How can you use breakout sessions to create a more interactive workshop experience?

1 What are breakout sessions?

Breakout sessions are small-group discussions or activities that happen within a larger workshop or event. They allow participants to dive deeper into a specific topic, problem, or question, and share their perspectives, insights, and feedback with each other. Breakout sessions can be used for various purposes, such as brainstorming, problem-solving, skill-building, networking, or feedback gathering.

3 How to plan breakout sessions?

Careful planning and preparation is necessary for successful breakout sessions. Start by defining your objectives - what do you want to achieve, how do they align with the overall workshop goals, and how will you measure success? Then, choose your format - the structure, duration, number of participants in each group, assignment or randomization of groups, and tools or platforms used to facilitate. Additionally, design your questions or activities to stimulate discussion, learning, or action that is relevant to the workshop topic and objectives. Lastly, prepare materials and instructions for the participants to ensure clarity and consistency across the groups.

4 How to facilitate breakout sessions?

Facilitating breakout sessions requires skill and attention to detail. Before starting, explain the purpose, format, and outcomes of the breakout sessions to your participants. Set some ground rules and norms to ensure respect for different opinions, active listening, and staying on topic. Monitor the progress and dynamics of the groups during the session, providing support and guidance as needed. You can also join the groups occasionally to ask questions, offer feedback, or encourage participation. Keep track of the time and remind participants of the remaining time and next steps. When the breakout sessions are over, facilitate the transition back to the main session smoothly.

5 How to follow up on breakout sessions?

Breakout sessions can generate a great deal of valuable information and outcomes, but to be meaningful and useful, these must be captured and shared. After the sessions, ask each group to summarize and share their main points, insights, or outputs with the rest of the participants. Debrief the breakout sessions by asking questions such as: What did you learn? What surprised you? What challenged you? What actions will you take? Document and distribute the key takeaways, feedback, or results of the breakout sessions to participants and stakeholders. You can also use tools such as polls, surveys, or quizzes to collect and analyze data from the breakout sessions. Follow up with your participants and provide them with additional resources, support, or opportunities to continue learning and collaboration from the breakout sessions. Moreover, use the feedback and insights from the breakout sessions to improve future workshops or events.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?