Remote Workshops
Activities card, MethodKit for Remote Workshops
Card 27 of 63 · MethodKit for Remote Workshops
  • ThemeDesign the session
  • CardCard 27 of 63
  • Questions5 to explore
  • StepDesign it
Design the session

Activities

Guided process to help the group achieve their goals

An activity is a guided exercise that moves the group toward a specific outcome, and every remote session needs at least one that actually works on a screen.

Activities are the building blocks of a workshop. Each one has a purpose (generate options, surface assumptions, build shared understanding, make a decision), a method (individual reflection, pair work, whole-group discussion, visual mapping), and a time box. They are what participants are actually doing rather than just listening to.

In a remote context, activities need to be more explicitly designed than they would be in a room. Instructions that you would normally give while walking around and pointing at things have to be written down or shared on screen. Transitions between activities need to be named out loud because there is no physical movement to signal a shift.

Choose activities that have a visible output. When people can see the work accumulating on a shared board or document, it creates momentum and shows that the time is being used for something real.

Online, specificallyOnline activities must have a digital home for their output, and every instruction needs to be visible on screen, not just spoken, because participants cannot turn to a neighbour to clarify what they missed.

In a remote session

The same building block as it plays out online: how experienced facilitators tend to handle it when the room is a screen. Illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

Write instructions in advance

Good facilitators prepare a slide or shared doc with step-by-step activity instructions that stay on screen while people work, so no one has to hold the verbal briefing in their head.

Time-box visibly

They use a shared timer (a screen-shared countdown or a tool like Cuckoo or Time Timer) so participants can see how long is left without asking, which reduces interruptions and holds pace.

Debrief is not optional

After each activity they bring the group back together for a short debrief: what did you notice, what was surprising. Online this happens less naturally so they build it into the plan explicitly.

Test the activity before using it

They run unfamiliar activities through a dry run or test session first, because a confusing activity in a physical room can be rescued by moving around the room; online it stalls the whole call.

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

  1. What is the specific purpose of each activity, and does the group know what they are trying to produce?

  2. Where will the output of each activity live so the group can see it build up?

  3. How will you communicate the activity instructions so participants can re-read them if they miss something?

  4. How does each activity transition into the next, and have you scripted those handoffs?

  5. Have you tested each activity in an online format, not just adapted it mentally from a physical one?

What trips people up online

  • Activities designed for a physical room often rely on movement, proximity, or ambient observation that vanishes online; do not assume they translate without testing.
  • Giving instructions verbally and then immediately starting an activity leaves participants unsure what to do; always show the instructions on screen before the timer starts.
  • If an activity produces no visible shared output, remote participants quickly lose the sense that the session is building toward anything.