Storyboards are also useful for building group unity and agreement, and teams that use them tend to find it easier to make decisions. This is because everyone can get involved, and there’s a much greater level of enthusiasm and commitment.
Storyboards work because they tell a story in a visual way. When people have something to look at, it’s much easier to understand concepts, interpret diagrams or charts, and visualize the future.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a movie plot or the story of your company’s new product. Storyboards can change any kind of data into something living and dynamic. They can turn the sometimes-boring process of planning into an interactive, fun experience for everyone involved.
Uses and Integrating
- Lay Out Your Steps
Brainstorm; what you are trying to achieve, and then write out the steps that you must take to accomplish your goal.
Many people find that sticky notes help in this process. You may want to reorder steps later, or you may remember steps that you’ve missed out initially, and sticky notes allow you to pick up and rearrange information easily.
- Put Your Steps in Order
Put the steps that you noted down in Step 1 in the right sequence.
- Create Your Sublevels
Some actions in a storyboard will be made up of a series of smaller actions. Here, it might help to create a sublevel storyboard for these more involved steps. This helps to ensure that you don’t miss a key piece of the process.
- Look for Problems and Obstacles
As each new step is put into your storyboard, encourage the team to look for “Holes” and problems in the process. This is especially important between steps. Why? Because between steps is where surprises (in other words, problems) could be hiding. Problems within the steps themselves are easier to spot.