Microsoft Teams' Breakout Rooms are about to get a major improvement

What you need to know

• Microsoft Teams Breakout Rooms are about to get a new feature.
• Specific presenters will be able to manage Breakout Rooms.
• The feature is slated for a September 2021 release.

If you like Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams but wish there was a bit more flexibility in how they're managed, strap in for the newest Teams feature update that'll match your wishes to a T.

Microsoft Teams: Breakout Room Presenter support is listed in the Microsoft 365 roadmap under feature ID: 81118. Here's what the feature entails, according to the roadmap: "Extend the management of Breakout Rooms to specific presenters." It's currently in development and is slated for a September 2021 release, though no release date plans on the roadmap are final, so understand that the actual release date could vary.

This feature would allow for meetings with multiple presenters who all need Breakout Room control to have an easy, built-in way to facilitate meeting management changes. On top of all the other useful functionalities built into Teams, this is icing on an already stacked cake.

For example, have you read up on the new Parent connection feature coming to Teams for Education? It'll allow parents and guardians to easily reach educators via Teams chat.

And perhaps you're not just invested in Teams for the features, but also the aesthetics. Check out the new NFL backgrounds for Teams that Microsoft just released. With these backgrounds, even if you're trapped behind a desk chatting it up on Teams, you can still fantasize about those who spend their professional lives playing football.