As an individual who often leads Zoom meetings and events, I regularly encounter the need to split attendees into smaller groups for breakout sessions or group discussions. This can prove to be a difficult task, particularly with a considerable number of participants. Nevertheless, by implementing a few straightforward strategies and utilizing some inventive approaches, organizing smaller groups on Zoom can be achieved seamlessly and effectively.
1. Pre-Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms
One effective way of dividing participants into groups on Zoom is by pre-assigning them to breakout rooms before the meeting starts. Zoom allows you to create breakout rooms and assign participants to them in advance, which can save you a lot of time during the actual meeting. To do this, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Zoom account and schedule a meeting.
- After scheduling the meeting, click on the “Edit” button next to the meeting in your Zoom account.
- In the “Meeting Options” section, enable the “Breakout Room pre-assign” option.
- Click on “Create Rooms” to set up the breakout rooms.
- Assign participants to each breakout room by entering their email addresses.
- Save the settings and start the meeting.
By pre-assigning participants to breakout rooms, you can ensure that everyone is in the right group from the beginning, saving you the hassle of manually dividing them during the meeting.
2. Randomly Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms
If you prefer a more spontaneous approach or if you have a large number of participants and don’t want to pre-assign them, Zoom also offers a feature to randomly assign participants to breakout rooms. To use this feature, follow these steps:
- Start a meeting and click on the “Breakout Rooms” icon in the meeting controls.
- Choose the number of breakout rooms you want to create.
- Check the box next to “Automatically” to automatically assign participants to breakout rooms.
- Click on the “Create Rooms” button to create the breakout rooms.
- Zoom will automatically assign participants to the breakout rooms.
- Click on “Open All Rooms” to start the breakout sessions.
This method is great if you want to encourage random groupings or if you don’t have the time to manually assign participants to breakout rooms.
3. Manually Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms
If you prefer to have more control over the grouping process or if you want to consider certain factors when dividing participants, you can manually assign them to breakout rooms during the meeting. Here’s how:
- Start a meeting and click on the “Breakout Rooms” icon in the meeting controls.
- Choose the number of breakout rooms you want to create.
- Click on the “Assign” button next to each breakout room to manually assign participants.
- Drag and drop participants from the main participant list into the desired breakout room.
- Click on “Open All Rooms” to start the breakout sessions.
This method gives you complete flexibility in terms of how you group participants. You can consider factors such as expertise, interests, or even balance the number of participants in each room.
Conclusion
Dividing participants into groups on Zoom doesn’t have to be a difficult task. By pre-assigning participants, randomly assigning them, or manually assigning them to breakout rooms, you can easily facilitate breakout sessions and group discussions during your Zoom meetings. Experiment with different methods to find the one that works best for you and your participants. Happy Zooming!