Draw a Map to Clarity
Description
Group decision-making for technology projects can go awry for many reasons: Do you all agree on a project’s needs, audience, and what success looks like? Do you know if you’re solving the right problem? It’s crucial to make these decisions before investing time and money in a project (e.g., revamping a website, moving to a new CRM, auditing a process), but it’s not always easy to communicate about them. Visual communication can help! Beyond the picture itself, the process of creating a picture together can help us “see” more clearly, and helps techies and non-techies get on the same page. We’ll share a few types of visual thinking methods, and how and when to use them. Not artistic? Not a problem! If you can draw a box and a straight(ish) line, you can communicate visually. We’ll also discuss using these methods through the life of a project.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand how visual methods aid in framing the problem and communicate clearly in working towards a solution
- Learn how to use visual communication to achieve clarity regardless of artistic ability or technical expertise
- Build your toolbox with explanatory and exploratory maps, diagrams, and visual methods
Target Audience
Leaders, project managers, and technology staff who need help getting cross-functional teams on the same page and to a consensusTags
Speakers
Janice Chan
Consultant
Shift and Scaffold
Janice Chan never was able to pick one thing to be when she grew up. While grown up status could be debated, what she currently does is consult (shiftandscaffold.com), teach data management in NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Professional Certificate Program, and co-organize NTEN’s Nonprofits and Data online community group. She is also working towards a Master of Information Management at the University of Maryland. Originally from New York, Janice arrived south of the Mason-Dixon Line via St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Post-graduation, Janice served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA before officially joining the nonprofit sector. She has worn hats in data management, volunteer management, marketing and communications, grant writing, curriculum development, program management, technical training, change management, and project management. In short, Janice has spent more than a dozen years organizing and restructuring information so that teams can work together more effectively and focus on their missions. She also enjoys editing, making playlists, and figuring out how we could do this better. You can find her on Twitter @curiositybone.