Collect Feedback for Your Project More Efficiently with Breakout Discussions
Being a startup tech company, PicCollage Team always prioritizes brainstorming & feedback sessions with different members to go forward with projects. However, there are so many different strategies that we can try; surveys, forms, meetings, one-on-one sessions, and many more. One of the less-known yet so powerful methods which our team always applies in our discussions is free discussion.
What is Free Discussion?
Free discussion is a group communication where participants are, just like its name, FREE to bring up any topics & express their thoughts and ideas without any constraints. Depending on the conversation, this format of discussion is usually an open-ended and unstructured approach, allowing participants to speak on any topic they choose and engage in a dialogue without a specific goal or outcome.
This way, group members can share their perspectives, ask questions, and learn from each other. It is often used to generate ideas, build relationships, and foster creativity. It can be done in-person or online, and it is suitable for different types of groups, including operations, PMs, designers, developers, marketers, and even project groups with members of different expertise!
It’s important to note that while free discussion encourages open expression, it’s also important to create a safe and inclusive environment where every member’s point of view is respected and heard, also facilitating a constructive conversation where different perspectives and ideas are welcome, but without personal attacks or hostile attitude.
Then, What is Breakout Discussion & How to Use It to Collect Feedback?
Since everyone is encouraged to freely & creatively share their ideas during the discussion, free discussion is an appropriate method to help teams collect feedback internally from the other team members. The conversation, meeting, or discussion can be shaped to help facilitate the whole feedback or brainstorming session.
First of all, a meeting host or facilitator typically provides a stage for the discussion by giving an overview of the topic, and then participants can split into smaller groups based on the topic of discussion, allowing each group to take over the discussions in breakout rooms. The host may also encourage participation, but the discussion is driven primarily by the group members themselves. Hence, the breakout discussion means applying the free discussion format in each breakout room.
A breakout discussion is a type of small group discussion or meeting that is intended to allow participants to engage in deeper and more focused conversations on a specific issue. Our team always uses breakout discussions in our meetings, syncs, and stand-ups to allow for more interactive and collaborative discussions among smaller groups of participants or to provide members with the opportunity to freely provide feedback & brainstorm together.
Case Study: MixerChat Daily Sync
Let’s learn from one of PicCollage’s projects: MixerChat. MixerChat is an online conferencing tool focusing on breakout rooms that the team is recently developing. We built it because we’re a small company that, through the pandemic, started needing to hold our meetings online instead of in the comfort of our cozy office. MixerChat is designed for online group meetings that matches in-person communication by allowing you to hop from room to room without the rigidness and awkwardness of Zoom breakout rooms.
Team project, especially app/website building, consists of several members with different skills or functions (front & back-end developers, product managers, designers, marketers, and user researchers). For MixerChat, we always have daily project syncs where we gather to update our latest statuses first. Then, if certain members or functions need to regroup and catch up on specific issues, we split up into different free breakout discussions to talk more thoroughly about the topics in separate rooms — a room for developers & designers for UI/UX topics, another for PMs and user researchers to discuss product development-related subjects, a room for marketers & designers for branding, and more!
Check this article to find out more about MixerChat
All in all, breakout discussions are crucial aspects of meetings, both virtual and in-person. They give attendees a chance to foster a deeper understanding of a topic, encourage participation and interaction, facilitate collaboration and idea generation, connect with other participants, and generally have fun and engaging conversations.
Give breakout discussion a try in your next team discussion, and let us know how efficient it is to collect feedback or host a brainstorming session with your members!
