A breakout room is a digital space where participants on a videoconferencing platform can be in a smaller setting away from the rest of the group. You can use breakout rooms for small group work in a classroom setting, for conducting workshops, or to brainstorm ideas with fewer people than the main session. There are a lot of reasons why we love jumping into breakout rooms. Here are some of the most popular ways to use them in UCx with Webex meetings.
Group Discussion
Breakout rooms can be a powerful tool for those who host large meetings and need to facilitate group discussions. When you have too many people in your meeting, it can be often be difficult to ensure everyone has time to speak, which is where breakout rooms come in. You can start a meeting with a larger group, but later break into smaller groups to discuss a topic introduced to the entire meeting.
For instance, you can assign small groups of staff members to work through unique business challenges. Each group could troubleshoot a pressing issue over the course of an hour or so. Then, when all the groups rejoin the main session, you’ll have solutions to multiple problems.
Brainstorming Sessions
In a very large videoconferencing session, it can be easy for just a few people to dominate the conversation while everyone else sits back and watches. But by using breakout rooms, you can give each person a better chance to be heard.
For example, if your company is brainstorming ways to increase operational efficiency, you could separate staff members into groups within UCx with Webex. Each group could then generate its own ideas, reporting back to the rest of the staff after a certain amount of time.
Networking and Socializing
Breakout rooms are also valuable when encouraging people to network and socialize. When there are fewer eyes on you, it can be easier to open up and be yourself. This increased sense of comfort can result in conversations that wouldn’t be possible in a larger session.
For example, while hosting a virtual meeting, you can set up breakout rooms designed for people from different disciplines. For instance, you can have one breakout room for salespeople, one for marketers, and another for human resources people. In between sessions, you can invite people to their respective breakout rooms so they can chat or network.
You can also let people request a breakout room if they want to connect with someone in particular. If someone wants to network with another participant, they can just ask and the admin can put them both in their own breakout room.
Foster Collaboration
Breakout rooms are equally effective as collaboration tools because they give people the chance to have one-on-one (or -two or -three) conferences as they solve business problems. In addition to the ability to interact face-to-face, participants in UCx with Webex breakout rooms can also share files and present to each other, making it easier to combine minds. For this reason, breakout rooms may be more effective collaboration tools than other types of meetings.
Breakout rooms have tons of potential, and with UCx with Webex, you can leverage them to transform your company’s productivity and social experience. Learn more by connecting with TPx today.