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1. Know where Graphic Recording is most relevant & useful

GR is a truly wonderful and powerful tool when used correctly. If used in an inappropriate setting however, it’s value can be compromised… And that’s no good for the client or the GR!

Your graphic recorder should be able to inform you of whether your event is suited to using a Graphic Recorder, but here are some pointers to start with:

Places GR really shines include (but is not limited to):

– Conferences / Forums / Summits / etc
– Big picture, ‘visioning’ workshops
– High level strategy planning
– Community engagement
– Planning workshops

and it’s great for capturing:

– Presentations
– Panel discussions
– Debrief conversations / summaries
– Facilitated group conversations

Here are some places GR doesn’t work so well:

– Detailed, task-focused workshops
– Detailed report outs

If a piece of work is too detailed or task-focused, the high-level snapshot that GRs are so great at becomes irrelevant, and probably impossible.

The other important distinction is between a ‘report out’ and a ‘debrief’. When working in breakout groups then coming back to share your work, the usefulness of GR really depends on how this is done.

Report outs:

A report out refers to a member or members of each breakout group reporting back their work to the wider group.

If it is simply reading out a long list from a flipchart, this is not the best place for a GR capture – it will just be replicating what your participants have already captured.

However, if your groups are instructed to report back just their top three big ideas and flesh each out a little, this would be an appropriate place to use GR.

Debriefs:

Ending an activity with a broader group debrief conversation (e.g. what surprised you? what were the big ideas? what did you learn?) is an ideal place to utilise Graphic Recording. The flow of a conversation and linking themes between groups will lead to a rich cross-group snapshot illustration.

Both approaches are equally valuable, it just depends on what outcome you’re after.

2. Know why you want them there

There are many reasons to engage a GR, and usually they would be numerous for any given event. It’s a useful exercise to prioritise your reasons for using GR, as it may inform better ways to work on the day and recommendations for your deliverable. Here are some common reasons:

– To help people engage in the content on the day
– To help people reflect on the content during the day
– To help guide conversation
– To help participants interact and contribute
– To allow participants to see that their ideas are being heard
– To create a common understanding / vision
– To capture content & share with participants after the event
– To capture content & share with people not in attendance
– To create a visual / series of visuals with a specific purpose (e.g. a future vision to hang up in your office)
– A point of difference for your event

For example, if engaging and reflecting on the day is a higher priority we would put some time into considering where we’re placed in the room, how many people can see us, and how the work can be displayed throughout the day. If capturing content to share after the day is a higher priority, we’ll focus more on how to get the best deliverable.

3. Know what you’re going to do with the output, and let people know

Every event I work at, I will have numerous participants ask with some concern “Will we get copies of these? How do we see these after today? Is someone taking photos?”.

It’s great to have a plan from the get-go for how you will use and disseminate the graphic outputs.

At a minimum, all the outputs from the event should be emailed to all the participants in attendance, or made available via your intranet / website.

There are plenty of other cool things you can do with them though, so think creatively! Here are some examples I’ve come up with, but have a chat to your friendly GR to see what might be suitable and relevant in your case.

– Email to all participants (and any other relevant peeps, e.g. the wider team or organisation, stakeholders or clients)
– Create a gallery on your website or intranet
– Make it into your team’s / organisation’s screensaver or desktop image
– Turn it into a Prezi
– Turn it into an interactive pdf with links to provide more detail
– Turn it into an animation with a voiceover
– Print as posters for your office
– Make into a wall decal or wall paper for your reception area or tea room
– Print on canvas
– Make into a calendar
– Create a booklet
– Create your own colouring book
– Use in your reports
– Use parts of images for prints, t-shirts or mugs
– Print onto mousepads
– Print as postcards

4. Share your agenda early

As GRs, we work at all sorts of events with all sorts of clients. Over time, we develop a good sense of how we can best support all the different elements of your event.

The earlier we can have a look at the agenda (even in its draft stage), the earlier we can work with you to make sure you get the most out of us on the day!

This could be considering where we are positioned, where to put the artwork at break times, any red flags, and any extra things we have in our box of tricks to make your event sing (e.g. we may be able to help with branding for your event, or have a great graphic template for an activity, or have a suggestion on how to visually enhance an element of the agenda).

5. Encourage people to engage with it

On the day of your event, make sure your facilitator or MC introduces the GR from the beginning and explains what they are doing and where participants will be able to access the output (or even better, have your GR explain it themselves!).

Encourage people throughout the day to go and have a look in the breaks, to take their own photos, and (if appropriate) to share them on social media or your internal social network as the day unfolds.

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In general, Graphic Recorders are massive nerds for what we do. We love doing it, we love talking about it, we love working with our clients, and we love uncovering new ways of working to help make your events awesome.

There’s always more to discover. Make the most of your GR experience… go on – lick the plate clean!

The post Lick the plate clean – 5 tips to get the most out of your Graphic Recorder appeared first on Think in Colour.

What we thought might be a short-lived blip ended up being our main way of working for almost two years, and will continue to persist in a post-covid world.

When it comes to virtual workshop facilitation, here are the first things I learned:

1. Set clear rules for how you interact, e.g. All cameras on, raise your hand if you have a question, uses for the written chat function.
2. Reduce session times if possible. If you were planning on a whole day workshop, consider if you could split this into 2 x 2-3hr sessions with. Anything longer than that is a long time to be sitting staring at your computer screen.
3. For more complex or larger sessions, engage a Virtual Process Facilitator (full disclosure, I made this title up and bestowed it upon my colleague/husband Dan – job of the future?). This is someone who understands both the technology and workshop process, can manage the content inputs and outputs, and troubleshoot along the way. A VPF (😀) will also assist with testing everything before the session.
4. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There is so much change to deal with at the moment! Think about how to transfer your physical processes to virtual ones, rather than thinking of it as a whole new thing. Zoom is your plenary and break-out rooms. Mural or a humble Google doc is your whiteboard. Try not to become overwhelmed by the tech. You know how to do this.
5.  Engaging visuals makes a big difference. This is true in physical settings too, but without the energy we get from physical interaction, great visuals become all the more important. People are spending an unprecedented amount of time interacting through the computer screen right now, so anything we can do to create a different experience will be highly valuable. Live virtual graphic recording keeps participants engaged in the content and provides instant artefacts to help maintain momentum and aid post-event communication.

…and as time went on, there were a few more learnings and discoveries:

1. Have one standard communication channel outside the platform you’re using for the facilitation team, ideally something you can access on a different device in case the one you’re using has technical issues. This could be slack, messenger, SMS – whatever everyone had easy access to. This way you can have your ‘behind the scenes’ chats away from the main participant group. Also have your VPF (see list above) available for participants to contact via phone & SMS if they need help.
2. Set the environment. When we produce physical workshops, taking care to set the right tone with the room set-up makes a big difference. Things like music, lighting, graphics and branding are all considerations worth translating to the virtual space. This also creates a sense of professionalism that instills confidence in participants who are likely feeling out of their comfort zone.
3. Don’t over-complicate things. Some of these new digital platforms have heaps of cool functions to play with, and it can be tempting to want to try them ALL AT ONCE. Always come back to the intention of the activity you’re doing, and what’s going to serve that best. Know your audience and their potential strengths and weaknesses in using digital platforms. Sometimes the low-fi solution is the right one.
4. Have an analogue Plan B. If the activity you’re running relies on a technical function that has the potential to go wrong (e.g. voting on ideas), have an analogue back-up plan. There’s no reason you can’t do a good ol’ raising of hands to get this done! Which brings us to the next point…
5. Be flexible. Yes, you had these amazing plans for a smooth digital experience but of course – something froze, someone couldn’t connect, something didn’t record… Just do your best to remain calm and be flexible in the moment. This really comes down to being a good facilitator – if you understand the intention behind each part of the agenda, and the objectives of the session in general, it’s easy to flex and find alternatives in the moment.

If you’re interested in Virtual Graphic Recording or other creative support for an upcoming workshop, or would just like some advice regarding virtual workshop tools and options, please get in touch.

The post Virtual workshops: Learnings from 2020 & beyond appeared first on Think in Colour.

We talk a lot about the value of Graphic Recording when it comes to groups and participants, but less so about the value and support we bring to the facilitator.

A great partnership between Facilitator and Graphic Recorder will:

• Provide an additional witness to the content
• Relieve pressure on the Facilitator to note-take
• Inspire participants to display their ideas visually, making it easier for the Facilitator to view and harvest ideas
• Track progress throughout the event
• Provide a thought partner to bounce off and test ideas
• Allow the Facilitator to focus on what they do best

These are challenging days for Facilitators, with most of us still working in the virtual space during 2020. In addition to their usual job, Facilitators are also managing tech platforms, new modes of delivery, new ways of communicating online, and struggling with engagement in virtual meetings and events. It is A LOT.

Even in “normal times” (ha! what’s that?! 😂), engaging a Graphic Recorder provides enormous support to the facilitator before, during and after the event. While we are constrained to the virtual world, even more so.

Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how a Graphic Recorder can support you. 💛

“It’s often difficult to record the outputs of sessions in a manner that captures the content and spirit of the conversation. Jessamy did this expertly and her work enlivened the event, as participants were able to use the live graphic recordings to more meaningfully (and speedily), reflect on and revise their thinking.

The artefacts produced by Jessamy subsequent to the event have given us the hard data we need for planning purposes, whilst also providing strategy visuals that can be shared with those not at the event.

Having always been keen to try this method, the experience had solidified our thinking that this is actually a really smart, engaging and cost effective way to produce workshop outputs. The value of what we can produce for clients is greatly enhanced through this partnership.” – Kieran Murrihy – Co-Founder, Foresight Lane 

The post Facilitators + Graphic Recorders = A Winning Team appeared first on Think in Colour.