Wisdom Walls Make Interesting Connections & Conversations Easier (Facilitation Friday #76)
Use this simple technique to accelerate learning and community in meetings, workshops, conferences, and informal professional development efforts.
The Concept
Pads of artist quotes hung at the entrance to their exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (pictured above). My friends and I each selected one and talked about our quote’s appeal.
Simple content stimulated conversation, connections, and community before we even encountered the main event.
This idea is so simple, so useful, so multi-purpose, and so easily adaptable that I’m a bit surprised it isn’t a mainstay in some form of most meetings, workshops, or conferences.
I’m talking about what I call “Wisdom Walls.”
The Application
At the heart of a successful Wisdom Wall is content that will be a catalyst for meaningful connections and conversations. The content can take many forms: inspirational quotes, compelling questions, statistics or other data, relevant trends, innovative ideas, participant hunches or predictions, session takeaways, et al.
You can use Wisdom Walls to:
spark conversation and facilitate networking among participants.
highlight relevant historical trends and data for a strategic planning session.
share the top question people hope to have answered as a result of their workshop or conference participation.
offer quotes that inspire fresh thinking and innovative ideas.
display participants’ takeaways from a workshop or conference.
promote a provocation or content excerpt for each conference speaker or session.
spotlight case studies and other examples of how others are handling a critical issue or challenge.
pose a compelling question that employees informally post responses to throughout the week.
amplify social media posts sharing takeaways and speaker quotes.
capture participants’ hunches about possible actions to take after a workshop or a planning session.
distill and display what stands out most for participants at the mid-point of an event or after a particularly content-rich discussion.
remind retreat, planning session, or anniversary celebration participants of major milestones in their industry, profession, organization, or community.
promote a key lesson learned from award recipients.
capture key thinking from small group discussions.
display headlines or news clippings related to the event’s theme or content emphasis.
The Execution Two-Step
Regardless of the application, getting in action on a Wisdom Wall involves a simple execution two-step.
Step One: Select Content
Look at the overall outcomes for your event— as well as individual meeting agenda items, workshop content segments, or conference sessions—and identify what Wisdom Wall content might help support them.
Some Wisdom Walls involve content gathered from an advance survey of participants. For content that won’t be collected from participants before or during the session, identify appropriate selections, drawing on diverse and credible sources.
Step Two: Prepare Content for Display
Consider the online platform or in-person space(s) for your gathering and the various display opportunities available to you. My Wisdom Walls usually include one or more of the following displays:
Printed content to be posted on walls.
Content in a document or on a slide for virtual display.
Participant-generated content on letter-size paper or large index cards and then posted on a wall.
Participant-generated content on Post-its® (virtual notes for online sessions; paper notes for in-person gatherings).
You might display content for participants to:
review and discuss informally with others
select from (like the artist quotes) and then discuss with those making similar selections
vote on (i.e., favorite quote, most relevant trend, issue or case study they most want to discuss, et al)
post content-inspired reactions
share questions the content triggers for them
Bottom Line
Wisdom Walls are a simple and effective way to introduce outside thinking into an event or to display participants’ questions, ideas, reactions, and insights. Endlessly flexible, they can be easily incorporate into virtual, hybrid, and in-person events to stimulate interesting connections and conversations among participants.
Getting in Action
Identify one or more ways you could effectively use a Wisdom Wall in each of the following gatherings.
a strategic planning session
an innovation lab or workshop
a staff or volunteer retreat
Determine the type of content you would include, how you would display it, how you would ask participants to engage with it, and when in the event you would use the Wisdom Wall.
© Facilitate Better and Jeffrey Cufaude. All rights reserved.
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