Are you a Breakout Room DJ?
Then you know how magic it is to press the button ‘open all breakout rooms’.
Because a few seconds later everyone is engaged in a conversation.
Breakout rooms create engagement
In our experience – Corinne and Nadia – breakout rooms are the only good and satisfying way to facilitate conversations in online meetings and workshops with bigger groups. That is also what Viv McWaters and Johnnie Moore posted lately in their newsletter:
Generally speaking, if a breakout goes above 4 people, the likelihood of participation starts to drop like a stone. We’ll often use threes and pairs too, giving lots of space for people to hear themselves think.
Viv McWaters and Johnnie Moore
Breakout rooms invite everyone to engage and to be and feel included as active contributors. But not only that. There is another good reason to split a bigger group into smaller discussion groups. The group size impacts the quality of the discussion. In their newsletter, Johnnie and Viv point to research demonstrating “that ‘smaller teams’ work was more disruptive.”
Breakout rooms can create nervousness
Breakout rooms are maybe technology wise a tiny wonder, yet they are no revolutionary concept at all. Facilitating small group discussions is a basic facilitation skill. Zoom and other video conferencing platforms listened carefully to the needs of the facilitation tribe when they offered an easy way to split an online meeting into small subgroups.
Yet, there are some differences between small group discussions in the offline and online world. We sometimes observe hesitation to use breakout rooms. Breakout rooms can make people nervous.
We observe three fears:
- FOMO, the fear of missing out by the organizer: What will happen in the groups? You cannot follow and control. Not everyone will be on the same page afterwards.
- Fear of ‘missing touch’ by the facilitator: Online you cannot pass by and briefly listen to what the groups are discussing. How can you then ensure the continuation of the process and stay in touch with the group? It can feel very lonely to be the facilitator in an online event.
- Fear of ‘meeting a stranger’ by participants: In a way it can feel very exposing to find yourself suddenly face-to-face to a stranger you could not choose to have a conversation with. You are asked to speak up and be fully engaged. It is hardly possible to work on your emails while being in a breakout group with 1 or 2 others.
Breakout rooms disco
Luckily there is also joy.
Lots of joy.
In breakout rooms.
We mostly see many happy smiles when people come back from the breakout rooms.
In the breakout rooms is where the magic happens.
A tiny revolution has been set off by the magic breakout room button. Breakout rooms are a new deal between workshop organiser, facilitator and the so-called participants. It’s a deal of emancipation. And trust.
Breakout rooms give freedom and responsibility to participants to have the conversation that the small group needs to have.
Trust that something meaningful will be discussed.
Anna Jackson (shared in a conversation)
Exactly!
Let’s let go of the fear of losing control, of missing out, of having a conversation with a stranger. Let’s approach the breakout rooms with an open and curious mindset.
The breakout room button is inspired and infused by the Open Space principles:
- Whoever comes are the right people
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
Each group is the owner of their conversation. Each participant is the author of her/ his learning.
As facilitator, focus on the next step of weaving nuggets of insights of these conversations together.
You are the Breakout Room DJ!
Pressing the magic breakout rooms button is a highly important act.
Tips for breakout rooms
Some tips for the handling of breakout rooms you can find here: Facilitating Breakout Rooms. To use the plenary for framing and synthesis, the breakout rooms for discussion is probably a good tip.
Upcoming opportunities
Registration for the next round of Bringing your Online Meetings & Workshops Alive starting on January 18, 2022 is now open!