Flipcharts. \u00a0Let me count the ways that we are tyrannized by them:<\/p>\n
1. Power accretes around a flipchart.<\/strong> The next time you are in a meeting, see if you can tell where the front of the room is. \u00a0It’s likely that, even if you are in a circle, the “front” will be where the flipchart is. \u00a0As I wrote this I am in an Open Space meeting where people are gathered around flipcharts, and rather than organize in tight circles, several groups are arranged in semi circles facing one person holding a marker and writing on the flipchart. \u00a0This defeats the purpose of a conversation in which every voice is equal. \u00a0Who controls the flipchart, controls the story. \u00a0Be very careful about having an easel stand in the room. \u00a0People are easily silenced and controlled by them at a deep unconscious level.<\/p>\n 2. We have to write everything down<\/strong>. \u00a0Having a flip chart in a meeting seems to demand that everything spoken gets written down for all to see. \u00a0This does not facilitate a good flow in a conversation, and it is rarely a useful harvest of a discussion. \u00a0In free conversations, not everything is useful, not everything is weighted the same, not everything matters.<\/p>\n 3. Flipcharts are linear beasts.<\/strong> Unless you use a flipchart creatively, such as by mind mapping<\/a> or the way Jim Rough does it in Dynamic Facilitatio<\/a>n, flipcharts are useless linear beasts. \u00a0Most people simply write lists of points on them, in sequential order and when the page is full, they flip it over and keep writing. \u00a0Wisdom disappears over the fold, every point is given equal weight and conversations tend to proceed in linear ways rather than emergent ways.<\/p>\n 4. Renting easel stands is a scam.<\/strong> Hotels charge exorbitant rates to rent a flipchart stand. \u00a0It is not un common for these things to go for $50 a day and at one hotel I worked at, the Sheraton in Atlanta, they charged $170 for a flipchart stand with half a pad of news print paper on it. \u00a0NEVER rent them. \u00a0(Look at this scam!<\/a>)<\/p>\n 5. Post it flipchart pads are a bigger scam.<\/strong> If you use flipcharts in any kind of creative way you will have already discovered that the overpriced post-it flipcharts are incredibly confining. \u00a0You can only hang them one way, it is difficult to cut them into smaller pieces, it is awkward to roll up notes at the end of a meeting because everything sticks to everything else. \u00a0Give me a pad of 75 sheets of large white paper, and I’m happy. \u00a0I can cut them into quarters for Open Space topics, or tape them on a wall together to make large murals, or cover cafe tables with them. Seventy-seven dollars for a pad is plain wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what is a GOOD way to use flipcharts and easels?<\/p>\n 1. Put the paper in the middle<\/strong>. \u00a0In small meetings, say in a board room, take the paper off the easel stand and put it flat on the table. \u00a0If possible, allow everyone access to the paper so that multiple notes can be taken. \u00a0Putting the harvest tool in the middle of the table allows everything we are doing to be directed towards the centre. \u00a0This is the basis of the way we harvest in World Cafe<\/a> and it is brilliant. \u00a0It democratizes the harvesting tools in a powerful way. \u00a0Your conversations WILL be different.<\/p>\n 2. Make a mind map<\/strong>. \u00a0Get used to taking notes in a non-linear way. \u00a0Mind maps are much better ways to capture the essence of a conversation<\/a> because the group can see linkages and watch the emerging whole of the conversation.<\/p>\n 3. Use easels to make signs<\/strong>. \u00a0Easels are useful for static signs pointing out times and places, instructions and so on. \u00a0The moment they become the focus of attention, you will notice that they play on different levels. \u00a0The note taker is above the group, and the notes are elevated. \u00a0In improv we call this a status game. \u00a0So neutralize the status. \u00a0Use easels for signs.<\/p>\n