How Does Visual Collaboration Improve Meetings?

Gone are the days of dry, monotonous boardroom gatherings where one person led the meeting, and others struggled to stifle their yawns. Today, we’re living in the era of visual collaboration, where creativity flows freely, ideas take shape in real time, and meetings transform into dynamic exchanges of innovation.

Most of us (65%) are visual learners. That means when it comes to meetings, utilizing the power of visuals isn’t just a game-changer; it’s practically a necessity. The meetings will not only come alive with vibrant ideas but also break free from the shackles of monotony that sometimes can easily bore us.

In this article, we’ll dive more in-depth into visual collaboration and its significance in today’s meeting settings– both offline and online.

What Exactly Is Visual Collaboration?

As the name suggests, visual collaboration simply means collaborating using visual aids. This can be whiteboards, digital drawing tools, charts, diagrams, or multimedia presentations. These visuals are used to facilitate discussions, convey ideas, and solve problems more effectively.

In visual collaboration, all participants have the chance to engage in the creation of visual content during discussions. So, it’s not just one person who does all the talking, and everyone else just sits idly.

The visual collaboration we’re talking about here can be sketching out concepts, brainstorming on digital whiteboards, annotating documents in real time, or using visual metaphors to simplify complex concepts.

There’s one primary goal for this: to make information more memorable, accessible, and understandable. All of this is done from time to time to improve decision-making and problem-solving.

Visual Collaboration in Online Meetings

With the growing prevalence of remote work and online meetings, today’s robust video conference tools provide real-time visual collaboration features to make virtual meetings more effective and interactive.

Here are some of the benefits of leveraging virtual collaboration features in online meetings:

Efficient Idea Generation

Digital whiteboards, for instance, allow individuals to jot down thoughts, draw diagrams, and sketch concepts in real time. There’s no gap to stifle creativity or interrupt the flow of ideas, as participants can instantaneously bring their visions to life on the virtual canvas.

This, in turn, will lead to much more efficient idea generation. On top of that, these digital creations can be easily saved, shared, and revisited. No brilliant insight is lost in the shuffle of the meeting’s conclusion.

Remote Collaboration

Unlike traditional face-to-face meetings, where everyone is gathered in the same room, online meetings often involve team members or stakeholders spread across different locations, cities, or even countries.

This geographical dispersion often creates barriers to effective collaboration. It’s quite challenging to harness the collective intelligence of a diverse group of individuals.

But, using visual collaboration, everyone can ensure that they are on the same page because visuals provide a universal and shared understanding of ideas and concepts. It eliminates misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

Time Efficiency

In a world where everyone seems to have a packed schedule, online meetings need to strike a balance between covering essential topics and respecting participants’ time constraints. Using visual collaborations, participants can easily provide immediate visual input during discussions.

Whether it’s sketching out a process flow, annotating a chart, or adding comments to a shared document, these visual contributions cut through the verbal clutter and quickly get to the heart of the matter.

Support for Multilingual Teams

Visual aids help to transcend language barriers by providing clear visual context and representations. This totally comes in handy for international teams where the meeting participants may have varying levels of language proficiency or even a language barrier.

Visual elements, such as diagrams, charts, and images, are inherently language-neutral. They convey information without relying solely on words. No matter what language everyone speaks, the core message is understood by all.

Digital Documentation

We’ve mentioned slightly in the first point that visual collaboration can be documented– which later can be accessible.

Visual collaboration features that video conference tools provide automatically record all visual content, including diagrams, charts, annotations, and sketches, as they are created during the meeting. This process captures a real-time snapshot of the meeting’s progress.

All of the important points in the meeting can be packed into one shareable short video. This way, no one misses out on the key takeaways.

Visual Collaboration in Offline Meetings

Now that we know how visual collaboration improves online meetings, let’s move on to the equally dynamic realm of offline gatherings.

This is where participants gather in the same physical space, with whiteboards, sticky notes, or other tangible visuals becoming the tools of choice for unleashing innovation and effective communication.

Encourage In-Person Interactions

When participants gather around a whiteboard, a shared diagram, or a physical visualization, they naturally gravitate toward the visual content. This proximity allows for spontaneous conversations, immediate feedback, and a sense of shared involvement.

No one was left behind. All participants can physically interact with the visual materials, whether they are sketching out ideas, moving sticky notes on a board, or pointing to specific elements.

So, if you want to create a tactile and immersive experience that enhances interpersonal communication and teamwork, visual collaboration can be the key here.

Effective Mind Mapping

Translating abstract ideas into tangible visual representations, visual collaborations can be such a reliable tool. In offline meetings, participants can collectively generate ideas and visually organize them. They can explore complex relationships and connections between concepts.

With markers, sticky notes, or digital tools, individuals can quickly sketch out branches, subtopics, and connections on a whiteboard or paper. And that’s how you foster a creative environment where ideas flow freely.

Immediate Feedback

Visual collaboration provides a shared platform for participants to express their thoughts visually– which later can lead to instant feedback.

As ideas, diagrams, and concepts are shared on a whiteboard or displayed on a screen, meeting attendees can offer feedback in real time, whether through annotations, clarifications, or visual cues.

This instant feedback loop not only ensures that communication is clear and well-understood but also promotes active engagement and participation from all attendees.

Physical Demonstrations

Physical demonstrations here mean brainstorming, ideation, and problem-solving. All of them can sometimes be chaotic or, even worse, get misinterpreted without a clear structure.

Visual tools, such as whiteboards, diagrams, and sticky notes, offer a tangible and organized way for teams to collectively generate, discuss, and refine ideas. They serve as a visual anchor, guiding discussions and making sure that everyone’s contributions are visible and valued.

Empathy and Rapport

When participants share their thoughts and ideas visually, they often reveal a part of their thought process, creative style, and unique perspective. This transparency, thus, fosters a deeper understanding of one another’s strengths and contributions. Once such a connection is established, the empathy among colleagues increases.

The act of collaboratively working on visual content, whether it’s a whiteboard sketch or a group-created diagram, can also promote a sense of teamwork and shared achievement.

How to Involve Visual Collaboration in Meetings

We’ve broken down some advantages of using visual collaboration in both online and offline meetings. At this point, one question emerges: but, how can we involve visual collaboration in meetings effectively? Here are some actionable practices for that.

• Create a Judgment-Free Space for Visual Ideation. Participants should feel comfortable expressing their ideas visually without fear of criticism. They might not use visuals for collaboration because they’re worried about being judged for their ideas. Make it crystal clear that we welcome all ideas, no matter how they start out or their quality.
• Emphasize Real-Time Collaboration. Use digital or physical tools that allow participants to work together simultaneously on visual content. It will create more dynamic discussions, foster a sense of shared ownership, and accelerate the ideation process.
• Make Room for Asynchronous Work. It’s always better when participants can contribute to visual content outside of scheduled meeting times. This flexibility accommodates different working styles, time zones, and schedules, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to contribute, even if they can’t attend the meeting synchronously.
• Keep It Open-Ended. Instead of rigidly defining the scope or purpose of visual contributions, invite participants to explore a broad range of ideas and possibilities. Encourage them to use visuals as a means of sparking discussions, brainstorming, and problem-solving without the pressure of immediately converging on a single solution.
• Use It as a Practical Tool. Visual collaboration should not be viewed solely as a creative exercise; it should also serve as a practical tool to achieve specific meeting objectives. When participants recognize the practical value of visual collaboration, they are more likely to embrace it as an integral part of their meeting toolkit.

Wrapping Up: Level-Up Meetings with Visual Collaborations

Today, meetings are no longer confined to the limitations of a physical room; instead, they have become vibrant and interactive virtual spaces where teams can seamlessly share ideas, brainstorm, and innovate together.

It’s not about who speaks the loudest but who contributes the most valuable insights visually. This levels the playing field, where even quieter team members can comfortably communicate their ideas and make meaningful contributions.

With visual collaboration, no voice goes unheard in our meetings– because every team member has a voice and a chance to contribute. And when teams use visual aids regularly in meetings, it can result in more inclusive and productive meetings.

About the Author!

Natasha Rei, is the Digital Marketing Manager of Explainerd, an explainer video production agency. She ensures strategic goals are met by directing online and social media campaigns.