Breakout rooms on Teams - just why??

[SirChenjins]

If you are one of these people who uses them during your training, can you stop please. Getting randoms who've never met each other to join together and work on something they have literally just been introduced to and so know nothing about is lazy teaching and utterly, utterly pointless - no-one is sure what they've to discuss, they're don't learn from others who are as clueless as they are, it's bloody awkward, there's so much wasted time as everyone looks blankly at each other, and actually, they're attending the session to learn from the person who knows the subject.

I've just left another session at the breakout rooms point and have decided I won't attend another one ever. It's very liberating!

I dunno, sometimes they can work well. A small room for discussion or to practice what has been taught so far can be a good way of interacting with the course and you can get to know your little room over the course of the day. Better by far than one person banging on all day trying to be entertaining!

Ha ha I share your pain. I had one of these last week. 4 of us stared blankly at each other for a minute or two, then had a good rant about the lack of any strategy or competent high level management in the organisation. Quite cathartic really but probably not what was intended 😁

Agree. My heart always sinks when I hear the word “breakout rooms”.

My work has in person training sessions every so often where we do breakout rooms in real life.

I hate those as well to be honest. Probably stems from the first time I heard of it and assumed it was a room to just take a break in. Disappointing to then find out I had to role play and brainstorm with a load of my colleagues.

Breakouts for in person stuff are equally as awkward and can be annoying, but it does help break up a day of training.

Yeah absolutely it is lazy teaching. But I do use them if sparingly.
When the NHS are prepared to allocate two teachers to a day of online teaching, then I will stop. However if they are only prepared to pay one of us, there is quite honestly no way I can wang on about the subject on my own for a whole day.
Sorry. I know full well most people use them to hang the washing out, feed the cat, get another coffee and quite honestly, good for them.

The problem as a facilitator is that it can be very hard to engage people in an online training, or even tell if anyone is paying any attention whatsoever. Effective training isn't just sitting and listening, it never has been, it requires engagement and active thinking about the material. As a trainer it can look like everyone is totally switched off in online training, especially when people won't put their cameras on and don't feel confident to ask questions or put their hand up in front of the whole group. I sometimes feel I'm talking into the ether.

Break out rooms are basically an opportunity for people who are too nervous to speak in front of a whole group to contribute. Or, if I was being less kind, to force people who are doing other work in the background or making their dinner to actually participate actively and learn something.

I think they are the best bit of Teams

There's nothing that strikes terror into my heart more than a breakout room

Because sometime you want people to talk abut a topic in small groups...

I love them. A chance to meet new people, how their services work, how they approach a particular situation...

But I've only ever used them with trainers who set answers/ case studies and the people in them tend to be interested in what we're doing. Possibly because everyone else who doesn't care has pissed off to hang out the washing.

Well said @JustJani . I'm a facilitator too, and we often use breakout rooms to get people to practice using an aspect of the theory they have just learned about. We then have a whole group discussion when each group returns to the main room. I don't get what's 'lazy' about it from the POV of the trainer - we don't do it so we can have an extra coffee break!

If none of you have a clue what you're meant to be doing, then maybe the instructions weren't clear enough - message the facilitators using the chat box and ask a question rather than just sitting there

I draw the line at 'icebreakers' though

Glad it's not just me then! I've delivered training on various subjects over the years over Teams and in person and have never used them - there are far better ways of getting engagement without sticking people in them and expecting them to come up with something. The one I just came out of required us to spend 40 minutes of a 2 hour long training session answering a very detailed set of questions about a topic that a group of complete strangers had literally just been introduced to and knew nothing about! I wanted to learn from someone who knew the subject inside out, not to look at others on a screen who also knew nothing about the subject.

That's the fault of a poor trainer rather than breakout rooms.
They can be used very effectively.

Breakout room moments are awful. There’s always one person who talks and the others vaguely nod.

I find myself wondering whether you were in the same session as me this morning, OP. The timing aligns perfectly, and the breakout rooms were truly pointless.

There are times when it is useful and appropriate to use the breakout room function. Frequently, though, it just seems to be used as a time filler.

I've yet to see one used effectively if it's a training session which is introducing a large group of strangers to a subject they're unfamiliar with.

Break out rooms are basically an opportunity for people who are too nervous to speak in front of a whole group to contribute. Or, if I was being less kind, to force people who are doing other work in the background or making their dinner to actually participate actively and learn something

Sometimes people have wandered off and don’t even realise there is a breakout room. I was in one by myself once, messaged the trainer and she said you are in a room with Dave, Sam, Julie, she rattled off five names, none of whom were responding.

I wonder if we were...! I agree, they're usually used as a time filler. I can just about cope with a short 5 minute session, but if I'm dedicating 2 hours of my time to a training session then I want to learn from the expert, not speak to a group of strangers who know as little about a subject as I do for a large chunk of that 2 hours.

Exactly!!

I think it depends on how they're used. I am doing language learning online, and we go into smaller breakout groups to talk about a particular subject, or to work through an exercise we then go over as a full class. The teacher comes into every group in turn to see how we're getting on and answer any questions about vocab or grammar. But it's an evening class, and we've all chosen to be there, and we all seem to be quite good at asking anyone who is quiet what their opinion is. We sometimes drift off into personal chat if it's a dull subject (parking was not inspirational,) and that's fine as long as we're practising the language.

I was on a work session a couple of weeks ago, where we used breakout rooms to brainstorm ideas which we then summarised as the whole group - that worked well. It doesn't always - people haven't always chosen to be there, and some just can't be arsed. But that's not really different to in-person meetings, whether it's training or planning or whatever else. It's just easier to disappear when it's online than when you're physically sitting there.

But well-used, they can work well.

Again, that's poor training not the fault of the actual tool.
I run online courses at a university and on a full day of teaching a breakout room is a must. Just like breaking into groups is part of 'in person' teaching.

What i hate about breakout rooms is that due to most of the people sitting there in silence, all.the work ends up being done by one or two people (usually me).

What you're describing there is a group of people who know each other who are being taught on an ongoing basis, who have a knowledge of the subject, and who are focused on a task that is part of their evolving knowledge over a longer period of time. That's very different to a group of strangers joinng from across the UK or world to learn more about a specific subject as a standalone session, giving up part of their busy day and often paying for the privilege of hearing from the expert, to be told that a large section of that training is going to be working through an exercise with others who also know nothing about the subject - there is no real meaningful learning there.

And? You weren't specific and were ranting about how breakout rooms should never be used.

I'm pointing out that they can be used well in some online teaching situations.

All online training is awful. Breakout rooms are just part of that.