All posts in “Making Meetings Work”

Want a collaborative meeting culture? Don’t use card decks!

How many times have you been presenting your lovingly created card decks to a meeting and seen the faces on participant delegates staring back as blank and disengaged as possible? That feels awful and gut- wrenching.

Doesn’t have to be that way, even if you have dull data. What are the outcomes you want for that presentation? What message do you want to send? How do you want your listeners to respond? These questions are critical to answer before you start creating your method of communications.

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Virtual meetings come alive with scribing!

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Virtual meetings can be so productive. Think about the last virtual meeting you were in? Did you plow through unrelated paperwork? Did you play desktop football? Did you get that pile of laundry done? I know…virtual meetings can be so productive…in the wrong ways.

Graphic recording, or scribing, brings new tools to energize virtual meetings. By simply introducing graphic delegates pay attention, get involved, contribute, and engage. We know this is true because we record weekly virtual team meetings with our remotely based network of Scribing Magic (SM) and Meeting Magic (MM). And, our SM scribes support MM facilitators with client briefings, planning meetings, agenda design reviews, and event debriefs. Virtual. Successful. Supportive.

High-quality virtual meetings save you time, save you money and help you get on with the business of business. Give us a shout to help make your virtual meetings come to life. We can help you make virtual meetings productive.

Overwhelmed by reports, reports, reports? Go graphic!

How many office shelves are lined or stacked or otherwise filled with binders of page after page after page of reports created by experts and data producers that do nothing, go nowhere and add not one iota to the success of your business?

How much money has been wasted creating these reports? What can be done about it?

Analyzing your business is important, and, at times, critical to making decisions. HOW the analysis is done and BY WHOM it is done is just as critical. Have a think.

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What does a metaphor have to do with business?

We are a visual animal. 65% of us are visual learners. (We are all auditory learners and 15% are kinesthetic learners.)

It is not surprise that we also speak visually. We use similes and metaphors to communicate ideas. “Our meetings are like shlogging through treacle.” “We made that decision faster than the speed of light.” We get what is being said because we all have experience of treacle or sticky molasses. We all know how fast light particles move.

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What is graphic recording?

Graphic recording is the art and process of capturing meeting conversations in words and icons that reflect back to the group what has been said, how it has been said (the energy with which ideas and concepts are spoken), and visually links the conversation so participants can see where they have been and where they are going.

Sometimes called scribing, graphic recording supports meeting process by being a silent partner with the meeting facilitator or owner by using large paper displays, or tablet computers, and colour markers. These paper displays, or charts, can be used during the live meeting to support current thinking, after the meeting to help tell the story of what occurred, or in many other ways to help communicate group agreements, actions and successes.

Graphic recording has been supporting critical meetings for decades growing into a global success story. Scribing Magic can help you create more productive meetings. Contact us to discuss how we can help you.