.

Establishing red zones

The Time Trap's Mackenzie also has a lot to say about what he calls the ‘untamed telephone’. For instance, he insists that we establish red zones for priority or proactive work that brook no interruptions from the phone. These should be periods in our ‘ideal day’ that are focused on nothing other than productive and goal-oriented activity.

We can even reverse this and allow calls only at certain times (perhaps two one-hour periods twice a day) – even stating this on voicemail greetings or automatic email replies. That said, we need to be careful that our wording doesn't sound pompous or feel like a brush-off.

In fact, Mackenzie's keen we use our voicemail greeting dynamically. We should learn how to change both our landline and mobile greeting and then refresh it every day – stating that ‘we're in the office today and taking calls but busy between nine and eleven’ or ‘we're out of the office but will pick up messages by four’. This gives a strong impression of being on top of our work but still keen to hear from the outside world – once we can fit them in.

But if we do this we must keep it up – out-of-date voicemail greetings give the opposite impression (so avoid giving a date, just in case). And it may seem a bit of a stretch after a while – so a singular greeting can be nearly as dynamic if done well. ‘This is Jim. I'm unavailable right now. Please leave a name and number, and a detailed message and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can’.

The added bonus here is that we've already begun the call-screening process – helping to filter out calls from strangers: perhaps cold-calling salespeople keen to waste our time (in order to increase their ‘success-rate’ or ‘effective calls’ ratio).

And then there's the quirky advice of UK personal development guru Michael Heppell, in his book How to Save an Hour Every Day (2011). His roving eye alights on the phone but briefly, although long enough to offer some salient tips, especially for mobiles (with some thoughts of my own).

• Always save the number – even if there's only the ‘remotest chance you may ever want to speak to them again’.
• As well as pre-framing the call, preframe the ending: ‘Well I'm happy we've covered everything, thanks for that,’ is his preferred precursor to a ‘goodbye’.
• Stand up when on the phone. Don't get comfortable.
• Yes, do leave a message (always), although this doesn't have to be a passive plea for a return call. As with McCormack's advice, we could state our intention to call back in one hour or tomorrow at 9 a.m.; or, again, we could simply state our intentions, and ask them to call back if that's a problem.