In workshops, non-designers can be put off by the idea of drawing to communicate, as they believe they aren’t good at it. However, you don’t need to be able to draw well; you need to be able to draw enough that someone else understands.
‘Where am I’ exercise with project managers, developers and sales teams
To introduce the concept that no matter how bad you might think you are at drawing, all you need to do is communicate an intent, I gave each person a place name. One minute to think about how they could represent it, and another minute to draw it out.
The results
South Africa
New York
Italy
Paris
Egypt
Brazil
The exercise helped everyone learn that they don’t have to be the next Michaelangelo to participate in an ideation or sketching workshop. Instead, all they would need to do is be able to draw a few rudimental shapes, and in most cases, the other people around the table will “get it”.