Ideas for Communication Graphics

Hey Joe,

For some reason, whenever I think of communication I always think of 2 cups attached with a piece of string...

Ha ha! I came across the same image when googling "Communication."  Might be an interesting angle to use a graphic like that to explain the before and after.  Before communication didn't work with these cans but now that we have Sharepoint it's all better : )

Peanuts.... you know where Chuck is sitting in class and the teacher is droning on and on..... "wah wah, wah wah wah, wah ...."

http://lindarooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Charlie-Brown-Teacher-Voice.jpg

That's funny. I immediately thought of the game "telephone", the words blah, blah, blah and Charlie's Brown's teacher. Funny how all of my thoughts drifted toward missed or ignored communication.

Having said that, when it comes to communication I have always loved the idea of highlighting what someone said versus what the person receiving it heard and then work from there. You could do something like that where you use audio for the "saying part" and then thought bubbles for what was heard. This would be a fun intro maybe before you dig into more details of the course.

Cool idea, Melani...

• Joe says "X"
• But Sue heard "Y"
• How can we help Joe and Sue communciate in a way that avoids this problem?
• Let's look at these three proven communication strategies....
• Joe and Sue revisited using the new strategies.

 Great idea for a module.

Bob

Joe, I think "speech bubble", but that takes it more into the act of communicating, which I'm not sure is your goal. If I'm interpreting correctly, there are types of tools that you need to expose learners to, so you could have a sort of icon for each type: meeting/project/synchronous... For example, if you are showing IM - you could have two overlapping speech bubbles with the IM logo inside the bubbles.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but hope it helps

Holly

Joe, I started a project about communication using one of the templates built by David Anderson I think...

I enclose this few slides.

The one I like most about problems in communication similar to those mentioned is the one with the monkeys speaking different languages.

Joe,

Here are a few of the images I would use in a course like this from my collection:

I like using physical attributes, (the lady with her hand up), and "containers" (the guy with the business card) to tell us things.

Hope these help.

Bruce

Thanks for all of the great suggestions guys.  The wheels are definitely turning.  As Holly mentioned, the course will be mainly focused on electronic communication through Sharepoint so the course will focus mostly on the tools in Sharepoint but I will be building communication scenarios where graphics like this will be helpful.  Thanks again for the ideas.

You could always use "standard" communication images to "humanise" the electronic communication, in a "What does this really mean?" sort of way?

After all - it's human communication that (most) electronic systems are trying to emulate?

Bruce

You nailed it Bruce.  That's exactly how I plan on working in the communication angle.  I plan on humanizing it with scenarios that show the before and after.  Thanks again.

Hey Joe - You've probably seen this, but it's always worth posting: Comic Book Grammar & Tradition. It's like a taxonomy of chat cloud styles and meanings. 

Thanks Dave!

You have absolutely no idea how immediately useful that will be

Bruce

Joe: When I think of communication, I think of a computer screen and keyboard.

What's the medium through which you most communicate to colleagues? The same is true of your learners.

Hi Joe. I've created several communication + technology modules and the approach I've taken is to align visuals and interactions with with real-life workflows; highlighting points where the use of the technology is more advantageous than traditional methods (i.e. email) by way of narration and/or rollover tips and information popups. In the sample below there is explanatory information about a process/workflow and who it affects then an interactive simulation that presents a full screen monitor. As the user interacts with the monitor, it pushes to the background and other information surrounds it. In this case, details of what's going on behind the scenes technically but this could also be information about specific Sharepoint features that help connect people/groups and enable communication (i.e. if you create a group and post an item to it, everyone ses it, Jane can check it out, modify it, check it back in as a new version vs. the traditional email approach, etc.). So in the work I've done, the "communication images" are people in real situations undertaking a new workflow to improve their ability to communicate and collaborate effectively.

This is nice, Stephanie, very elegant, highly professional look.

Thanks for sharing.