I think it was a year and a half ago, on my first day at digatus, when I inquired about a whiteboard. I noticed the many white, empty walls, wasted space to a certain extent. Today we are the proud owners of two huge whiteboards, a third on wheels is standing around and meters of whiteboard foil is also available. On it, countless thoughts on various projects and customers. Meanwhile, everyone appreciates the opportunity to take a pen in hand and write down their thoughts. Why? Here are the answers.
It’s simple
So far, I haven’t had contact with anyone who didn’t know how to use a whiteboard. Everyone can pick up a pen and start painting. I always have to learn a program or electronic tool first. Probably one of the reasons why our electronic whiteboard was used by exactly one teacher back in my school days. A whiteboard is virtually the common denominator that everyone knows how to deal with.
It’s fast
If I can find a pen, I can get started without any preparation. I don’t have to install or start a program first, which would preferably like to install an update. I don’t have to establish a connection with a beamer and Co. Why is that important? If something feels cumbersome and a few extra seconds are enough, we won’t do it anymore. How many people already feel uncomfortably interrupted by the two-factor authentication in their workflow?
The same applies to corrections to my recording. I can wipe away what I don’t like and redraw it. I don’t have to use a selection tool to select exactly the shapes I want to delete, possibly selecting too much and correcting again, because I have grouped my shapes and now the whole group was selected.
It helps to focus
The moment I start working on a whiteboard, I put my laptop aside and from that point on I am free from all possible distractions. No temptation to just check the emails, answer or even just read an incoming MS Teams message. The same applies to everyone present, everyone can concentrate 100% on the work on the whiteboard. Too often I have found myself in one of the numerous online diagram tools, how I wanted to draw an arrow between two boxes and after 10 minutes the arrow finally had exactly the curvature I wanted. I actually wanted to put these 10 minutes into the elaboration of my ideas!
The advantages of whiteboards at a glance
It supports communication
A whiteboard is a common memory of all participants. As a listener, I can be sure that the picture in my head matches that of the others, as it is written in black and white on the wall. As a speaker, I can visualize my stories and make them much easier for others to understand, just as everyone tries to support communication through gestures.
The goal is that at the end of the whiteboard session, a common understanding of the facts is written down on the whiteboard, which can be photographed and archived.
It helps to avoid misunderstandings
I have often experienced that I was supposedly in agreement with a colleague in a discussion. When we wanted to sketch our point of view on the whiteboard, we then realized that we had a completely different understanding.
It helps to find new solutions
Everything I write down on a whiteboard I no longer have to keep in my head and can dedicate my thinking power to new approaches, optimizations or extensions. It helps to think outside the box. A simple exercise for this. Think of a few numbers and then add one to each. When you have done that for each number, start again at the beginning. How many automatically start writing down the numbers?
Conclusion
For me, the whiteboard remains an unbeatable means of communicating simple and complex issues. It helps to involve all participants in a discussion and minimize distractions.
About remote work and whiteboards
And that’s the point where I also advocate for electronic solutions. If I have a team that works together remotely, then I won’t be able to get the same benefit from a whiteboard as if I have everyone together. Then software solutions can enormously support me to continue to guarantee at least the last three points.
