Drawing at Work

This practical course will introduce you to the mindset, methods and skills that build confidence and enable you to start using drawing to communicate ideas and collaborate with colleagues at work.

Read on

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Who is this course for?

For people who are curious about exploring the potential of drawing at work. As a way to:

  1. Better capture and remember what you see and hear.

  2. Help focus the mind and visualise your thoughts and ideas as they come.

  3. Collaborate with colleagues to problem solve, communicate and develop solutions.

It’s designed for teams and groups of all disciplines and functions, from leader groups and product teams to start-ups and departments within larger organisations.

This session works well as part of a practice development day, project kickoff or company strategy session. Furthermore, I can adapt the agenda and tasks to fit your current needs and initiative.

But here I would like to be clear, you do not need to have an art degree or be ‘good at drawing’ to participate.

If anything the complete opposite, as the the majority of people who have taken this course didn’t use drawing at work prior to taking part.

What do you do & learn?

This is a typical schedule for a Drawing at Work session:

  • We start with an introduction to the Drawing at Work mindset and approach.

  • Then we focus on trying out simple and quick-to-learn techniques that build the confidence to ‘draw to think’ on your own, and ‘draw out loud’ with colleagues. From drawing objects and people to diagrams and storyboards.

  • We then apply our reawakened skills and abilities through a ‘draw what you hear’ exercise. Here I often tailor this final exercise to complement your groups current challenge or focus.

  • Rounding off with presentations from participants and reflections around what we have learnt and experienced.

Practical details

This course is flexible by design and can be made to fit the needs of you and your group.

  • Participants: Min 8 / max 20

  • Skill level: All levels of drawing ability

  • When: Working hours, Monday to Friday

  • Where: In-person anywhere in the greater Oslo area, or virtually on Miro anywhere you and your colleagues happen to be.

  • Duration: 1-4 hours, tailored to fit your needs and schedule

  • Language: English & Norwegian

  • Cost: On request

Make an enquiry

If this sounds interesting then please get in touch by simply filling out the form below. Alternatively you can contact me via email, phone or Linkedin.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Why do we stop drawing?

Most of us stop drawing when we reach adolescence.

All of those hard won skills fall dormant and the many benefits are lost. A language once ‘spoken’ daily is no longer used to develop an idea, express a feeling or tell a story.

The common practice of teaching drawing at school encourages us to reflect reality. This convinces the majority of us that we can’t draw, and consequently stop.

The kind of drawing I employ at work doesn’t require you to be an artist or talented draftsperson.

I have seen how our working lives can benefit from having drawing them. Not only happier for it, but more collaborative and fruitful.

And finally, thanks Dave!

This course is inspired and built on the work and shoulders of the giant that is Dave Gray. Without his ground-breaking, generous and pedagogical work in the field of Visual Thinking, this course wouldn’t exist.

I first encountered Dave Gray via the book he co-authored, Gamestorming and through his talks like this one at UX Week in 2010.

If you’re not familiar with his work, I highly recommend you seek out his books and watch a talk or two. I especially enjoy it when Dave facilitates ‘live’ drawing sessions along with the audience. This format, in fact, gave me the inspiration to develop this course.

Thanks Dave!