Breakout Rooms: Introduction
In the old days, we used to have physical meetings in large auditoriums. After a large meeting, people would walk to smaller rooms called “breakout rooms.” The reasons for this were various including the following:
Special presentations
Birds of a feather networking
To do activities
With online virtual conferencing software using breakout rooms is much easier. I’ve noticed that the reasons for using them also can differ.
I’ve seen breakout rooms used for the two following reasons:
Just another large broadcast lecture-style session. For example, in a large conference of 500 attendees, the breakout room might have 50 of them who are interested in a specific topic, but it is still a broadcast style. Inside the breakout, the same broadcast-type activities can be used: presentation, round table, Q&A, and panel discussion.
Discussion group style. For example in a large conference after a large broadcast session, everyone selects a breakout to attend based on the subject or birds of a feather type. The group will discuss using the round table method. The group should be 4 to 6 people to actually facilitate a good discussion where everyone can be engaged. These small groups can allow people to align, learn, decide, and much more.
This next series will give details on how to run breakouts effectively, options for where to use them, what can go wrong.
