connections

In-Person, Remote, Hybrid…What to Center No Matter the Method for Meeting

sketched images of ways to design for connection as listed above, black text on white background with teal highlights.

Why do we create? Why do we meet? What drives much of our action as humans? Expressing our ideas and connecting with others in different ways is core to who we are. 

Stating the obvious here, this connection has been shaken up the past two years, and as we begin navigating in-person and hybrid situations professionally or personally, we’re rediscovering how to be with each other in meaningful ways. 

“Whether your team is in-person, remote, or hybrid, one thing is true in any form: Connection doesn't happen on its own. You need to design for it.”  – Priya Parker

As a graphic facilitator, I get to co-design for connection with clients. How do we do this, even…especially in the virtual environment?  A few of the seeds we can cultivate toward connection include:

  • Building in time for participants to share experiences outside of the work goals of the meeting

  • Creating opportunities for small and large group conversations

  • Thoughtful questions that support vulnerability

  • Creating visuals that highlight connections, shared ideas and values, or intentional visual metaphors deepen the opportunities to connect

If you’re curious to read more, here’s a post on why human connection is so important. 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 


Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Invasive Species Video: Watch the fresh digitally hand-illustrated video here to learn about the difference between native, non-native, invasive species, and pests from the National Park Service!

Screen shot of digital illustration reading invasive species with illustrations of nutria, bindweed, a pigeon, bull thistle, zebra mussels, and emerald ash borer

In the Studio: I’m working on several projects from graphic facilitation design to more videos to a guide for children to explore our local river. Here’s a snapshot of what River Investigators might observe about their watershed! This booklet will be available this spring for visitors along the Cache La Poudre River.

Screen shot of a page of a children's activity book about river high and low flows, with illustrations of each and a raindrop explaining about flows.

An artist, a scientist and an entrepreneur walk into a bar…

Hello!

Thanks to everyone who shared feedback on my last email. Based on what I heard, this week I’ll return to your regularly scheduled insights & drawing tips. My goal with these emails is to equip you with tools to spark ideas and creativity, so as always, if there are things you’d like to hear about or have been yearning to draw, please let me know!

When was the last time you laughed? Almost certainly it was with other people, and likely not even at a joke. It turns out that laughter is something we as humans use to bond with each other, rather than something we learn. This means it’s actually an instinct, and one that makes us feel closer with one another. Plus, it helps relieve stress and often improves your mood.

So, laughter can help us build great teams. But let’s be real here. Laughter isn’t something you can manufacture or fake, we know when it’s not genuine.

How can you create a space that inspires more laughs, and therefore more synergy between you and your team?

Try adopting a playful mentality. One way to cultivate this is with doodles and drawings. Approaching things from a place of playful curiosity tends to lead to a more optimistic and laughter-prone conversation.  The next time you find yourself tensing up and getting ready to defend something, see if you can take a moment, relax your shoulders, and ask yourself if you could take a more playful approach.

“Smile. It makes people wonder what you’re up to.” - Anonymous
 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina



You've got the team, I've got the markers. Click to get in touch about your next meeting or event that could use a touch of visual storytelling humor & magic.
 

Where in the World is ConverSketch

Research in Action! Last week I got to graphic record stories and insights from researchers at CU Anschutz Medical Campus who had spent a week immersed in two communities around Denver. They built relationships and heard needs and perspectives from people in historically underprivileged groups about how medical research could be better done and shared in their neighborhoods.

How to Improve Your Memory In A Single Meeting

Hey hey visual people!

Before I get into the simple beauty of drawing connections and boosting memory, I want to share a little somethin'. 

I meant to snap a photo of my 2016 Vision Board for you in the last newsletter and just spaced it. So here it is for you today! I hung it on the wall by my desk where I can see it every day.


Right. On to the memory boosting goodness!

Have you ever been taking notes in a meeting, and things are really getting good, your team is grooving and getting creative. Then someone says something that totally relates to that idea you were just talking about...who said that? I could swear I just wrote it down here...

And then it's lost. 

That insight, that connection nobody had seen or thought of and you did, just floats away because you were trying to keep your idea in mind, find what it was that it connected to in your notes, and also trying to follow the conversation that continued to move on.

Today I want to share with you some visual tools you can use to draw connections, both on your paper and as a frame of mind. 

By using the simple shapes below, you can transform your notes into idea-connecting, memory-boosting, creativity-enhancing gems that will help everyone be on the same page and remember what you talked about.

When I was in college, before I knew about graphic recording, I learned about taking notes using mind maps. You start with a central idea in the center of the page and draw a circle or rectangle around it, then write sub-topics around it, connecting them to the main idea with lines. Each sub-topic had supporting ideas, written around them, etc. At the end of an hour-long class I'd have a page full of notes in a web, with concepts connecting through lines and circles. 

I'll never forget the impact this had on my studies. One day during a test, as I read a question, I could literally see in my mind the part of the page the answer was written on. I was able to visually recall the information in the mind map, which I had never been able to do taking normal, linear notes.

Now, imagine getting even more creative and venturing beyond circles and lines. What kind of mental and emotional impact could that have on your meetings?


(Hint: click on the image below to see the larger version)

I also want to challenge you to be someone who is looking for connections, trying to see larger patterns and how ideas fit together. Think critically. Take chances -- you won't always get it right, but asking those clarifying questions will make your team's ideas all the more clear and strong.

Do you have other memory-boosting tips that have worked in your meetings? Come on over to the blog and share in the comments so others can benefit from your wisdom. 

If you liked this tip, please sign up for my emails and if you'd like, I'd be so grateful if you shared it with your friends!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

 
Cheers, Karina










Want a professional Idea-Connector in your next meeting or event? Click below to get in touch!

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

One Health OHSAC January 20 2016_small.jpg

Tomorrow and Friday I'll be working with CSU's new One Health Institute to develop a purpose and decide where to focus as the institute takes root and grows at the University. Here's a glimpse of what the Strategic Advisory Committee discussed to prepare for the event.