Break out Rooms in Microsoft Teams meeting were one of the most requested features by the Teams users.
Learn how to create and use breakout rooms during Teams meetings. Improve meeting experience in Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams is the most popular application to organize remote meetings in enterprise organizations. In times when hybrid work becomes standard, you need to prepare effective and well-organized remote meetings. When you running the Teams meeting you can improve participants’ experience thanks to the well-described agenda, proper setup of the video calls or polls and surveys included in the meeting.
Another element that could help to improve the meeting experience is the setup of break out rooms. This is the virtual alternative for work in smaller groups where you can share ideas and discuss before you will share with a bigger audience.
As an organizer of the Teams meeting, you will have the possibility to create and manage breakout rooms during Teams meeting.
When to use breakout rooms?
Break out rooms are solutions to deliver a possibility to adapt virtual meetings to the way how traditional meetings and training are organized.
Key business cases to start to use breakout rooms in remote meetings are:
- trainings – when you would like to deliver work in training
- focus groups – organize work in smaller groups during meetings
- conferences – organize spaces for the discussion or presentation of the sponsors/partners
Does Microsoft Teams have break out rooms?
This is the question that was raised hundreds of times at the beginning of Microsoft Teams lifecycle. Thankfully Microsoft introduced breakout rooms into Microsoft Teams and you can use them during remote, virtual calls. This feature is available by design for the Microsoft Teams meetings.
? Remember that management of the breakout rooms requires you to be a meeting organizer and to use the client app of Microsoft Teams.
How to use Microsoft Teams breakout rooms
Break out rooms in Microsoft Teams have multiple features that could help you to organize better meetings. Learn about all break out rooms features and improve your remote meetings in Teams.
In a few steps, you will learn how to set up breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams.
1. Create the break out rooms during Microsoft Teams meeting
To create the breakout rooms select the Breakout rooms icon. This will start the setup of the rooms during Teams call.
On the new screen, you will have the possibility to select the number of Rooms (1) you would like to create, select the way how people will be assigned to specific rooms: Automatically (2) or Manually (3). In manual approach, you will need to decide how to assign specific people to a specific room.
When you will set up your configuration just Create the rooms (4).
This operation will create the Break out Rooms in your Microsoft Teams meeting.
You can start to work with breakout rooms.
2. Assign participants to the break out room
In case you would like to assign participants of the Teams meeting to the breakout rooms you will need to open the Assign participants (1) section and select the participants and select Assign (2) button.
In the case of manual assignment, you will be able to select the breakout room.
After you will assign participants to the breakout rooms you will be able to open them.
3. Opening break out rooms in Teams
When all participants will be added to specific breakout rooms you will be able to activate them by the Open room (1) button.
Participants will be a move to breakout rooms in 10 seconds. When all participants will be moved to a breakout room.
Now also you as an organizer will be able to join the room (1):
Breakout rooms features
The activated breakout room will be a “separated, smaller meeting” with all key featured of Teams meetings like chat, apps, reactions etc. Breakout room meeting will be open in a new Teams window for the organizer of the meeting.
Session in breakout room can be recorded and shared later on.
The organizer o the meeting decides who can join and leave the breakout room.
4. Announcements for the break out rooms
If you would like to communicate with all participants of breakout rooms use announcements. On the Breakout rooms level select *** icon and select Make an announcement (1).
You will be able to send a short message to all rooms, just click Send button.
This is the way how it will be presented in the breakout rooms chat section.
5. Closing the discussion in the breakout room
To close up the breakout room select the Close button (1) on the room.
In 10 seconds all participants will be moved back to the initial Microsoft Teams meeting.
Rename or delete the breakout room in Teams
It is possible to rename or delete already created breakout rooms. Options around the breakout room are available by *** icon. You will be able to delete (2) or rename (1) the room.
Break out Rooms settings in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams breakout rooms offer a few additional features that are available in Rooms settings.
This section will give you the possibility to set a few additional options for breakout rooms:
- You can automatically force participants to be moved to breakout rooms
- You can forbid return to the main meeting.
- You can limit the time available for the breakout room
Break out Rooms roadmap in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams have multiple updates planned for breakout rooms in the Q3 and Q4 2021:
- Microsoft Teams: Breakout Room pre-meeting room creation and participant assignment – Introducing capability for organizer to perform breakout room configuration and participant assignment before the meeting starts.
- Microsoft Teams: New assignment experience in modal window for Breakout Rooms – Enhanced UX for participant assignment. This includes new capabilities such as sorting participants and rooms and performing multiple selections and assignments to rooms.
- Microsoft Teams: Breakout Room Presenter support – Extend the management of Breakout Rooms to specific presenters.
- Microsoft Teams: New assignment experience in modal window for Breakout Rooms for DoD – Enhanced UX for participant assignment. This includes new capabilities such as sorting participants and rooms and performing multiple selections and assignments to rooms.
- Microsoft Teams: New assignment experience in modal window for Breakout Rooms for GCC-High – Enhanced UX for participant assignment. This includes new capabilities such as sorting participants and rooms and performing multiple selections and assignments to rooms.
- Microsoft Teams: Breakout Room Timer, Room Retention, and Participant Reassignment for GCC-High – Organizers can now set a timer for Breakout rooms from the Breakout Room settings. After timer has expired, rooms will automatically close and participants will come back to the main meeting. Room assignment retention provides the ability to persist room configuration and assignment over multiple sessions. With participant reassignment capability, organizer will now be able to move joined participants across rooms and main meeting also when rooms are opened.
- Microsoft Teams: Support for breakout rooms for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android – Ability to consume breakout rooms feature in Teams meetings.
Microsoft Teams – breakout rooms roadmap
Conclusion
Using Break out Rooms in Microsoft Teams could improve the efficiency of the Teams meetings. Start to create and use Teams breakout rooms.
