Graphic recording (sometimes referred to as reflective graphics) involves capturing on large-sized paper—in words, images and color—people’s ideas and expressions as they are being spoken in the moment.
It is a perfect tool for bridging the world of visual thinking and The World Café, for it helps to illuminate how we as people connect, contribute, learn and make meaning together.
Typical roles for a graphic recorder during a café process include:
- Capturing graphics in large format after rounds of a café.
- Helping participants with supplies for their own harvesting at the tables.
- Helping participants with displays, galleries or related activities (for example, using post-it notes to share key questions) through which they connect ideas from across tables in hands-on, interactive ways
- Keeping track of and labeling materials that have been created over the course of the cafe
- Archiving materials, photographing graphics and other meeting documentation, and reporting after the cafe
In these ways, graphic recorders help:
Create Hospitable
Space.
Working with World Café hosts, graphic recorders help
create a welcoming environment for participants. In addition
to the café ambiance created by small tables, tablecloths,
and other design elements, recorders encourage creativity
through hand drawn signs, colorful pens on the tables, and
plentiful blank paper providing a space for conversation
partners to share and connect ideas
Encourage Everyone’s
Contribution.
Having pens and paper on every table is an invitation
for participants to express themselves. People are encouraged by
hosts to write down key words and phrases, or to draw images, symbols,
that reflect ideas emerging in their conversation. This helps ensure
that highlights of each conversation are captured and stimulates
connections for new visitors to the table. Metaphors and
images that are shared often deepen and enrich the group’s
inquiry.
By viewing the drawings and musings at various tables, participants begin to see patterns emerging in the ideas and themes throughout the room. The collective wisdom of the group starts to become more visible and accessible.
When a recorder works in large format, the record is visible for all to see. This helps ensure each person’s need to be heard as their expressions are captured on the chart. Enabling people to see their contribution to the whole increases participation and fosters trust and connection.
Connect Diverse Perspectives and Listen
for Patterns, Insights and Deeper Questions.
At both individual tables and on large wall graphics, people
begin to notice and reflect “the magic in the middle.”
The large displays of themes and insights naturally weave together diverse perspectives into a composite “picture” that reflects the collective intelligence in the room. Even a simple clustering of like ideas helps people see patterns and relationships. The wisdom of the whole can also become visible to participants by posting “table cloths” on the walls and making time for a “gallery walk.
Harvest and Share Collective
Discoveries.
In the process of the café, documentation is created
(by participants and recorders) that serves as the group
memory. It is this record or archive that allows the group’s
collective work to be shared with others; a framework from
which to make further meaning; and a guide for planning action
For more details on the basics of graphic recording, please refer to the downloadable pdf created by Susan Kelly: The Benefits of Using Graphic Recording/Graphic Facilitation.
Check the Directory for experienced World Café graphic recorders, and here is a link for the International Forum of Visual Practitioners.
There are a number of visual World Café graphics available for your use in the World Café image bank on this website.