Crackerjack Visual Thinking

Tag: Visual thinking

  • How visualising the outputs from focus groups is good for the organisation and good for the participants #focusgroup #marketing #insights

    Focus groups continue to be a valuable source of insight for organisations wanting to learn deeper insights into their past, present and future customers needs.

    Whether it’s a retailer wanting to learn more about how customers will react to a new product or a pharma company wanting to understand how their products can better help patients, a focus group remains one of the key insight tools available to organisations.

    One way in which the key conversations, ideas and insights coming out of a focus group session can be captured is by having a graphic recording created during the session itself. This large scale visual is created by a graphic recorder live in real-time on a large sheet of paper (circa 2.5m wide and 1.5m deep) using words, images and other visual thinking techniques. The example below is not from a focus group session (they tend to be confidential!), but gives you an idea of what a graphic recorder can produce during an event:

    OUH 12th Dec 2016 Graphic Recording

    The benefits of using graphic recording to capture the outputs from a focus group session are:

    • The graphic recording details how the comments, ideas and insights emerged during the focus group and how they are linked together. This adds an extra level of insight for the organisation on top of the actual content captured on the graphic itself. This is not always possible with more traditional methods such as bullet-pointed flip-chart lists etc.
    • The participants see that the graphic recording is an accurate and truthful record of the focus group session and their comments and insights. This can further engage them with the session and build higher-levels of trust. This increased level of trust can encourage them to offer deeper, more personal insights than they otherwise might have done.

    To find out more about graphic recording and how it could benefit you in your next focus group session, please contact us here at Crackerjack Visual Thinking.

  • Give your people the power to draw (a.k.a. communicate more effectively)! #visualthinking #communicate #engage #teamdevelopment

    Getting people and teams to communicate effectively is one of the key challenges facing organisations of all shapes and sizes.

    We here at Crackerjack Visual Thinking believe that helping people to feel confident and empowered to use sketches, diagrams and drawings to communicate thoughts and ideas can create a significant cultural change in an organisation.

    yesdrawingsign

    We have witnessed people having numerous ‘lightbulb’ moments which were only possible because information and ideas were shared visually (rather than the more traditional formats for sharing information including reports, bullet-point presentations etc).

    That’s why we are passionate about helping people develop their drawing skills and offer a number of training workshops which we call ‘Scribble Labs™‘.

    Scribble Lab 1

    Scribble Lab™ 1: Get Scribbling! is ideal for those people wanting to develop their drawing skills. We can offer this as a standalone 1 day workshop or can tailor it to your teams specific needs. Ideal as part of a team development activity.

    We also offer a 1:1 coaching option if that better suits your needs.

    To find out more about how our Scribble Labs™ can help your people to communicate more effectively, please contact us. 

  • Crackerjack’s graphic recording featured on UN Women’s #HeForShe global website #engage #communicate #UnitedNations #graphicrecording

    We’ve just been informed that the graphic recording Crackerjack Visual Thinking created for the University of Leicester’s #HeForShe global ideathon is featured on the #HeForShe global website. View the article here.

    #HeForShe is a UN Women backed campaign developing solutions to ensure the safety of everyone on university campuses worldwide. The University of Leicester is one of 10 IMPACT universities worldwide supporting this campaign and the global ideathon was one element of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence campaign in November 2016.

    heforshe

    heforshe-nov-2016

    The graphic was created live during a 2 hour session. It’s great to see our work being used to visualise and communicate ideas as part of this important global campaign.

    If you would like to have your next event or conference captured visually using graphic recording, please contact us.

     

  • Afraid to draw at work? #visualthinking #communication #drawtothink

    What stops you drawing more at work?

    It is acknowledged that sharing information visually via sketches and diagrams can help people understand concepts more easily and drive more meaningful discussions than more traditional methods of sharing information (i.e. reports,  bullet-pointed presentations etc).

    Is it because you feel your own drawing skills are not up to scratch?

    Or is it because you feel drawing ideas doesn’t align with the culture of your organisation (i.e. you might be laughed at or looked down upon for using a ‘childish’ way of working)?

    What I’m pleased to tell you is that both of the above reasons for not drawing are wrong!

    yesdrawingsign

    You don’t need to be a great artist to draw ideas. Simple stick people, basic shapes and a bit of colour are all you need. A simple sketch that helps people understand something is better than not giving it a go and people not understanding the idea you’re wanting to share! Have a look at Dan Roam’s website (one of the thought leaders in visual thinking) to see how he encourages people to use simple sketches to drive business conversations. Crackerjack also provides training workshops to help you develop your drawing skills – click here to learn more.

    If it’s a cultural issue, then simply point out that successful companies like Google and Apple actively encourage their employees to sketch ideas out wherever possible. Many forward-thinking organisations have ‘drawing walls’ where teams can work together to sketch ideas, develop new thinking and explore different ways of doing things. They then simply take a picture on their smartphone to share what they’ve created. Simple, efficient and effective!

    So, join the visual thinking party and start sketching out ideas in your workplace today! And remember to share in the comments below how drawing has helped you and your colleagues develop ideas and increase understanding where you work!

    Happy and productive drawing!

    John Ashton
    Crackerjack Visual Thinking

    For visual thinking help, advice and training queries Contact Crackerjack

  • Crackerjack Visual Thinking’s new ‘menu’ helps you find the best way to #engage and #communicate with your people in 2017. #visualthinking

    Happy New Year!

    To help you get 2017 off to a flying start, we’ve created a new Crackerjack Visual Thinking ‘Menu’ that provides you with a quick reference guide to our services and how they can meet your organisations needs. So if you are looking to engage and communicate with your people in new and different ways during the coming year, click below to view the menu:

    crackerjack-menu-2017-small

     

    If you would like to explore how Crackerjack’s services could help you in your work, please contact us for an initial discussion.

  • Great client feedback about one of our recent graphic recordings! #communicate #engage #visualthinking

    “Hello John,

    I got the graphic recording. It looks fantastic, thank you so much. We are going to get a nice big printout of this and put it up on the main corridor. I am still amazed by the level of clarity you pick up in what you have heard – it is amazing!”

    Matt Cadby | Project Manager | Transformation Team | Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    OUH 12th Dec 2016 Graphic Recording

    To find out more about our work please contact us or visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

  • Sneak peak of a work in progress rich picture! #visualthinking #engagement #ff

    Happy Friday!

    Thought you might like to have a sneak peak of a small bit of a rich picture I’m currently working on for a client. Very much work in progress!

    sneak-peak-9th-dec-2016

    The client wants to have a rich picture they can use in several different ways to promote their work including as a takeaway at events, as a basis for an animation and as imagery to use on their website.

    If you would like to discuss how we go about creating rich picture or any aspect of our visual thinking work, please contact us and visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

  • Running a 2017 Kick-Off event in January? If so, read this! #engage #communicate #visualthinking

    Are you running a kick-off meeting in early 2017 to get you and your team ready for the year ahead?

    Being clear about what you want to achieve in 2017 and how you are going to do this is vital to the success of your organisation.

    60 page PowerPoint presentations and over-long speeches are not the best way to engage with your people and communicate key messages!

    Getting your people really thinking, talking and identifying the actions they need to take to achieve the organisations goals in 2017 will provide you with a much better chance of success.

    To do this effectively we recommend the following steps:

    • Think about when and where you get your people together. If it’s going to be a face to face event, remember that the venue and room play and important role in how energised people feel and how engaged they are with the event.
    • Identify three or four clear organisational aims for 2017. Any more than this and people won’t have the time to really think about the role they play in achieving each of these.
    • Don’t just tell people the information! Help them discover it themselves through activities and discussion. Learning information rather than being simply told it is proven to be the most effective way to really understand and retain information. A graphic facilitation approach which combines facilitation with visual thinking techniques can be ideal for this type of activity.Graphic facilitation involvement
    • Think visually! Wherever possible and practicable, use images and diagrams to complement the other materials you will be sharing with your people. Rich pictures provide a great way of sharing complex information and graphic recording can capture the key thoughts, ideas and comments that emerge during your kick-off meeting.
    • Follow-up after the meeting. Be sure to set up channels that enable people to continue the conversations started at the event. Also ensure that you find a way to visually show the organisations progress against the 2017 goals.
    • Plan ahead! Toward the end of 2017, arrange another event to celebrate success and gather learning’s from the work undertaken in 2017. These can then be used to inform your plans and kick-off meeting for 2018.

    We hope this advice is helpful to you. If you would like to discuss any of the above ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

    John Ashton – Crackerjack Visual Thinking

  • We’ve updated our website! Please let us know what you think… #visualthinking

    We’ve updated the Crackerjack Visual Thinking website to help people better understand what we do, find their way around the site and more easily see examples of our work.

    Please let us know what you think!