[header_title title=”Resources for Graphic Facilitation” header_size=”h3″][/header_title]
Looking for ways to bring more visual approaches to your meetings? Here are a few of the resources that I like to turn to in my own work:
BOOKS
Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers, by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo. A handy resource for finding visual – and other – ways to mix up your group processes.
Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. Geared for creating visual – and visionary – business models, this book also has a great selection of activities to bring out the best thinking in groups.
Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity, by David Sibbet. A book that’s true to it’s title… and well worth the read.
TOOLS
Stattys Write & Slide. Yes, the website is in German. It doesn’t matter… this tool is awesome. Every time I whip out a pack of Stattys at a meeting, it’s a show stopper. I can’t tell you how many people have ordered them for their organizations afterwards. Stattys are like sticky-notes… except they stick to any surface by using static cling. This means you can write, toss the Statty up onto the wall, move it around… and it doesn’t flutter to the ground like sticky notes do. Use a permanent marker on the main side, OR flip the pad over and use whiteboard markers for easy erasing. Plus, they are recyclable! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!
Digital Graphic Guides , from The Grove – When designing visual processes for distributed teams, I’ll use these digital guides as a starting point and then customize the heck out of them to meet the specific needs and objectives of the project at hand. Then they can be displayed as a shared slide deck and used as a communal work space during the virtual meeting.
Strategic Visioning Agenda Planning Kit, from The Grove – I don’t use them as often as the digital ones, but they are good to pull out and flip through as I think about possible processes for a facilitation design/flow.
Learning Maps, by Bikablo. Actually, pretty much everything that Bikablo creates is awesome for graphic facilitation. With maps for everything from Appreciative Inquiry to World Cafe, Bikablo’s learning maps provide great visual overviews of specific facilitation processes that are easy to share – and work through – with clients. LOVE these!
WHERE DOES SHE GET THOSE WONDERFUL TOYS?
Neuland.com. A.K.A. Candyland. They are in Germany, but Neuland is ABSOLUTELY my favorite source for pretty much all of my facilitation supplies. Visit their site and go play!
Grove Consultants International: Founded by David Sibbet (the Godfather of Visual Practitioners), The Grove is a flagship organization for graphic facilitation workshops and materials. They’ve got a great online store for various resources.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP): THE professional member organization for graphic recorders and visual meeting facilitators (which aren’t always the same thing). If you’re looking for your Visual Tribe, this is the group to join.
International Association of Facilitators (IAF): The professional member organization for facilitators in general. There is growing interest in graphic facilitation within this community, so I’d expect to start seeing more cross-over between groups over time.