How to Use Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams

Breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams allow meeting organizers to split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions or activities. This feature is especially useful for training sessions, workshops, and collaborative projects.

Prerequisites

• You must be the meeting organizer to create breakout rooms.
• Ensure you are using the desktop version of Microsoft Teams; breakout rooms are not fully supported on mobile.
• Participants should join using the Teams app for the best experience.

Steps to Create Breakout Rooms

1. Start the Meeting

   • Begin your scheduled Teams meeting as usual.

2. Open Breakout Rooms Panel

   • Click the Breakout rooms icon in the meeting toolbar.

3. Choose Number of Rooms

   • Select how many rooms you want to create (up to 50).
   • Decide whether to automatically assign participants or manually assign them.

4. Assign Participants

   • If manual, select participants and assign them to rooms.
   • You can move participants between rooms at any time.

5. Open Rooms

   • Click Open to send participants into their breakout rooms.
   • You can join any room as the organizer.

Managing Breakout Rooms

• Broadcast Messages: Send announcements to all rooms.
• Close Rooms: When finished, click Close rooms to bring everyone back to the main meeting.
• Rename Rooms: Customize room names for clarity.

Additional Features

• Whiteboard Integration: Each breakout room can use Microsoft Whiteboard for collaboration.
• Recording: Only the main meeting can be recorded, not individual breakout rooms.
• Compliance: Teams breakout rooms comply with enterprise security standards, including HIPAA and GDPR.

Tips for Success

• Plan your breakout sessions in advance.
• Communicate clear instructions before opening rooms.
• Use the timer feature to keep sessions on track.