Breakout groups can have a big positive impact both the participation within a meeting, and on the ownership of the outcomes and actions coming out of it.
But how they operate plays a big part in whether they achieve this.
Past lessons in group engagement
The need to engage people in personal ownership for improving their work was a key factor in the success of the Japanese quality revolution. Half a century ago, when the Japanese initiated their quality revolution, they made one vitally important choice. The choice was that tools they would use to improve quality could all be done on a flipchart. This choice ensured that every member of each group could: feel fully engaged; see progress; check shared understanding; and confirm the output.
This choice made a huge difference, and it has great relevance to breakouts today.
Engaging people in virtual meetings
For successful breakouts we still need their participants to: feel fully engaged; see progress; check shared understanding; and confirm the output. These factors make all the difference to both the quality of the outcomes, and commitment to their practical realisation.However, the shift to virtual meetings, and virtual breakouts requires a shift in our approach.
Flipcharts are still possible in virtual meetings, but they are not necessarily the best solution for breakouts. The shift to virtual technology has enabled more egalitarian means of participation. Particularly the use of virtual whiteboards.
The benefits of Jamboard for breakouts
One particular whiteboard has great benefits for breakouts. It is Google’s Jamboard, and its strength in this area lies in several factors:
Its simplicity means that it is largely intuitive to use. Most people can use it straight off the bat without any training. But if you do want to give people a quick briefing, it can be done in seconds.- Learning to use it as a host is only a bit more involved. 5 mins tops, using this free familiarisation template.
- Its format is not unlike that of a flipchart. This helps to keep contributions concise and focused.
- It enables everybody to contribute their ideas to it directly, personally, and simultaneously – which further helps ownership.
- It is easy to set up individual breakout ‘boards’ – one for each breakout group. These can be worked on independently, but are linked in a sort of ‘book’. Enabling people to quickly review the complete picture.
- It is free to use, and is not restricted to being shared solely within your own organisation. So you can invite guests onto it if you desire.
How to get started
Jamboard will make a big difference to the effectiveness of your breakouts. We would suggest the following to get you started:
- Familiarise yourself with Jamboard, and build your confidence in hosting it for your team
- Review the currently available Jamboard templates to see if any of these may help achieve your intention
- Alternatively, create a Jamboard page with the question you want your breakouts to address
- Add any further instructions on a sticky note if you wish (they can delete this when they have read it)
- Add a timer if you wish. This will help groups manage their time and will also help raise the energy
- Duplicate the chosen template or question page to ensure there is one for each breakout group
- Delete any pages you don’t need
- Ensure your follow the directions to create an access link to the Jamboard and give them edit rights
- Share the access link in the meeting chat before you split them into groups. Ensure they can all use it.
- Number your breakout groups to correspond to the pages on the Jamboard. Then set them going.
- Ask them to move themselves to the page that corresponds to their breakout group number.
- Use the page sorter view in the Jamboard to monitor that people in the right places and making progress
- You can also monitor an overview of each groups development of their page from the page sorter view
- When the breakouts have finished, you can walk them through the jamboard page by page, or …
- Share your own view of the Jamboard in the meeting software to take them through each output that way.