Dialogue tools: Facilitating, bikablo® & Co.
Visual facilitation in general, and the bikablo® style of communication guides in particular, attract considerable attention worldwide. This article describes why this is the case, the developments that visual facilitation and the bikablo® brand have undergone from their beginnings to the present day, and how this came about. by Holger Scholz, facilitator, visual facilitating pioneer and founder of Kommunikationslotsen.
Anyone searching for the term 'Visual Facilitating', which refers to visualization in dialogue-oriented settings of live communication, will soon find other terms such as Graphic Facilitation, Live Visualization, Graphic Recording, Group Graphics, Visual Sketchnoting, Visual Protocols or Strategic Illustration.
The Origin – Awakening in the World Café
'Mapping Inner Space' and the co-author of the book of the same name, Nusa Maal, marked the first milestone in my personal journey with visualization. As a participant in the 2000 IAF (International Association of Facilitators) Europe Conference in Amersfoort (Netherlands), I found myself in a novel dialogue setting with around 40 like-minded individuals. The discussion centered on the future of our profession as facilitators.
The workshop method we used was called "World Café" – this was also my first encounter with a dialogue philosophy and procedure that would go on to have a true triumphant march across the globe many years later and still makes dialogue and the 'wisdom of the group' tangible in many organizations today (see also: 'Neuland customer magazine issue 01, March 2011').
Nusa had the ability to moderate the World Café as a facilitator (facilitators would say "guide") and simultaneously visualize sound bites, participant comments, and reflections live and in real time on a large sheet of paper using colored pencils. For us participants, it was a real wow moment: few of us had ever experienced such an intense and meaningful dialogue with "strangers" in such a short time. Almost no one had ever witnessed such skill in combining words, images, and symbols in a matter of seconds in such a way that our dialogue and insights were actually mapped out.
First steps into the world of visual language
Back at my desk at home, I visualized, illustrated, and painted like crazy – always in relation to current projects. This resulted in posters for informational purposes, templates, group work posters for an Open Space conference, and a first little cheat sheet booklet, 'Visual Helper,' with the best visualizations that had accumulated in my visual, active vocabulary at that time. The precursor to bikablo®! In Martin Haussmann, I found a true professional in graphic design and illustration. Together
We took our first steps with live visualization, him as a visual facilitator and me as a facilitator/process guide. This allowed us to guide and enhance our first large group conferences and leadership meetings with imaginative and innovative dialogue architectures as early as 2001. The appeal was perfect: The communication consultants found their unique identity through innovative conference formats such as future conferences, Open Space, and the World Café, combined with visualization as a record, source of inspiration, and quality driver for dialogue, understanding, and commitment.
Growing up – the first bikablo®
With the first bikablo®, the trainer's dictionary of visual language, we created our first work in collaboration with Neuland. The bikablo® was, and still is, considered the gateway to the world of visualization. Martin Haussmann, illustrator and experienced visual facilitator at Kommunikationslotsen, compiled the first bikablo® as a visual dictionary of successful visual symbols drawn from approximately five years of practical experience with Kommunikationslotsen. A unique reference work of visual language – specifically tailored to the needs of trainers, facilitators, and consultants.
First Facilitating Tools – The Learning Maps
Since Visual Facilitation and the bikablo® technique are typically used by the Communication Guides in the context of meetings, seminars, training sessions, workshops, and conferences, it was time to raise awareness of the facilitative approach and its methods. Guido Neuland had the idea of a map. A map helps you enter uncharted territory (a nice play on words!). The metaphor made sense because, at that time, most of the methods used by the Communication Guides, such as Open Space, World Café, and Appreciative Inquiry, were unfamiliar territory for many.
This is how the learning maps for the facilitator's methods came about. A series that gained increasing popularity with each new issue and now comprises seven learning maps (more are planned). What makes these learning maps special is that they are created in close collaboration between the author and a visual facilitator. They are therefore visualized. This allows for intuitive grasp of the content, faster connection between concepts, and ultimately more enjoyable and lasting learning.
The bikablo® 2.0
Approximately two years after the first bikablo®, we at Kommunikationslotsen already had a team of visual facilitators who were involved in many exciting projects in organizational and personnel development, leadership development and change processes.
Each project brought new images, new ideas, and methodological insights – experiences were repeated, patterns became clear, and diverse industries, target groups, and occasions accelerated the collaborative learning process. Ideally, communication guides work together with facilitators who plan and advise the client, accompany/moderate the intervention, and visual facilitators who contribute their advice and planning to visual thinking and speaking and visually support the intervention. The bikablo® 2.0 was needed! In bikablo® 2.0, the strengths of the first edition were further refined: It included new insider tips for professional visualizations, a "best of" chapter featuring the most popular figures, graphics, and...
Symbols and ready-made poster layouts for a wide variety of training and moderation situations. Based on extensive experience in different industries and expert circles.
New topics were introduced, such as images related to meetings, seminars, and training, as well as everything concerning business, organization, and the market, and chapters on specialized topics like IT and project management. The bikablo® 2.0 quickly became just as popular as the original bikablo®.
bikablo® becomes a brand
We had success with the visual dictionaries. Gradually, our team realized that with bikablo® and bikablo® 2.0, we had not only developed desirable products, but above all, our own technique and visual language. And that we had already been teaching this bikablo® technique to interested individuals in our own training courses for several years! Our Visual Facilitating Learning Workshops.
The step towards becoming a brand was quickly taken, both conceptually and practically. "bikablo® – The World of Visual Language" now represents the communication experts' ambition to offer a comprehensive portfolio encompassing visual thinking, learning, and communication, through our training and further education programs, a growing product line developed in cooperation with Neuland, and our consulting projects.
The core of bikablo® & Visual Facilitating:
Enabling change
Despite all the joy and euphoria that the success of bikablo® products and bikablo® training brings, we, as communication guides, believe that the context in which visualization is used as a tool makes all the difference. We want to seize the opportunity presented by the increased attention given to live visualization and the bikablo® technique to highlight something that is easily overlooked. It's about CHANGE: coordination and negotiation processes, information sharing, reflection, and dialogue in the truest sense. It's about change, collaboration, and a way of thinking and leading together that – apparently in many places – needs to be relearned. Communication guides see their role as supporting people in their search for the best path forward through various interventions. One of these interventions is visualization. Using visualization, communication guides help participants express their own perspectives, contribute to the process, and engage actively. Thus, visualization, in the appropriate context, can also develop culture and impart necessary skills in the tension between participation and leadership.
The Neuland-Kommunikationslotsen cooperation
The collaboration between Neuland and Kommunikationslotsen has already proven its worth many times over through the success of the bikablo® product line. With meticulous attention to detail and the renowned Neuland quality, high-quality visualization products (bikablo®) are created. The facilitator's methodological and consulting expertise is also a valuable asset (facilitating tools). Thanks to years of experience as a facilitator, as well as international contacts and networking, our bilingual learning maps are state-of-the-art and internationally recognized. Our latest learning map, No. 7, "Future Conference," which we authorized in collaboration with Sandra Janoff and Marvin Weisbord, has just been released.
The latest bikablo® products, such as bikablo® icons, bikablo® posters, bikablo® emotions, and the bikablo® Sketchbook, are designed for facilitators, consultants, trainers, and coaches. Helpful booklets, for example, for bikablo® icons and bikablo® posters, explain their use and application in group, training, and coaching situations. Thus, in addition to the success factor of visual language, bikablo® products also offer added didactic and facilitative know-how for all those who want to make their approach and methodology more dialogue- and participation-oriented in leadership, training, and coaching.
Holger Scholz, Communication Guides, June 2012
You can find out more about the communication guides on their website at: www.kommunikationslotsen.de
The products developed by the pilots together with Neuland can be found in the Neuland shop in the Literature & Methods section.