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On public memory and déjà vu all over again
Monday, 03 May 2010
Public memory is not just about statues, icons history and narrative. For me, it’s also about what I do to publicly reflect and record the information generated and processed by the group.
But how to do it well?
The idea is to get a record of the group’s work. Something you ‘prepared earlier’ doesn’t usually count as their work. So PowerPoint doesn’t cut it unless you can type really fast and facilitate at the same time.This record must be accessible by the group at all times and be an accurate reflection of their work. Therefore, two other things not to do are:
- Frantically trying to capture everything everyone says.
- Rewording (or equivalent) what people say.
- Everyone can refer to it – everyone owns it and can commit to it.
- Participants start to dialogue with the data, rather than arguing with each other.
- Power tends to go with the table rather than ‘the scribe’ or the loudest person.
Image by Sigurd Decroos at cobrasoft
Let’s run through some of the other considerations in turn. Firstly, what forms of information do you want or need to use in your meeting? My list has words and images. Other folks would no doubt add sound, movement and objects.
Secondly, what media or tools can you use? We all know the humble flip chart and whiteboard. A sticky wall is a personal favourite of mine. Data projectors are great when they work. How about clay or felt or clear plastic overlays or…
Finally, there’s the whole question of who does the recording. Getting the group to do their own recording means:
- Lots of people writing (or whatever), versus you being a bottleneck in the process. It’s parallel rather than serial processing.
- They are using their own words (or whatever), saving you from at least one of the mistakes above. It’s also their spelling...
Go well!
David Jago