RingCentral’s breakout rooms offer a remarkable tool for hosting more interactive and cooperative sessions. As a regular user of RingCentral for both team assemblies and online summits, I can vouch for the significant benefits breakout rooms contribute. In this piece, I’ll walk you through how to configure and utilize breakout rooms in RingCentral, providing insights and observations from my own experience throughout.
What are Breakout Rooms?
Breakout rooms are virtual spaces within a RingCentral meeting where participants can gather in smaller groups. These smaller groups allow for more focused discussions, brainstorming sessions, or collaboration on specific topics. With breakout rooms, you can recreate the dynamic of in-person meetings, where participants split into smaller groups to accomplish different tasks or engage in deeper conversations.
Setting up Breakout Rooms
Before you can start using breakout rooms, you must make sure that the feature is enabled in your RingCentral account. If you’re an account administrator, you can enable breakout rooms in the RingCentral online portal.
Once breakout rooms are enabled, you can start using them by following these steps:
- Start a RingCentral meeting as the host.
- During the meeting, you will find the “Breakout Rooms” button at the bottom of the meeting controls. Click on it.
- A breakout rooms window will appear, allowing you to create breakout rooms. Click on the “Create” button.
- Specify the number of breakout rooms you want to create and provide them with names or topics. For example, you could create breakout rooms for “Marketing Strategy,” “Product Development,” and “Sales Planning.”
- Click on the “Create” button to finalize the creation of breakout rooms.
Using Breakout Rooms
Now that you have created breakout rooms, it’s time to start using them in your meeting:
- As the host, you can join any breakout room to facilitate discussions or provide guidance. To do this, click on the “Join” button next to the desired breakout room.
- Participants will receive a notification to join their assigned breakout room. They can accept the invitation and enter the breakout room by clicking on the “Join” button.
- Inside the breakout room, participants can engage in discussions, share screens, collaborate on documents, or chat privately. They can communicate just as they would in the main meeting room.
- As the host, you can move between breakout rooms, check on participants, and address any questions or concerns.
- To end the breakout sessions, you can close the breakout rooms and bring all participants back to the main meeting room. Click on the “Close All Rooms” button.
Personal Touch and Commentary
I have found breakout rooms to be a game-changer in my virtual meetings. They provide an opportunity for participants to engage in more meaningful conversations and collaborate effectively. As a team leader, I often use breakout rooms to foster creativity, encourage participation, and tackle challenging problems.
One personal touch I like to add is to create themed breakout rooms. For example, if we’re brainstorming ideas for a new marketing campaign, I might name the breakout rooms after famous advertising slogans or marketing gurus. This adds a fun element to the meeting and sparks creativity among the participants.
Conclusion
Breakout rooms in RingCentral are a powerful tool for enhancing collaboration and engagement in virtual meetings. By allowing participants to gather in smaller groups, breakout rooms facilitate focused discussions and brainstorming sessions. With the ability to join any breakout room as the host, you can provide guidance and support throughout the meeting. So go ahead and unlock the full potential of your meetings with breakout rooms in RingCentral!
