The Future is Here

Last year I wrote a post here about the Future of Graphic Facilitation. I compared the different styles of graphic recording/scribing to Brandy Agerbeck's thoughts on how to use the techniques in her 'Graphic Facilitator's Handbook'. I went on to wonder how graphic facilitation will develop and how it may become 'professionalised' with accredited training and qualifications being awarded. At the time I had joined several related groups on LinkedIn as well as some concerned with training. I commented then about the developments in technologies that were starting to be adapted to the work, but I could not have foreseen the explosion, in so short a time, of discussions and posts bringing together a variety of disciplines and techniques (including the use of new technologies) under the one banner of 'Visual Practice'. Since then a range of new online groups covering different aspects of visual practice have formed.

Looking back, it was inevitable I suppose; from early days companies like The Grove had provided clients with fully finished printouts of their originally hand-drawn charts/maps. Graphic design processes were always employed to enhance the products of meetings. Today, graphic facilitation organisations don't just facilitate meeting or events, they use and produce sketch notes, graphic designs, info-graphics, mind maps, interactive online murals and more. The production of graphic facilitation charts or maps has moved on from simply large pieces of paper and felt pens to include direct digital recording via interactive whiteboards, ipads, tablet PCs and drawing tablets. Presentations in meetings are moving from PowerPoint (although its potential is rarely fully exploited) to Prezi (love it or loathe it), Powtoon and other new presentation programmes. Also, animation in a range of styles has become very popular as a way of presenting information and ideas. As the client base of graphic facilitation practitioners has widened, so have the techniques shared and employed to meet customers needs. Many people and companies, working on the proven premise that learning and productivity are enhanced by visual techniques, are now actively encouraging the use of visual practices across all areas of business.

It would be easy to feel that the application of graphic facilitation and recording has become subsumed as just one of the many different approaches of visual practice. However, it seems to me that hands-on approaches, where direct personal interaction is employed, in meetings, etc., are at the forefront of visual practice. A lot of use is made of info-graphics for sharing information, in the press and on-line, but good though they can be, they can only be fully effective if used interactively with an audience. Truly effective visual practice is a conversation where ideas expressed are interpreted directly into imagery, fully involving and enhancing the experience of the participants. That's not to say that all the other approaches included in visual practice are not also effective and important, but that they usually develop from initial hands-on practices.

The benefits for graphic facilitators/recorders (or scribes) of the wider label of 'visual practitioner' are immense. It opens up the range of approaches and techniques they can employ and offer to clients. Where the need arises for techniques they are not familiar with they can network with and learn from trained professionals, e.g. graphic designers. But what of those for whom graphic facilitation or recording is a skill used to improve their own business or profession, but is not their main activity? They may still benefit from the 'visual practitioner' label, but it's likely that they will not have either the time or even the resources to explore and use more than the basic techniques.

I originally learned about and started using graphic facilitation through my work with people who have learning/intellectual disabilities. Graphic facilitation is one of the key techniques used in person-centred planning with such people. It is a benefit for all personnel, friends and relatives supporting them to have some experience of using the technique. Later, as a trainer I developed and ran a basic course in graphic facilitation and recording, underpinning training, provided by other people, in person-centred planning and person-centred working. I am sure I am not alone in developing an interest in graphic facilitation and recording through another profession. In fact, in almost any profession there is the potential not only to benefit from the services of professional graphic facilitators and recorders, but also for their own staff to learn and use the techniques successfully themselves.

Enterprising organisations already send interested staff on one of the many workshops available and some of these people are becoming the visual practitioners of the future. However, I think there is a whole other layer of people who may be interested, but lack the opportunity to learn or the confidence to have a go. More than this, anyone and everyone can benefit from learning some visual language, whether from being involved in a scribed event, experiencing some training or just finding out for themselves. The ultimate benefit will be when using visual language and techniques becomes common in the workplace. To that end, even as the various professions of visual practice become more developed and sophisticated, it is important that we continue to focus some of our attention on the uninitiated; the inexperienced; the beginners.

As I indicated in my previous post, I am very much an aspiring graphic recorder and facilitator, but I have been busy doing other things. Nevertheless, I have some relevant experience. When I thought again about Brandy Agerbeck's 'rousing call to arms', I asked myself what can I do; what can I offer? My answer is to go back to my experiences of working with people and delivering training and use that to benefit, if I can, people looking for some very basic knowledge and skills. My intention is to publish, via this blog, a free guide to doing graphic facilitation and recording; a basic training course combining the contents of the handout I used to give participants and the information I delivered verbally and practically, along with a few things I've learned since. I think I will call it simply "Graphic Facilitation and Recording for Beginners". So please look out for it and direct anyone who might benefit to it.

The Future of Graphic Facilitation; where is it going?

I have recently been reading Brandy Agerbeck's book, 'The Graphic Facilitator's Guide'. By the time you read this I will have finished it and will probably be reading it again or for the third or fourth time. This blog is partly a personal review of the book and a commentary on how I see graphic facilitation developing in the near future. It will also, I hope, be a stimulus for discussion about the development of graphic facilitation and the various styles and approaches to the work.

When you first encounter Brandy Agerbeck you might find her personal style quite outlandish; quite different, compared to others practicing graphic facilitation. Initially when I was reading the book, working through the chapters on listening, thinking and drawing I was thinking, "yeah, well, this is okay, it's all familiar, exactly as it should be...". It was not until the section on synthesis ('Putting It Together') did things really start to click for me. Similar to myself, Brandy has an artistic background: in her case, it was Fine Art. Most people who get into graphic facilitation enter it from working with people in one way or another. The first manual on graphic facilitation that I ever read said that those with an art background find doing graphic facilitation more difficult because of a tendency to want to finish their drawings and make them highly polished. Nevertheless, despite her fine art background Brandy's approach is entirely scientific. For example, colours are not just used by her in an artistic way for delineating forms, contrast and highlighting; they are pre-determined in their usage to give meaning to different aspects of the meeting or event. Many of you may not realise that art is, in any case, taught and approached as a pseudo-scientific discipline involving investigation, experimentation, research, and the study of materials and their application. So Brandy's approach is to carefully plan how she will use lettering, bullets, colour, lines, arrows, drawings of  people, boxes and shading. Only in her own personal style and iconography is Brandy's particular artistic imagination really obvious.

I studied at art college, but my area was design. Everything I have ever done since has had a design element. Design is very much a formal scientific discipline. Most - the larger portion - of my working life was in supporting people with learning difficulties, but even here the design approach was very relevant; in fact the design approach is relevant to many disciplines. I got into graphic facilitation through person-centred planning and for a few years, up until about 3 years ago, practiced graphic facilitation and as part of my later role as a staff trainer, delivered basic courses in it.

You may ask what experience have I to be commenting on the future of graphic facilitation and I agree that, compared to many, I have very little. In fact, I consider myself very much to be an aspiring graphic facilitator. However, I have kept abreast of the developments in graphic facilitation which in the last year, alone, seem to be racing ahead, especially with the use of new technology; an area where my own equipment is rapidly becoming out dated. Mind you, in relation to the latter point, I have to agree with Brandy Agerbeck; you can't beat pens and paper, even if you only keep them as a back-up.

Observing the trends and developments in graphic facilitation, there seems to be a spectrum of approaches to the discipline; from the very formalised, using templates to direct and control the process of a meeting or event, right through to very free and colourful recordings, jam-packed with detail. In the former approach the space for creativity and diversity from the set template is dependent on the flexibility and intuitiveness of the graphic facilitator. With templates there may be no need for the separate roles of meeting facilitator and graphic facilitator. They can be the same person and it is for this reason that companies like The Grove and Meeting Magic are selling pre-printed or down-loadable items. They enable managers and leaders to facilitate their own events employing an added visual dimension. There is nothing wrong with that and is an important part of the development of the use of visual thinking. I have been doing some similar work, recently, on the use of templates for trainers so that participants may use their visual intelligence to enhance their learning. However, a graphic facilitator can bring particular skills to a meeting that the manager or internal facilitator cannot, not least of which is what Brandy Agerbeck calls 'listening from the outside'; giving equal credit to each participant no matter what their role or rank is in the organisation.

There are many, many examples of the freer approach to graphic facilitation. These large, colourful and, dare I say it, crowded charts are often, but perhaps not always, recordings of big events such as conferences. Working in the social care field, I became across various charts produced at events looking at education, child care, care of the elderly as well as my own field of learning disability. At first sight, many of these seem to be wonderful 'works of art', but often, when I try to understand their meaning and what happened at the event, I get lost in all the imagery. To me, even pure graphic recording needs to have a facilitation element in that it facilitates understanding of what happened and the conclusions, if any, that were drawn. For those people at the event it will be easier to understand the chart; they were there and part of the discussions, but I wonder how easy it even for participants to come back some time later and remind themselves with many of these examples.

Brandy Agerbeck's approach to graphic facilitation lies somewhere in the middle. While they have their uses, she describes templates as "hard to adapt if the meeting's needs change." She advocates that, if used, they should be simple, unrefined and hand drawn, but that the "assignment of filling in a template restricts (participants) thinking to what is in front of them, and people may not address what's not on the template." Nevertheless, how she sees the task of facilitating a meeting or event, visually, is far from the free form recordings described earlier. For Brandy, the role of the graphic facilitator is to foster meaning and understanding, make connections and draw out themes, enabling the participants to make decisions. This is best achieved if each type of line, each colour, each form of image or icon and the typography is predetermined as to its use; not in an overly strict way, but such that it adds consistent meaning that the participants can relate to and that can be easily understood when viewed later. In her book, Brandy outlines each element individually and how they all relate to each other. For me it was the section where she describes how these elements all work together and how different combinations of the elements are valid for different circumstances, that gave me my 'aha' moment. It came together for me because it's how I've always worked; this is design - using differences in lines and colours, etc., to denote various meanings and connections to show links and flow. As a kid I used to draw comics so stylised lettering and iconic mark making are almost innate. I just need to do more practice now.

So where is graphic facilitation going? All approaches and styles are valid and can meet differing needs and circumstances. The question that each graphic facilitator needs to ask themselves every time is whether what they are doing is meeting the needs of the group. My initiation into graphic facilitation was through person-centred planning which is largely based on templates that direct the meeting. Each style of person-centred planning was developed to meet the needs of individuals with particular types of needs; from PATH with a template similar to The Grove's  'Graphic Gameplan', through MAPS  and others which have more open templates, to my favourite approach, Personal Futures Planning which has a number of suggested template based formats which may be used or can simply be facilitated as the meeting requires. My preference is for this kind of open, but organised kind of style. As attractive and exciting as the large colourful information packed charts are, I don't think I could produce similar work without using clear coding and a clear indication of the process that took place or the flow of the event.

The population of graphic facilitators or people practicing graphic facilitation appears to be growing rapidly. My feeling is that all the different styles of graphic facilitation will continue to grow in use according to both the nature of the practitioners and the differing needs of people and groups being supported by its use. The number of forums for sharing and discussing practitioners' work is also growing, particularly on the Internet. Courses in graphic facilitation are held all over the world now. Graphic facilitation is being professionalised. Perhaps in the not too distant future we will see courses in graphic facilitation held in colleges or even universities. Perhaps even more important than the specific development of graphic facilitation training is that the practice itself is at the forefront of a movement to improve visual awareness education across the board. It complements the movement in adult training and education for Accelerated Learning. Anything that improves people visual awareness and skills is to be greatly welcomed.

Quite rightly, basic graphic facilitation training is largely about having the opportunity to have a go and lose all those inhibitions about drawing that people seem to develop as they leave their childhood behind. Beyond this, however, the guidelines that Brandy Agerbeck offers in her book seem to me to be the ideal basis for professional courses. No doubt similar guidelines are offered on most advanced graphic facilitation courses already. Graphic facilitation seems destined to have a great future ahead of it, whether through more people taking up the profession or adopting and practicing the skills and techniques in their own areas of work. It's exciting work. For practitioners, the excitement is in using their skills to help people; for participants it's seeing their hard work, ideas and opinions embodied into a 'work of art' that enhances what they do. The paradox of graphic facilitation's success and development might be that as its use becomes more commonplace, it may become less exciting for those that benefit from its use. But that's a long way off yet.

Brandy Agerbeck talks about a 'rousing call to arms'; challenging people to go out and do great work. She believes that the principles she describes are universal to the work and will serve her readers and any groups they work with well, but she goes on to say that we need more graphic facilitators in the world. And so, with this blog I want back-up and reiterate this call for us to celebrate and expand the work, to make it more widely known about and, perhaps, for graphic facilitation practitioners to engage in a debate about its future and the relative benefits of the varying styles and approaches in order to foster best practice across them all.

What is Graphic Facilitation?

Graphic Facilitation and Graphic Recording are tools widely used to help individuals and groups of people organise and plan, supporting them to focus on and remember their discussions and meetings. Participation, creativity, and understanding are stimulated as key ideas are captured directly in words and pictures.

The display produced provides a visual record and group memory that can help to clarify differences, misunderstandings, aspirations and dreams, and encourage the group to define and action goals. The dialogue that is promoted helps engage group members, clarify strategy and lead change. 

Where Graphic Facilitation Can Help

In the current economic climate, businesses and other organisations need to make difficult decisions and plan strategies for the future. Graphic Facilitation is a tool that gives organisations the opportunity to focus away from negativity and onto positive outcomes; to think about what can be done and not what can't, and at the same time fully engage all participants in important meetings.

Typical issues that can affect the success of a meeting include:

• Unclear objectives,
• The complexity of the DISCUSSIONS and the need to repeat meetings to enhance understanding or to gather missed information,
• High levels of conflict,
• Differences within the group,
• Lack of mutual trust and respect,
• Unresolved issues and an inability to make decisions,
• Actions often not completed or followed up.

The Benefits of Graphic Facilitation

Where Graphic Facilitation is used, meetings are characterised by:

• Productivity – The objectives and structure of the meeting can be set in advance. In the meeting new ideas can be more readily understood.
• Group Focus and Clear Thinking - Graphic displays enable people to stay focussed and clearly understand and process important information. By seeing many aspects of a situation displayed at once, larger patterns and relationships emerge.
• Enhanced Creativity – The use of colours and pictures, in addition to words promotes creative problem solving. The use of visual metaphors can be a great source of creative stimulation.
• Decision-making – Creative processes facilitate effective decisions.
• Participant engagement - Graphic displays help participants stay engaged in the process.  They feel validated and have a definite sense of being heard and acknowledged when their contributions appear for everyone to see.
• Commitment – Visual recording engenders commitment to the agreed actions.
• Optimized Learning - Learning and retention increase when multiple senses are called on. Studies have shown that visual perception increases retention by 40% over the spoken word alone.
• Group Memory Capture - The graphic display captures the contents of a meeting in an engaging way, helps effective recall of accomplishments and can be used to promote ideas to others.
• Fun – People are more productive when they enjoy themselves. Graphic Facilitation encourages participation, whilst focusing on results.

How Graphic Facilitation Works

Meetings are planned in advance and facilitated directly by a Graphic Facilitator or are co-facilitated.  Large wall charts are hand drawn by the Graphic Facilitator during the discussion. Key ideas are captured in a colourful combination of drawn images and words, promoting "big-picture" thinking and sparking fresh ideas. Graphic tools and templates designed to support different stages of group dialogue create an efficient structure for the development of meetings. The visual content of the chart gives people a common language across roles, departments, and expertise areas.

Interaction between the facilitator(s) and participants and involvement in the development of the chart enables the group to define goals, clarify differences and form agreements. Everyone in the group is able to see their contribution to the whole, which gives them a greater sense of ownership of the outcomes. Custom designed icons, posters and info-maps can be employed to stimulate and document innovative thinking.

Applications

Graphic facilitation and Graphic Recording enhances all kinds of group functions, including visioning, decision-making, strategic planning, scenario sessions, person-centred planning, conferences and presentations, project meetings, Board meetings, training, brainstorming, team building, public consultations and community meetings.