Visual Recording
Visual Recording
The Visual Recordist helps everyone get "on the same page." More than a record of group process, the large-scale graphics drawn while the meeting progresses show discussion translated visually and metaphorically in order for participants to expand upon ideas. The immediacy of the materials — mural paper and colored markers — allow the recordist to capture the essence of what’s being said and illuminate the synergy of the group. Participants can view their thoughts instantly translated into pictures with key phrases that stimulate deeper engagement during the meeting and provide references for revisiting points of agreement, contention, and exploration.
Visual Recording (also called Visual Journalism or Graphic Recording) encourages participants to focus on visions and goals without getting bogged down in details that may impede discussion. The tone of the meeting stays in a positive realm where all opinions are valued and examined to see how they fit the big picture. The outcome is often surprising, generally satisfying, and always productive. The Visual Recordist is a neutral presence. She doesn’t advocate or debate; however, she may question, guide discussion, summarize, clarify content, and extend ideas using visual language.
The murals drawn during the meeting may be photographed and preserved as printed or online deliverables for follow-up with narrative text that further captures the meeting. These handbooks or webpages serve as a documentation of group process. They are particularly useful in projects requiring the input of various constituencies and/or in projects needing an historical document showing the avenues explored and consensus developed before moving to the next project phase.
Please contact Christine to see how the magic of visual recording can work for your organization.
Engage Participants in a Powerful Process
Visual and metaphoric language drawn large on the wall engages participants in a process of listening, reflecting, and contributing. Images used by the Recordist are inspired by participants' comments and are used to rope ideas together, populate a landscape, make creative leaps, and move the discussion deeper into issues and broader into visual thinking. Whether used in a leadership retreat with a small group of executives or in a public event, Visual Recording captures the synergy of the group and distills content for further envisioning, strategic followup, and consensus building.
Get Everyone on the Same Page
Murals drawn in real time as meetings or events progress are an excellent way to capture the "Big Picture." Particularly useful in envisioning and strategic planning processes, Visual Recording gets everyone "on the same page." It's a great way to think outside parameters that often impede creative thinking. The Recordist captures individual comments as well as "group thinking." Executives used to making top-down decisions can play with possibilities in the low-risk arena of a paper mural. Results-oriented managers can see quickly where new approaches might take them. Groups who have come together to explore issues and set strategies, whether for future planning, new product launch, or team-building, find Visual Recording a productive process for making the most of participants' time together.
In the example shown, a day-long event created a "Big Picture" of wishes and concerns about developing 1,800 acres into a public park with open space and recreational facilities which would also serve the residents of the neighboring development. Meeting attendees included representatives from corporate and nonprofit organizations and government agancies. A deliverable in the form of a booklet served as a working document to appraise other constituencies of this intial planning phase.
Focus on Visions and Goals
The process of Visual Recording makes group participation visible and tangible. The murals encourage an atmosphere of creativity and collaboration: "We're all in this together!" Because the visuals extract metaphoric thinking and build upon others' suggestions in a visual language, participants don't get bogged down in details, agendas, or tasks. Murals created during a retreat or event can be used later the same day or the next to spark more ideas and suggestions and to underpin further research, questioning, agenda planning, and task assignment.
Provoke Dialogue and Capture the Essence of Discussion
The Visual Recordist works with a meeting facilitator and also can act as a Graphic Facilitator, leading discussion during all or part of a session. Murals can be used to make agendas visible and acessible for participants, such as in this example where the group was asked to discuss issues wearing "hats of different perspectives." Other murals drawn during discussion captured comments, questions, and concerns organized according to the perspectives—a dynamic process which challenged roles and points-of-view. In this two-day team-building retreat for managers, the murals were used for reflection and inspiration the following day in a strategic planning and task assessment session.
Build Concensus -- Get Everyone "on the Same Page" to Create a "Big Picture"
Deliverables serve for future reference
Event captured Day-long meeting to plan for park land development and use. The murals captured the wishes and concerns of the attendees, who included representatives from corporate and nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
Purpose Envision how the 1,800 acres could be preserved developed and developed for use by the public and by residents of the neighboring development.
Deliverable Booklet includes narrative to accompany small reproductions of the murals drawn as the meeting progressed.