Setting up breakout groups on Zoom is an excellent method for separating attendees into smaller units or discussion sections during virtual gatherings or webinars. As an individual who has managed multiple Zoom sessions, I can confirm the effectiveness of breakout groups in promoting teamwork and involvement among attendees. In this article, I will lead you through the steps of creating breakout groups on Zoom, including some of my own experiences. Let’s begin!
Step 1: Scheduling a Zoom Meeting
Before we dive into the specifics of breakout groups, it’s important to note that this feature is only available in Zoom meetings, not webinars. Make sure you schedule a meeting and not a webinar if you want to utilize breakout groups.
When scheduling your Zoom meeting, be sure to enable the “Breakout Room” feature by checking the appropriate box in the meeting settings. This will allow you to create and manage breakout groups during the meeting.
Step 2: Preparing for Breakout Groups
Prior to the meeting, it’s a good idea to plan how many breakout groups you’ll need and how you want to divide your participants. Think about the objectives of your meeting and how the breakout groups can best facilitate discussions or activities to achieve those objectives.
For example, if you’re hosting a brainstorming session, you might want to create smaller groups of 4-6 participants to encourage active participation and idea generation. On the other hand, if you’re conducting a training session, you might prefer larger groups of 10-12 participants to facilitate group discussions and knowledge sharing.
Step 3: Starting Breakout Groups
Once your Zoom meeting begins, you’ll see a toolbar at the bottom of your screen. Click on the “Breakout Rooms” button to open the Breakout Rooms panel.
In the Breakout Rooms panel, you have the option to either manually assign participants to breakout rooms or automatically assign them randomly. If you have a specific plan for the breakout groups, I recommend manually assigning participants to ensure they end up in the right groups.
To manually assign participants, click on the “Create Rooms” button and specify the number of breakout rooms you want to create. You can also assign specific participants to each room by clicking on the “Assign” button next to each room.
Step 4: Managing Breakout Groups
Once the breakout rooms are created, you can join any of the rooms as a host by simply clicking on the “Join” button next to the room name.
As a host, you have the ability to move between breakout rooms, broadcast messages to all rooms, and even join breakout room discussions if needed. To return to the main meeting room, click on the “Close All Rooms” button in the Breakout Rooms panel.
Step 5: Ending Breakout Groups
When it’s time to wrap up the breakout groups and bring everyone back to the main meeting room, you can either set a timer for the breakout sessions or manually end the sessions.
If you choose to set a timer, Zoom will automatically notify participants when the timer is about to expire and give them a few seconds to wrap up their discussions. Alternatively, you can manually end the sessions by clicking on the “Close All Rooms” button in the Breakout Rooms panel.
Conclusion
Breakout groups are a powerful feature in Zoom that can enhance the dynamics of your online meetings and webinars. By following the steps outlined in this article, you’ll be able to create and manage breakout groups with ease. Whether you’re facilitating brainstorming sessions, team-building activities, or training sessions, breakout groups can help foster collaboration, engagement, and meaningful discussions among participants. Give it a try in your next Zoom meeting and see the positive impact it can have!