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8 Feb 2007
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Picture This...
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As a consultant working in the world of business process re-engineering, organizational development and change management, I am always looking for new and exciting tools to bring to the table. The massive amounts of note taking, handouts, and power point presentations can get rather dull when trying to spark that imaginative fire in the minds of our clients and their colleagues. Whether I am capturing an organization’s history, mapping the way forward, or strategically visioning for the future, there needs to be a little something extra to make that necessary mark and make the mark stick!
The idea of graphic facilitation, or using the power of pictures and visual thinking, to support communications in a meeting or during a web conference (typically in real-time), has always sparked my interest. After learning about the history and benefits of this tool, along with the continual desire to use my artistic and imaginative side, this was definitely just what the client ordered. Learning from one of the masters, David Sibbet, president and founder of the Grove Consultants , was a true gift for me and offered me the tools that I needed to take groups (of all sizes) to the next level. (See David Sibbet’s blog for an exciting look at this tool in action and to find links to more information).
We at CGC can bring this stimulating new approach to the table, allowing groups to actually “see what they mean” and share a map of their organizational territory…opening up opportunities for everyone to contribute and collaborate.
Why is this necessary? Well it’s more than just breaking up the monotony of a meeting. Studies show that people retain around 65% of what they see and only 15% of auditory concepts. Combined…memory increases to around 80%. A great additional read on this topic is Visual Language: Global Communications for the 21st Century by Robert E. Horn , where he details the real power of combining graphics and words.
Bringing this tool to groups has shown our firm and the client’s we work with a new sense of passion for what we do AND for what they do. We’ve used these techniques internally to improve the effectiveness of our planning and other meetings (see the picture below of us mapping our own history) as well as with our clients.
Just a few weeks ago, when working with the Meals On Wheels of Central Maryland (MOWCM) , we were able to graphically bring some new light and perspective around the real mission of this organization and what continues to make them passionate about providing warm food, health and life to seniors in need. Coupled with our firm’s Appreciative Inquiry approach, we left them with a graphic vision of what’s possible for their organization, and more importantly, something that they can actually look at and keep coming back to while focusing on their future. As our firm uses the art of graphic facilitation along with the rest of our toolkit, our clients continue to push through barriers and create faster, more lasting change.
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| posted by Stefanie Farhat
at 17:27 | trackbacks [1163] |
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