graphic facilitation

While in Chicago at a conference last week, I came across an actual job title for something I've been doing my entire life during meetings. This thing? Doodling. Except a speaker at the innovation conference talked about different learning styles and the popularity of a visual way to absorb and process a meeting or brainstorming sessions. A "graphic facilitator" is someone who listens, synthesizes and draws what (s)he hears being said during the meeting. The benefit to participants? It's something of a "group mind map" of the direction of the meeting that allows people to easily track the flow of the meeting and do so in a very provocative, easy to follow way. To my surprise there are people out there right now who do graphic facilitation as a full-time job. Personally, I thing graphic facilitation is another example of what I'm feeling as a backlash to full-tilt technology. There is something engaging, disarming, charming about simple lines telling simple stories.

Check out how graphic facilitation works by plugging in "graphic facilitation" on YouTube. Give it a try and see if it helps your next big meeting. If so, let me know (if you want me to hang out at your meeting and draw on the wall, let me know). I tried it last week at a meeting that was half live bodies in the room and several on a conference call. It was a nice way to capture the spirit and trajectory of the meeting (at least for those of us in the room in PA). Also made it very easy for people in PA to speak to people in FLA about points made in the meeting's over last 90 minutes.

Gary

How's your collaboration?

-How well do you and your colleagues work together?

-How well do you brainstorm?

-How do ideas flow within your organization?

If you are interested in a white paper that can help you and the people you work with work better, let me know. It's called Better Brainstorming in the Idea Economy. I'll gladly email you a copy. I'd be interested in your feedback.

-g

Unique Selling Proposition

Let's face facts, without a clear and compelling selling promise, your offering is bound to get lost in the sauce.

This week, the team brainstormed names for a new service one of our larger clients is launching. It represented a potentially great new service at the retail level. The team was juiced and ready to create the future.

After an initial round of naming, we started to hit on richer, more interesting names that seemed to have one thing in common. They had a powerful and distinctive promise "baked" right into the name. The benefit of this is that the new names did much of the heavy lifting in the mind of the consumers. They didn't have to work hard in their head to figure out what benefit the company provided. A great name is literally a conversation starter. It moves a consumer instantaneously ahead which means the name has a much greater chance of being seen, noticed and acted upon.

If you're developing a new product or company name, make sure the names you consider work hard right from the start. They telegraphic the values and promise you wish to communicate. Words matter and so does their meaning in the marketplace. Choose wisely.