Blamed for technical issue outside my control

[crazystar]

Exactly this
work meeting where a senior couldn’t join - due to her own browser issues
another boss said to me she’d had issues with this software before -
i double checked they’d be able to join and they confirmed all ok to

and on day she couldn’t

I just took responsibility saying it won’t happen again- im not a techy, not my job - but find I do this a lot in jobs, where things have gone wrong outside my control - I own it. Am I wrong for doing so ?

So she was the presenter and couldn't join as the presenter? Yes you should have shown her how to do that and tested ahead of the call to make sure it worked. Did your IT team onboard her as a guest user to your environment?

Teams is tricky if people use it for multiple companies or as externals. This is why Zoom or other platforms are often used for large scale events presented by externals.

she should have made sure herself she had access, another time perhaps check with speaker beforehand

IMO if there was no SOP to follow you were set up to fail. Putting together an SOP would show initiative and protect you from this happening in future. But, make sure your IT team are fully involved and the steps are validated not theoretical!

Yes that’s just dripped.this was a massive call of 100 attendees

the external guest. A speaker no doubt. Wasn’t able to join.

not quite how the OP chose to convey the situation in the OP!

Yes of course they could, but as OP has already (incorrectly) accepted responsibility, this way she can demonstrate that she has followed up, found out the information and given appropriate advice to everyone. She has covered her own back and therefore cannot be blamed for future similar issues.

The person who couldn’t join was an external guest. So couldn’t contact IT!

I think this is the best advice, although it's difficult to follow what's actually happened.

I think what you're is saying is that you organised this event of 100 people and gave the external guest speaker the information for how to join as a presenter. The guest speaker confirmed they had what they needed but on the day they couldn't join.

It's not the end of the world. Just take the initiative to show that you've put a process in place to prevent it happening again.

I do think you should have tested this with her before. When we do MS Live events we do a quick tech rehearsal the week before, with all presenters and a couple of ‘friendly attendees’ to make sure everyone can connect, view/hear the content, understand what they will see if in presenter mode etc.

If these conference calls are a regular thing I would definitely add a tech rehearsal to your project plan. We get someone from IT on ours so they can support with any tech queries.

ETA presenters get a different link to attendees and she may have joined from the ‘normal’ attendee link; but I also believe you can promote someone as a presenter on the day.

It’s why I apologised
and wasn’t available for the test or give any other dates

shes a very busy and important person

now a busy important and p’ssed off person

Yes this is exactly how it was

I couldn’t see how to promote her

definitely don’t have a degree in MS teams - learning on job

Yep tech rehearsals essential for any 'live' event. Horrible when it goes wrong but you can learn. Ideally have a way to cope even when a presenter can't present as normal. Eg have a copy of their slides you can go through while they talk and say 'next'.

Is this not quite outing? 100 attendees expected to hear from a particular speaker, who wasn’t able to join due to technical issues. Kind of memorable

Well no, we saved it - there were other speakers

Learning on the job is fine but not on the actual event! Was there nobody who could train you? How-to videos you could have taught yourself from? Run a dummy call with your own team if nothing else?

It does sound like you were a bit thrown in at the deep end and I’m not sure why you couldn’t ask for more support.

If she refused to attend rehearsals I would have escalated to someone who could persuade her. Rehearsals aren’t optional for both the speaker and host company comfort and professionalism of the event. Unfortunately in this scenario the blame doesn’t usually stick to the senior - shit rolls downhill.

You were given the responsibility of arranging a 100 strong online presentation…. And despite admitting that you don’t have tech experience, it didn’t occur to you to think - probably best do a bit of a check with the speaker that all in order before the actual kick off?

as your manager, yes I think I would be a bit peeved. You are aware of your shortcomings but did nothing to mitigate.

Let’s hope none of the 100 attendees had been keen to hear from this “very important” speaker

And you have a email from this person that said..,, nope, i have zero time to check that all working

Of course you are wrong to do so - why on earth are you taking responsibility for other people's stuff? You might as well have 'bully me' or 'fire me' tattooed on your forehead.

A bit more detail emerged that puts the original post in a somewhat different light

where things have gone wrong outside my control - I own it.

You own what? Omnipotence?

If she's too busy and important to attend a live rehearsal then she needs an assistant who attends and then sorts this stuff out for her on the day.

The lesson learned is that presenters need to attend tech rehearsal or nominate someone to attend it on their behalf who will be with them in person on the day so they can step in and sort it out for them in the event something goes wrong.