Remote Workshops
Plan B card, MethodKit for Remote Workshops
Card 33 of 63 · MethodKit for Remote Workshops
  • ThemeFacilitation & roles
  • CardCard 33 of 63
  • Questions5 to explore
  • StepInvite and prepare
Facilitation & roles

Plan B

Backup plan in case of challenges or lack of time

Every remote session needs a backup plan, because online the things that can go wrong are more numerous and less predictable than in a room.

A Plan B is not pessimism; it is professional preparation. In a physical workshop, most problems are visible and recoverable: the flipchart stand falls, you pick it up. Online, a single tech failure can freeze the entire session and there is no shared room to hold the group while you fix it.

A useful Plan B is specific, not generic. It covers the two or three scenarios most likely to actually happen: the collaboration tool goes down, the lead facilitator loses connection, the breakout rooms fail to open. For each, you decide in advance what you do, who takes over, and what you tell participants.

Online, specificallyOnline, a tech failure affects every participant simultaneously and cannot be solved by moving to a corner of the room, so the plan has to include an alternative meeting point and a communication channel that works even when the main platform does not.

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.

Name the most likely failures

Before the session, list the two or three things most likely to go wrong given your platform and group. A generic 'if something fails' plan is less useful than a specific 'if Miro goes down, we move to a shared Google Doc at this link' plan.

Have a backup meeting point

If the main call collapses, participants need a place to go. Decide in advance: a phone number, a different video platform, or a messaging thread. Share it in the pre-session communication so participants already have it.

Assign a fallback facilitator

If the lead facilitator drops, someone else needs to hold the group. Name that person in advance and make sure they know the session well enough to continue for at least five minutes while you reconnect.

Questions to plan around

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

  1. What are the two or three most likely things to go wrong in this specific session, given your platform and group?

  2. If the main video platform fails, where do participants go, and do they already know that before the session starts?

  3. If you lose connection as the lead facilitator, who takes over, and have they been briefed?

  4. If a core tool or activity fails, what is the simpler version you can run without it?

  5. How will you communicate a change of plan to participants in the moment without adding to their confusion?

What trips people up online

  • A Plan B that lives only in the facilitator's head is not really a plan: if you drop out, no one else knows what to do.
  • Telling participants about the backup meeting point for the first time when the session is already broken adds confusion at exactly the wrong moment; send it in pre-session materials instead.
  • The most commonly overlooked failure is the facilitator's own connection: prepare a mobile hotspot or a second device as a fallback, not just an alternative activity.