Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity [Paperback]

David Sibbet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2010

Use eye-popping visual tools to energize your people!

Just as social networking has reclaimed the Internet for human interactivity and co-creation, the visual meetings movement is reclaiming creativity, productivity, and playful exchange for serious work in groups.

Visual Meetings explains how anyone can implement powerful visual tools, and how these tools are being used in Silicon Valley and elsewhere to facilitate both face-to-face and virtual group work. This dynamic and richly illustrated resource gives meeting leaders, presenters, and consultants a slew of exciting tricks and tools, including

• Graphic recording, visual planning, story boarding, graphic templates, idea mapping, etc.
• Creative ways to energize team building, sales presentations, staff meetings, strategy sessions, brainstorming, and more
• Getting beyond paper and whiteboards to engage new media platforms
• Understanding emerging visual language for leading groups

Unlocking formerly untapped creative resources for business success, Visual Meetings will help you and your team communicate ideas more effectively and engagingly.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Visual Meetings

“David Sibbet is the father of visual facilitation. This book finally lets us see meetings as he sees them—as eye-opening opportunities to discover what people really think. David’s approach to visually recording and visually facilitating meetings will help you become a better meeting leader and participant, see a whole new side of business—and a whole new side of yourself.” –Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin

“I have experienced the transformative power of David’s pioneering visual methods and tools. Open this book and you will get a clear vision of collaboration in the future—groups inspired and energized, tapping into their collective wisdom to create sustainable solutions: the global brain at work.” –Meryem Le Saget, Meryem Le Saget Consulting, Paris

“David Sibbet is a genius. Buy this book, and study it, not only for better meetings, but for better organizations, better teams, and a better future.” –Alan M. Webber, co-founder of Fast Company magazine

“This amazing book shows you how visualization can bring clarity to the growing complexity around us.” –Bob Johansen, Distinguished Fellow, Institute for the Future

“This book is like David’s workshops—fun and fruitful. Time and again, I have seen the principles and processes described in this book yield a rich harvest among audiences in Singapore.” –Dawn Yip, Soulbreath Consulting Singapore

“Visual Meetings is an elegant and immensely practical guide to transforming group productivity. It provides novices with a fast start to making the most of scarce group time.” –Paul Saffo, Technology Forecaster Visiting Scholar, Stanford Media-X Network

“’What If Meetings Were Really Fun AND Productive?’ Can you imagine? Visual meetings master David Sibbet has done it—put all the competency, wisdom, language, technique, resources, tools, everything you need in one delightful book?” –Robert E. Horn, author of Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21^st Century 

From the Back Cover

Eye-popping visual tools can energy your meetings!

When people work visually they have better ideas, make better decisions, and are more committed to producing results. A twenty-first century guide to using the latest visual thinking techniques with your groups and teams, Visual Meetings give you a bounty of tools and tricks to unlock creativity, collaboration, and breakthrough thinking.

• Use graphic recording, visual planning, storyboarding, idea mapping, and similar techniques
• Give better presentations without resorting to PowerPoint
• Consult and sell with graphics and visualization tools
• Get beyond paper and whiteboards to tablets, iPads, and other new media platforms
• Make all meetings more interesting and productive
• Improve both face-to-face and virtual group work
• And much more… 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470601787
• ISBN-13: 978-0470601785
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 0.8 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Running Meetings & Presentations

More About the Author

DAVID SIBBET is President and founder of The Grove Consultants International, a firm that supports organizations, teams and individuals to envision their futures and deal with change. David and his Grove team regularly design and lead strategy, visioning, creativity, future-forces, leadership development, and large-scale system change processes for clients throughout the world.

He was involved with the growth of Apple Computer in the 1980's as a key consultant on their Leadership Expeditions and Apple University. He facilitated the change management team at National Semiconductor during its turnaround in 1990. He has worked at HP and then Agilent for many years, leading strategic visioning sessions for groups and divisions, helping develop leadership programs, and designing Storymaps for special kickoffs and change projects. He and the Grove facilitated the community visioning processes and planning fairs connected with the conversion of the Presidio to the National Park. As a founding director of Headlands Center for the Arts he has long experience as a park partner with GGRNA.

In addition to corporate and government work David has sustained a diverse involvement with foundations, non-profits, schools and professional associations. Clients include the American Institute of Architects, the New Media Consortium, the Greater Baltimore Committee's Leadership program, and more recently a consortium of 90 NGO's and 15 foundations in the upper Midwest helping that region become a leader in 21st Century clean energy. Over the years David has helped design and lead many board/staff retreats, strategy sessions, and cross-organizational projects working on social change.

David is the author and designer of many of The Grove's extensive line of process consulting tools and guides, including the Grove's Visual Planning Systems™, the Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance™ system, the Sibbet/LeSaget Sustainable Organization Model, the Grove's Strategic Visioning™ process and related graphic templates, and the Grove's Facilitation Series. In 2007 the Organizational Development Network awarded David and the Grove their Membership Award for creative contributions to the field of organization development.

David holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and a BA in English from Occidental College. He was awarded a Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in 1965 to study metropolitan public affairs in Los Angeles. For eight years in the 1970's he was Executive Director and Director of Training for the Coro Foundation, designing experience-based education experiences for young leaders. He began his own organizational consulting firm in 1977. David is a long-time affiliate with the Institute for the Future in Menlo Park, a member of the Global Business Network in Emeryville, a long-time member for both the Organizational Development Network and the International Association of Facilitators, and a member of Heartland Circle's Thought Leader Network. He is President of the Argonne Community Garden and currently on the Board of Coro. David lives in San Francisco with his poet/teacher spouse, Susan.

For further information, explore www.grove.com and www.davidsibbet.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, not academic... a better approach to meetings than PowerPoint August 3, 2010

By Rob Eskridge

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading BACK OF THE NAPKIN (Dan Roam)and his sequel, I pre-ordered VISUAL MEETINGS, thinking it would be a good sequel to the sequel. The day the book arrived I had been a victim of another full-afternoon PowerPoint presentation barrage without much interaction. What fresh thinking I found inside, moving from rank basics of flip chart posters and lists to the post-graduate "graphic skills continuum" in Chapter 21. It's really a nice how-to reference that will live close at hand; I'll refer to it before every meeting that I lead, knowing that group interaction will be better and that my own skills and confidence will improve, starting with a blank sheet of paper rather than a PowerPoint with all the answers predetermined.

Don't miss the Group Graphics keyboard in Chapter 9, which is a great roadmap for practicing visual thinking skills and for selecting an approach to visual formats for different meeting purposes. It's fascinating to see the experience of a long and successful career condensed into one powerful chart.

80 of 90 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Expected more than an autobiography September 13, 2010

By Carmen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I felt compelled to write a review of this book as I did not find the professional reviews spoke to the content of this book. I was excited to pre-order this book as the topic is pertinent to my current position, I was expecting to add some new tools to my belt to help me facilitate team meetings that are both productive and worthwhile. I was disappointed to find that the book read like the author's portfolio. The chapters and headers outlined the content but the text is full of stories describing how the author handled a meeting with a client. I do not think I read one paragraph in the book that did not use the first person. If you are looking for a book to review how 'someone else did it' - this book fits the bill. If you are looking for strategy, tips and 'how to' - it is not written in a way that is easy to incorporate the authors experiences into your arsenal.
One other annoyance is the size and shape of the book make it difficult to hold upright to read once opened, it is too wide; its too thick to wrap the pages behind the book once you are past the first few chapters. Setting it on your lap will not work either, cannot see the outer margins where the supporting graphic are placed. Very annoying.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I see what he means!!! August 6, 2010

By Jennifer Landau

Format:Paperback

If you have ever reached for a pencil to explain or hang onto an idea, then you will be delighted with this book. Visual Meetings will change how you think, work and meet - and even think about "visuals." Don't draw? Not to worry - this isn't about drawing per se but how to use "visuals" - text, simple drawn images, photographs, graphic metaphors -- as a natural part of engaging people, analyzing, innovating, and better yet, getting people to put their ideas together and take action. Visual Meetings is about how to surface the knowledge in the room (or in yourself!), and get it organized so that you can use it. And this means both via traditional paper with pens, as well as digitally/virtually - from table top size to huge templates and charts.

Sibbet outlines a comprehensive system of visual strategies and techniques. The clear instruction and tons of inspiring examples / case studies are backed by serious concepts and models about how people think, group dynamics and engaging people around tough questions, real work, deep learning. Storytelling is mixed with bullet-pointed lists and line art, making it easy to understand and apply.

The author doesn't stop at offering the wisdom of his own experience. Sibbet weaves in and acknowledges that of others he has learned from and worked with around the globe, so you will find a wide variety of tried & true strategies, models and techniques as well as Sibbet's own --- all in visual form, all reality tested across languages and cultures. It is truly a treasure trove of "process" gold nuggets, pulling together some of the best in meeting facilitation, project management, and system change...and then launching the reader into realms far beyond.

Visual Meetings is an offering not to be missed. This book will bump up your creativity and effectiveness as it has mine, enriching all that you do at work and in your community - and around your dinner table with the kids, as well!