Using infographics effectively in change management
Infographics are used to visualize topics clearly. The key message of the content should be immediately apparent. Complex issues can also be illustrated by several illustrations.
Process of creating an infographic
1. What is the objective of the infographic?
At the beginning it should be clarified why an infographic should be used. Is it to visualize a vision or strategy, how a machine works, or is it to show the flow of a company process?
2. What message should the graphic cover? What benefit does it convey?
The second step is to define the core message: In other words, what information should necessarily stick with the viewer. Ideally, this is one main message and not many. It is better to design several infographics for different core messages than to try to include several core messages in one infographic.
3. What should the infographic be used for?
There are many application areas such as the company website, presentations, videos, online webinars, etc. An important point of distinction is whether the infographic can be explained when used/viewed, or whether it must stand on its own. In a presentation, the presenter can explain the content of an infographic, but in an online video, this form of support is not possible.
Usage of infographics
Infographics can be used in change management, in sales, in marketing, in internal communications or even in technical communication as a process infographic.
Common Mistakes in the design of infographics
- Illustration overloaded with objects: everything is teeming and your head is spinning. Although the picture often looks appealing, pretty and complex, the actual added value for the target group (and thus also for the client) is lost: the message is diffuse or incomprehensible.
- No focus: The viewer of the image is distracted and overwhelmed by too many elements that are not needed. He does not recognize a central message.
- Overstraining task: Designing an infographic on your own requires professional skills. Even „ordinary" graphic designers will suffer big problems in creating graphics for a change management purpose. Remeber, you need to design precise visual communication, not colorful images.
- Additionally it requires a deep understanding of the subject matter, issue or process you have to convey.
How can I check if an infographic "works"?
Test, test, test. The draft should briefly be presented to several people without comment. Advice your control group to label the core statement of your graphic. If these answers coincide with your statement and intended messages, you can go ahead. If they don'T, the draft has to be revised, another iteration is needed.
Infographic costs
Professionally designed infographics and illustrations are not cheap. However, we use them specifically in our work to save the client even higher costs or to avoid additional costs. Costs that are incurred when the employee or customer is poorly informed or not informed at all.
The biggest benefits you can achieve with a professional infographic in change management:
- Less calls to the helpdesk
- Much less feedback cycles or loops
- Improved acceptance of applied changes
- Faster communication of new content due to an existing common picture,
- Faster rollout
- Sense of Urgency: Showing a holistic overview of a topic, enables the viewer to gain a faster and better understanding of the urgency of your depicted meassures.
Professional design of infographics
Creating infographics is an art in itself. Professional Infographic artists especially need the following skills:
- Deep understanding of processes and workflows
- Capacity to focus all elements of an image to a key message
- Grab an extend the clients CD precisley
Infographics in Change Management
We are using professional information graphics in different phases of our change projects.
Strategy
At the beginning of a project for the visual presentation of the strategy, a visual change story or the "Case for Change".
Communication
During the project in internal communications by illustrating process graphics to make the interlocking processes easier to understand.
Training
During training phase, infographics are an important companion and component of our curriculum. Individual images can be separated from the big picture“ to act as visual anchors in the participants' memory. Training content can be remembered much better this way.
Are you interested in professional information graphics?
Do you need support to visually communicate your change project?