Tag Archives: conference

Purposes of a Graphic Record – Health Education North West (HENW) NHS

Graphic Recording (Visual Notes) are increasingly being used across different sectors and different organisations large and small. This in no accident. In an age of complexity of information, there has never been a greater need for ensuring strong and focused conversations. There are many needs for these conversations including; sharing information, developing innovation, building time to think, time to analyse solutions and much more. Graphic recording in a meeting or event has a number of purposes and roles in supporting these conversations and offer a range of benefits.

Health Ed North West for EVwebsite

150317 HENW Ed Transform.RoomView.SMALL JPEG

graphic facilitation. Graphic recording

Recently Health Education North West (HENW) brought together people involved in developing and training some core roles within the NHS workforce. HENW were keen to maximise the potential of the day and commissioned a live graphic record, the record below, it was created live during the event and follows the flow of the content and conversations of the day. This graphic record is a great example of some of the purposes and benefits they can add to meetings or events.The focus of the event was to look at how learning environments were needing to transform to reflect the real and changing world and how services and the networks of practitioners need to collaborate creatively to face these challenges and changes. The first intention or purpose for this graphic record was to bring the stream of conversations together from throughout the day to support people to literally see connections across the day; to help create a visual record and summary of the day that was visible to everyone.

Equally the graphic record acted to create a great focal point during the day where many conversations ensued in the breaks instigated when colleagues came together to browse the emerging record. When the event was over the graphic record was then available in a second life to remind people of what was covered and to keep the learning and conversations alive.

The reach of the graphic record was then extended to many people who weren’t at the event. The graphic record is a condensed and accessible way to communicate a synopsis of the day to those not there. In this way, the graphic record now acts as a conversation starter and encourages a wider inclusion of people to continue and enter the dialogues started at the event.

Whilst a graphic record is intended to be eye catching the absolute focus and intention is to create a visual record that can reach these purposes (and others). So eye catching yes, but always with this clarity of purposes; to convey and distil content, to enable sharing of the content and to encourage people to take the content and take it further… to the next conversations, the next events and maybe to the next graphic record.

The Value of Graphic Facilitation

“The value of graphic facilitation – or doodling, or graphic recording, or even organizing thoughts on sticky notes – is not necessarily in the perceived quality or beauty of the visual artifact. Rather, the value comes from the process behind the product: the graphic facilitator’s ability to listen to the conversation, see the bigger picture and how the group feels about that bigger picture, distill all that information down into its core content, and mirror that back to the group in real time while the conversation continues to unfold.

It provides clarity and insight in-the-moment during difficult conversations. It keeps teams on track and moving toward their desired outcomes. It allows ideas to be shared in memorable and effective ways. And it allows team members to see themselves as part of that bigger picture…which means they feel more vested in the outcome. Ultimately, that allows teams to achieve massive results in less time. Results like completing over 90% of the organization’s annual plan in just seven months. Or moving up the timetable for corporate expansion by four years. Or being able to simply draw out your business idea on the back of a napkin for a prospective investor and land those much-needed startup funds.

There is power behind these seemingly simple processes.”
Jeannel King, April 2012
President, International Forum of Visual Practitioners www.ifvp.org
Graphic Facilitator and Stick Figure Strategist, Big Picture Solutions www.jeannelking.com