This post is part of our 6-part series on The ImageThink Method™, our unique process for leading organizational transformations, from culture shifts to strategic plans to launching a new brand. Developed by ImageThink CEO and Founder Nora Herting, this proprietary framework applies visual theory, graphic facilitation, and design thinking in strategic ways to move these major initiatives forward. The end result isn’t just a successful project, but a more engaging, collaborative, and creative process.
It’s About Time You Got ENGAGED
This post discusses the ENGAGE Phase of The ImageThink Method™, the key stage of aligning with key decision makers, participants, and team members to achieve buy-in and momentum for your initiative. Often after a graphic facilitated brainstorm or strategy session, ImageThink clients are excited and eager to hop right to work and begin outlining tasks and road mapping a strategy. However, in our experience, it’s critical to first foster excitement, support, and enthusiasm within your team or organization.
By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear idea of what we mean when we talk about ENGAGE, a great example of an ImageThink client engaging its internal team, and best of all, a few simple questions you can ask yourself before digging in to the ENGAGE Phase of The ImageThink Method™.
What Does it Look Like When Teams ENGAGE
If you read our previous post about the SCAN Phase of the ImageThink Method™, you’ll remember that in 2016, we began a partnership with a global automaker, helping a new business unit evaluate and improve media partnerships.
During the ENGAGE Phase, ImageThink iterated on the graphic notes taken during the introductory sessions to develop more polished and final infographics, which the business unit was able to use to socialize their findings internally to senior management. The pitch boards that ImageThink illustrated help to make the findings more digestible and ultimately more human.
How to Begin the ENGAGE Phase of the ImageThink Method™
For those playing along, at this stage, a core team of decision-makers has met, SCANNED, brainstormed, decided on a path forward. Ideally, the consensus that was reached would be immediately accepted with enthusiasm by the whole organization.
As many of our clients can attest, whether it’s a simple product update, or a full top-down culture shift, getting buy-in from the team may not be as easy as they’d hope. With that in mind, below are a few suggested starting blocks for building consensus and alignment internally:
- Have you communicated the value of the new project, plan, or initiative? Have you tied it to a clear company goal or mission?
- How much are you asking of each team, and have you considered how new requests might impact existing work?
- How can you collect feedback, questions, concerns, and ideas from your team? (You can read about ImageThink’s favorites, Social Listening Murals, here.)
- Can you incorporate storytelling into however you’re planning to share your new plan?
- Is there a visual way to share the results of your SCAN brainstorm? Any graphic recorded notes, a timelapse or video of the plan? As we always remind our clients, pictures can communicate complex ideas many times faster than words alone.
Have a plan, and need help circling the wagons? ImageThink would love to help! Just use the chat function or click here to schedule a discussion and demo of how we help clients in the ENGAGE phase.
