The benefits of visuals for improving internal communications, structure and inspiration to sustain change

Visual collaboration connects distributed workforces, supercharges innovation and provides a single source of truth to teams. Whether it’s brainstorming ideas, mapping processes, diagramming, or other collaborative activities, visual collaboration serves as the missing puzzle piece employers are actively seeking to enhance internal communications, organisational structure, inspiration, and the ability to sustain change.

Improving internal communications and structure through visualisation

For many rapidly evolving businesses that are continuing to navigate hybrid working, skills shortages and an over-saturated labour market, a foundation of solid communication is needed for them to succeed. In fact, 52 per cent of Australian workers said ineffective communication is a barrier to innovation within their organisation. This, coupled with managing diverse learning and behavioural styles among team members, can often leave blanks in internal communications between employees, resulting in disrupted business structure.

Making information accessible to all keeps employers and employees alike aligned. Furthermore, when team members are aligned, leaders can also innovate, allocate time and train teams more swiftly and efficiently. This results in less time devoted to decision making and more time dedicated to collaborating, brainstorming, and executing high-quality outputs.

Visualise how you’ll reach your change goals

How you create and set goals is unique to the individual. Maybe it’s displaying your to-do list in a visible location or colour-coding your calendar to prioritise important tasks or mantras to keep you on tasks. Much like individual goals, when it comes to implementing organisational change, simple visual cues can help leaders break down their objectives. And as team members progress in their career, so too will their goals, making them fluid and adaptable within personal career change and development.

We know 72 per cent of Australian workers collaborate with cross-functional teams to execute projects, making team brainstorms, diagramming and mind mapping crucial components to keep team members aligned. These activities allow leaders to gain insights from all members of their team, leading to an overall change. By fostering a unified and collaborative team that shares common behaviours and goals, organisations become better equipped to navigate change successfully. Visuals play a significant role in illuminating these biases, uncovering any disparities and similarities or common interests in perception across the organisation, meaning leaders are better equipped to navigate the road ahead when it comes to making change.

Finding inspiration in visuals

Today’s employees often find themselves juggling multiple projects, tasks, and customers’ needs simultaneously, which can easily lead to losing sight of larger goals and objectives. Revisiting the fundamentals and realigning with the team’s objectives can help regain focus and inspiration.

Fortunately, visuals serve as a valuable resource not only for helping people understand information but also for providing the inspiration needed to develop action plans and maintain progress once areas for change have been identified. It can be as straightforward as fostering enhanced collaboration through visual activities such as brainstorming, mapping processes, and diagramming or Lucid’s recent beta launch of Collaborative AI. This unlocks the power of collective and divergent thinking and allows teams to get more done in less time with AI-enhanced brainstorming and collaboration features. By engaging in these activities, you can gain valuable insights into employees’ working styles and team goals.

When employees are inspired to grow and innovate, they can leverage visual action plans to determine the execution process. This involves considering the current significance of the goal, identifying potential obstacles that may hinder progress, outlining small steps to move forward, and establishing measurable indicators of success.

It’s no secret an inspired team of employees is a more productive team. By visually breaking down the goals and aspirations into these visually palatable and easy-to-track sections, employees can formulate a well-thought-out approach that effectively guides their efforts towards achieving the desired change and successes.

By harnessing the power of visuals, teams throughout the organisation can proficiently convey intricate ideas and engage in collaborative efforts, whether in real time or asynchronously. As a result of this visual collaboration, teams naturally cultivate a living blueprint of their business, enabling them to maintain alignment, implement influential modifications, and generate innovative solutions that deliver significant value to customers.

By James Harkin, senior director APAC, Lucid