How to Use Breakout Rooms in Teams

Edited 1 week ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams is a feature that allows the meeting organizer to divide a meeting into smaller groups for focused discussions or activities. It's a great tool for teachers, team leaders, and facilitators who want to create an interactive and engaging meeting environment. In this guide, we'll explore how to effectively use breakout rooms in Teams. We'll cover how to set them up, manage them, and provide you with a long-form document that details everything you need to know about this feature.

Setting up breakout rooms

To start using breakout rooms in Teams, you first need to make sure you are the meeting organizer or have been granted the proper permissions. Breakout rooms are only available in scheduled meetings and can be created both before and during a meeting.

Create breakout rooms before a meeting

To set up breakout rooms before the meeting starts, follow these steps:

1. Open the Teams app and go to your calendar.
2. Select the scheduled meeting where you want to add breakout rooms.
3. Click on the Breakout Rooms tab.
4. Select the number of rooms you want to create. You can create up to 50 rooms in a single meeting.
5. Choose how you want to allocate participants to rooms: Automatically or Manually. Automatically allocates participants to rooms evenly, while Manually allows you to choose who will go to each room.
6. Click on Create Rooms to finalize the setup.

With the rooms created, you can further configure them by renaming each room, setting a timer, or allowing participants to return to the main meeting room.

Configuring breakout rooms

After you create rooms, you have the option to configure each room to suit your needs. Here's how:

1. Click the room settings icon next to each room you create.
2. Rename the room by clicking the pencil icon and typing the name you want.
3. Set a timer for the session. You can find this option in the settings and adjust the duration according to your activity.
4. Toggle the Allow participants to return to the main meeting switch to choose whether participants can return to the main meeting at any time.

Create breakout rooms during a meeting

If you want to set up breakout rooms during a meeting, follow these steps:

1. Once you arrive at the meeting, click the breakout rooms icon from the meeting toolbar.
2. Select the number of rooms and the assignment method (automatic or manual) as described earlier.
3. Click Create room.

Once the rooms are created, you can assign participants and configure each room similar to the pre-meeting setup.

Managing breakout rooms

Managing breakout rooms effectively is crucial to ensure that the sessions run seamlessly. Here are the detailed steps to manage rooms once they go live:

Opening breakout rooms

To start breakout rooms, follow these steps:

1. During a Teams meeting, click Start Room from the Breakout Rooms panel.
2. All rooms will be opened, and participants will be taken to their respective rooms based on your setup.

It is important to inform participants that they will be taken to a room to avoid confusion.

Joining a breakout room

As a meeting organizer, you can join any breakout room:

1. Selecting the room you want to join from the list on the Breakout Rooms panel.
2. Click on the 'Join Room' button.

This functionality is useful for facilitating discussions or providing assistance without requiring a separate invitation.

Sending announcements

You can broadcast announcements to all rooms. Here's how:

1. Click the More Actions (three dots) button in the Breakout Rooms panel.
2. Select Announce.
3. Type your message and click Send.

This feature is useful for keeping participants informed of deadlines or other important information.

Closing breakout rooms

To end a breakout session:

1. In the Breakout Rooms panel, click Close Rooms.
2. All participants will be brought back to the main meeting.

You can also set breakout rooms to automatically close after a specific time using the timer feature.

Reassigning participants

If you need to move participants from one room to another:

1. In the Breakout Rooms panel, click Assign Participants.
2. Select one or more participants you want to transfer.
3. Select the room you want them to move to and click Move.

Reallocations can be made at any time when rooms are open.

Examples of use of breakout rooms

To understand how breakout rooms can be practical, consider these scenarios:

Educational context

In the classroom, the teacher can use breakout rooms to divide students into smaller groups for project discussions. Here's what the teacher can do:

• Divide students into groups based on the project they are doing.
• Move between rooms to provide guidance and support.
• Use the announcement feature to remind students of deadlines.

After the group work, everyone returns to the main meeting to share their findings.

Corporate environment

In a corporate environment, breakout rooms can facilitate team brainstorming sessions. For example, a manager can:

• Create breakout rooms for different departments to discuss specific agenda items.
• Give each group a specific task or question to solve.
• Keep going in and out of rooms to check on progress.

Workshops and training

For workshops, instructors can use breakout rooms for practical activities or role-playing exercises. Consider:

• Assign different tasks to each room and let participants rotate between them.
• Allowing participants to present their work when they return to the main session.

Conclusion and best practices

Breakout rooms are a versatile feature in Microsoft Teams that provides flexibility and increases engagement. To get the most out of breakout rooms, consider these best practices:

• Plan in advance: Decide in advance the objective and expected outcomes for each breakout session.
• Set clear instructions: Make sure participants know what is expected of them and what is required of them.
• Monitor progress: Check in on different rooms regularly to facilitate conversations and offer guidance as needed.
• Understand time management: Use the timer feature to keep each session on track.
• Be flexible: Be prepared for unexpected issues, such as reassigning participants.

By following these steps, setting up, managing, and using breakout rooms can be a smooth and productive process that will improve your meetings on Microsoft Teams.

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