Effective Flipcharting

Example use of a physical flipchart

10 tips for using flipcharts facilitatively

There is a lot of good advice on how to write good flipcharts – spacing, limited colours, borders, drawings, … Most of it written from a training perspective. But it is difficult to find something that explains the goal of good flipcharting. Particularly in respect of meetings, teamwork and arriving at a conclusion.
In this short article, I want to help people better consider the strategic use of flipcharts. Their use to support people on a journey of self-directed discovery, through consensus, to building real commitment in a conclusion. Not so much ‘training’, more ‘facilitation’.
So here, I would like to propose the impact you might achieve through your use of flipcharts. And describe ten techniques to help you deliver these.

The potential impact of good flipchart use:

And, as a result, to arrive at the most productive answer, in the shortest time. And to do it with the energy and commitment to ensure that it is implemented.
The following ten techniques are proven facilitative strategies to deliver this with your team (or anyone else you are facilitating):

Improved and sustained engagement of meeting participants on a particular topic

  • Provide Focus: Positioned correctly, the flipchart can become, subconsciously, the shared workpiece for the team. In a subtle way it represents the current task of work. And the marks placed upon it become the units of effort in getting the work done. The facilitator can increase the sense of this with the initial question. And through writing it clearly and boldly at the top so everyone can see. Also with their use of other techniques in the list below.
  • Solicit Input: As a result of the above, people can see that there is a job of work to be done. At one level this may be seen as adding things to the page. It is true that they may initially be reticent, leaving it to others to contribute. But asking people to each note two answers privately. And to signal when they have done that, can break through this. If they have things on a note in front of them, they become more interested in seeing those arrive on the flipchart. And for those who are quiet, they can be asked if their points are covered. And whether they have anything further to add.

Increased volume and quality/clarity of contributions, from everyone

  • Clarify Meaning: The flipchart process also rewards clarity and conciseness. A key question back to the speaker is: “So, how would you record the essence of that on the flipchart?” – people gradually get the message, and deliver points that are flipchart (and colleague) friendly. Furthermore, you cannot write it up until you understand it. So it is in the speaker’s interest to use words that make their meaning clear. To make it more clear, do something that says you are waiting for the point. Like capping the pen, or putting a ‘?’ on the virtual flipchart.
  • Maintain Interest: Furthermore, the focus on the flipchart helps to reduce repetition and waffle. These are possibly the two biggest factors in losing the interest and engagement of the rest of the group. With repetition, you can simply point to where it is already covered. With waffle, you might use the question mark strategy above. And with going off topic, you can highlight the question as soon as the drift begins to occur. You can highlight directly on a Virtual Flipchart, and by tapping the question on a physical one.

Maintaining the energy of debate at the most productive level for the attendees

  • Recognise Contributions: A simple sincere ‘thank you’ goes a long way to encouraging repeat behaviour. Respecting and valuing contributions by capturing (writing up) every point to show they have been heard; nodding and using facial responses to show you appreciate the quality/insight of what they said. These things make it more likely that you will get more people contributing, and enjoying their contributions.
  • Raise Energy: And as the level of contributions increases, and these are met with positive appreciation, so the energy increases. As a result, the meeting becomes more positive and fun, with a greater feeling of being productive. Furthermore, as the flipchart becomes more associated with the group’s focus and with the value of the meeting, so subconsciously does the facilitator stood beside it. And this means that simple gestures and movements by the facilitator become more influential in keeping things on track.

Developing a shared perspective which has collective ownership and commitment

  • Build Ownership: As people see their own words appear on the flipchart, they feel a sense of contribution and ownership to the picture that is emerging. Even where it is diverse and conflicting in places. Questions like “So does this reflect where we are as a group?” and “So what do you want me to add to ensure that is included?” help to reinforce this. This then creates a good shared platform for grouping, prioritising and setting actions (actually much easier from a Virtual Flipchart than it was from a physical one) …
  • Aid Consensus: … And the visible recording of all the key contributions helps to provide a platform for consensus. Consensus is the individual commitment to support the team’s conclusion which has been arrived at through a fair and balanced process. A process in which individuals feel that their own contributions and reservations were properly listened to, and given full consideration. And that, for the team, the conclusion was the only fair outcome. And it too is documented on the flipchart.

Providing a tangible and rewarding sense of progress and achievement

  • Record Progress: Furthermore, the flipchart pages help to provide a tangible, visual marker of progress. Thereby, they provide encouragement to the meeting. People can see how the discussion is being transformed by the team’s contributions. And how that is increasing the quality and the clarity of the documented outcomes as a valuable product of the meeting.
  • Ensure Meaning: Finally, all of the flipchart content provides a resource for reviewing the journey that has been taken. Reflecting on the quality of the conclusions. And developing people’s ability to articulate that to others in winning them over to what will be required. The review of what has been covered gives a final opportunity to check that all of this has meaning for those present. A helpful question to reinforce this is: “Is this about 80% right for people – because if we can make progress on the 80% we can fix the 20% as it becomes clearer to us?“

The tangible benefits of good flipchart use

The thing about the above techniques, is that they can be very powerful in helping a group arrive at a collective picture that they ‘own’ individually. And the same influences are simply not as easy to achieve in a discussion without a flipchart.
In terms of engagement, focus, quality of result, retention of key points, and commitment to the outcome – the simple facilitative use of a flipchart (or similar tool) can double all of these things easily. In other words, every discussion you have without a flipchart doubles the length of the meeting or halves its effective value.
Of course, there are even more participative and powerful techniques that can be used – ones in which people contribute directly rather than through a facilitator.
But the fact is, not everyone is yet ready for these, and the flipchart provides a great half-way house – particularly when the current alternative is simply to discuss things over your webcam. So why not get started by adding a Virtual Flipchart to your webcam?
Track your progress to ensure the efficacy of this strategy.