"What exactly are we going to get out of this?"

Even after the fifteen years since I took the Grove's Principles of Graphic Facilitation workshop and first learned how to facilitate using visuals, my heart still sinks a little bit when a potential client doesn't automatically and intuitively "get it." It can be tough to verbally explain the value of visuals in groups. So when I'm having that initial conversation with a potential client, I let the visuals speak for me. I pull up a photo of graphic recording or graphic facilitation within the context of a group session and speak directly to that. 

My first Graphic Recording

Occasionally, someone will ask a hard-nosed question about "value" or "return on investment." One client even asked me, "How is bringing you in to facilitate a one-day meeting going to improve our employee survey scores?" I try to remember that these folks have a strong preference towards Sensing, following the Myers-Briggs framework: they are "show me" kind of people. To them, if it can't be measured, it doesn't exist. And according to the latest research, they make up over 70% of the US population.

The good news is, there IS data out there on the benefits of graphic facilitation. First, group consensus improves by 22%. This means that, holding all other variables constant, groups are 22% more likely to agree on common decisions when visuals are used to facilitate the conversation. Second, it boosts information retention by 17%. People are more likely to track and remember the conversation just by having it in the room. Third, the time it takes to get to outcomes drops by 24%. Anecdotally, I rarely see a group say, "OK, we're done! Let's leave!" Usually, they use the time gained to cover more ground. Finally,  Along with that, graphic facilitation produces tangible takeaways. Rather than just crossing your fingers and hoping participants remember the discussion, they have a process map of the options they explored and the decisions they made. Once I've scanned the charts and emailed them to the participants, they serve as both a memory aid and as a basis to bring others who weren't in the room up to speed. 

You can find the studies that support these statistics here: http://www.lizardbrainsolutions.com/think-with-ink/2016/3/4/benefits-of-visuals