When in a meeting, draw!
I recently joined a breakfast seminar about visual facilitation. It totally revolutionised the way I take notes in meetings.
When we hear the word “facilitation” we often think about running events or workshop with other participants. We facilitate for others.
“To facilitate” comes from Italian (and Latin) “facilitare” and it means “to make easy or easier”. Why don’t we facilitate for ourselves more often then? I read the fine print and it doesn’t say anywhere that we should exclusively facilitate for others.
In the seminar I learned the value of taking more visual notes while listening to others. I learned the basic techniques for drawing simple icons and illustrations quickly to represent and anchor anchor key topics, issues and decisions discussed in our meetings.
For example, if the participants are talking about the different steps in our method to reach our target, draw a ladder!
If we’re speaking about the possible barriers or challenges we might be facing in our process, add a drawing of a hurdle or physical obstacle to your verbal written notes.
This may all sound childish to you, but the psychological, cognitive and memory benefits that come from visualising concepts are multiple:
- It increases your neural storage area and helps remembering notions. It pins them in your mind;
- It makes your notes easily scannable. If you’re looking back to find some old notes, the drawings work as bookmarks and anchor information onto the page;
- It’s fun! It improves your imagination and expansive thinking and helps you solve problems while learning about them.
Next time you’re in a meeting, draw!
It will facilitate your process.
