Getting creative online
Here’s a riddle for you.
How do you make a mosaic out of a wall of squares on your computer screen?
Any guesses? Skip ahead if you can’t wait for the answer. I promise I’ll get there soon.
Hands on visual activities that we’re used to facilitating in the room kick off riff #3 with Rebecca Sutherns this week. We switch perspectives and talk about facilitation activities that we are used to doing in the room, and which may need to be done differently, or not at all, on the smaller screen.
Watching it afterwards, it struck me that I seem to really miss the physical aspect of the creative activities that exercise different parts of our brain. A client told me that she felt the same. She misses her team gathering around the white board and ‘drawing things out’.
Attempts to replicate what we did in the room, on the screen, don’t always work well. As Rebecca points out, “…it underlines the fact that we aren’t in person, more than it actually helps us.”
It’s more about leveraging what’s great about the digital experience.
And that’s where the mosaic comes in.
I don’t think what Myriam Hadnes and Michelle Howard showed us at a session last month could be done face-to-face. It could only be done online.
And it was beautiful. Just as beautiful as any wall of drawings or photographs I’ve seen in a room.
It also proved an incredibly energising way to connect, to build on what someone said, rather than judge it or put it down. A great exercise to highlight how a group who may not know each other can work together. A vital start for any group trying to reach agreement or collaborate.
We touch on physical space, energy and location in this week’s riff. You can watch it here.
Enjoy! And please drop me a line to share your thoughts. I’d love to build on the conversation.
PS: And the riddle? Jump over to my gallery on Instagram for a squiz.
If you'd like the best of both worlds for your next workshop, I can help. Book a 15-minute meeting with me to get the ball rolling.
Painting credit: Jacinta Cubis