The Business of You: The Blue Sky Whiteboard

by Kenneth J. Weiss
February 1, 2006

15,000 years ago a pharaoh, a wise man and a million slaves stood admiring a vast empty plain. The pharaoh peered into the distance, bellowed a mystic incantation and gestured purposefully in the air with short, slashing movements. He looked to the wise man who made perhaps his dumbest comment ever, "Huh?"

Using the blood of the wise man and a nearby rock, the first whiteboard was created.

Well, maybe not, but whiteboards are certainly the place where many projects start.

Whether you are refining a business process, conducting a brainstorming session or collecting feedback, you can improve the way you use a whiteboard.

First, The Obvious
Start with a clean board. If, however, it says, "E=MC², Do Not Erase - E. Einstein," don't. Get good markers and throw the dry, screeching ones away. Write legibly, preferably with printing rather than cursive.

Some New Don'ts
Don't Overly Summarize - The tendency is to take a person's thoughts, cull them, jot a phrase, and return a shrug with, "Is that right?" to which the person usually nods and mumbles. Take the extra time to write the complete thought.

Don't Use Mental Footnotes - These are the little promises you make to complete a thought, ask a question or document detail later. Be in the moment. Write everything down.

Don't Erase - Strike out comments, write different conclusions or notes beside, above or below the original thought, but whatever you do, do not erase.

Start in the Upper Left - Often the act of collecting information will uncover valid thoughts that precede your starting point. If you start in the upper left, where will you put them? Give yourself a margin.

Some New Do's
Keep Your Tactics Separate - Keep your cluster diagrams separate from your bullet lists. Anything else is unnatural.

Layout Out The Board Beforehand - If you are delving into a known area, layout the board before the meeting starts. It will save time, and meeting participants will have a better idea of where they are headed.

Go Dark - Use the basic blue, black and green for text. Reserve the orange and red for breakthroughs.

Start A Parking Lot - Parking lots are little areas of the boards for meaningful but not directly relevant ideas.

Be Consistent in Your Acronyms and Abbreviations - These are certainly useful, and often created on-the-fly, but improvisation can lead to confusion later.

Use The Space - Shape, proximity, boundaries, connectors and line styles can provide more meaning and insight than the words themselves.

Add Some Paper - Use sticky notes or self-adhesive flip chart sheets to move concepts around.

Get Participation - Having trouble getting the rest of the group to step up or participate? Move to the side or better yet, take a seat. You can also pass the marker to someone. It'll be tough for them not to offer something.

On Your Way Out
Leave yourself plenty of time to transcribe the board. Be detailed, and be prepared to use a software application that allows you to make all of the lines, shapes, etc. that you need. Think of working in landscape rather than portrait, and for the best results use legal format or better. For really complex diagrams, take a shot with a digital camera. Crank up the resolution and take your picture from a slight angle to avoid getting the reflection of the flash. If you want the board saved, add you name, contact information and an expiration date to the standard "do not erase."

The whiteboard is simple, just keep the Sharpies in your desk, and try not to lean up against it while wearing a white shirt.