Do we have to wait until we are all in the same room to uncover fresh ideas?
With many organizations and teams remaining distributed through 2021, as Zoom fatigue and isolation continues to sap all of our creative energies, many might be tempted to shelve the big thinking until further notice. Why struggle with virtual brainstorms when you could wait until everyone is back together. In the meantime, just stay afloat?
Like we tell our clients – it doesn’t have to come to that. In fact, failing to think creatively now, could be disastrous. Instead, we suggest challenging the old idea of a brainstorm: getting everyone together with a blank whiteboard or flip-chart and suggesting them to come up with some outside-the-box ideas.
All the essential elements for a successful brainstorms are still within reach- even if your collaborators and flipchart aren’t.
It’s why today, we launch an e-learning course dedicated to designing and executing creative, engaging, and generative VIRTUAL brainstorms as part of The Impact Alliance Academy.
What You’ll Learn
For years, clients have come to Nora Herting and ImageThink seeking to master the art of the brainstorm. Workshops we’ve hosted on creative ideation and visual thinking have generated countless initiatives, projects, and outside-the-box transformations. This course brings the same principles and approach with all the benefits of modern e-learning.
You’ll get pro tips for maintaining and increasing engagement throughout virtual sessions, which can often feel lengthy and have a tendency to drain energy. Nora will share ImageThink’s best tips for utilizing visual templates, as well as all we’ve learned about managing a 2D workspace, and how to adjust your agenda and clock for virtual teams and combatting Zoom fatigue. A team that can beat Zoom fatigue can generate better ideas, and more quickly.
A Global Team for Global Virtual Brainstorms
Because virtual brainstorms and asynchronous work are presenting business challenges worldwide, we enlisted the expertise of our partners at The Impact Alliance to bring a global perspective across domains.
As lead instructor, Nora Herting has more than a decade of experience as a graphic facilitator, educator, and visual strategist, and has led transformations for some of the world’s biggest brands. A pioneer of visual strategy, Nora is passionate about expanding peoples’ definition of creativity and believes the best way to meet the demands of business today is to take a visual approach that blends strategic thinking and creative expression.
Mara Callaert and Sven Retoré are the founders of Visuality, a Belgium based graphic facilitation firm. Mara is a graphic facilitator with a degree in engineering and years of consultancy experience. She is specialized in visualization, communication, and change. Mara will be the instructor for the upcoming Impact Alliance Course on virtual presentations.
Sven is a graphic facilitator with a background in youth work and policy. After founding his own consultancy company in 2015 he joined Visuality as a partner. He has a keen interest in developing (inter)active and participatory methodologies and has gained experience in guiding learning processes. Sven is also The Impact Alliance’s resident e-learning expert.
How Long and How Much?
The course is hosted on the LearnDash platform and divided into 20 modules, each lasting a few minutes. When you sign up, you’ll receive a link to the course videos, materials, and assignments.
In total, most people take about 2-3 hours to take the course. Additionally, there are a few assignments external to the course video lectures, so every student will make a different time commitment. Part of the beauty of an e-learning course is that it is designed to be self-directed, so you can learn at whatever pace works best for you. The course is priced at $375 USD.
Ready to Hit the Virtual Books on Virtual Brainstorms?
What do you say? Are you ready to put a combined 30 years of graphic facilitation and visualization experience into your next brainstorm or strategy session? Sign up today, and learn how to boost your virtual brainstorms, and optimize them for a distributed workforce, from the best the world over.
