We are all being expected to do more. Problem-solve. Communicate with our stakeholders and customers. Think critically. Manage streams of data and information. And continuously learn new things. Making use of visuals can help us do all of these things.

Using visuals can aid you to view things differently, communicate more effectively, plan and problem-solve, as well as make memorable notes and reflect to become even more effective. Creating visuals using pen and paper can also be a way of relaxing and of tapping into valuable thinking time away from the computer.

Sketchnoting is a great gateway into using visuals to aid you in your work and learning. Sketchnotes use a combination of words and simple pictures to help you communicate complex ideas effectively. By getting started in Sketchnoting you can develop your visual thinking skills, your ability to summarise complex ideas and of course practise creating simple, but effective, graphics and images. You don’t need to be good at drawing, or art, to be able to Sketchnote – in fact it can be a way of ‘putting your toes in the water’ and building your confidence.

Participants in previous workshops have explained some of the value they have gained from Sketchnoting as follows:

• ‘aids clear thinking about my ideas’

• ‘helped in unloading my brain from time to time’

• ‘it opened a door in my mind to my visual creativity’

• ‘it sets me apart from the other engineers’

Sketchnoting can be used practically to:

 to plan projects, presentations and writing;

 to communicate processes, plans and ideas to colleagues or other stakeholders;

 to support one to ones and coaching conversations;

 create memorable notes;

 to improve recall of learning material;

 as a tool to aid reflection;

 and adapted for many other purposes .

This introductory virtual workshop will take place in a relaxed and friendly way, which will support you in developing this new skill and thinking about how you can make full use of it in your work. Group size will be kept small to enable this. There will be lots of opportunities to practise and experiment.

The session will include support with action plans and resources to help you further develop your skills and confidence. Prior to the session you will receive information on the materials – paper and pens that you will need for the session.