Practicing the JOURNAL acronym tool
When something doesn’t go to plan, or turned out differently, this tool can provide useful insight. I applied it to my own thinking, when my webinars didn’t exactly go to plan…
In Oct and Nov I held some free webinars called Design-thinking, what is it and why does it matter? I wanted to share more about the subject and start to build some relationships with people who are excited about design-thinking.
15 people booked on in Oct and Nov and Dec dates got to full capacity (20) really quickly which I was delighted about.
However, in October and November only a handful of people attended each one. Most of the people I ‘knew’ personally or through social media turned up, but other new people, who I was excited to meet-didn’t. I felt a bit disappointed though loved meeting the attendees-we had some really interesting conversations- maybe due to a smaller group size.
Though I enjoyed these sessions, I couldn’t help but feel that I would really would love a larger group to join because hearing lots of perspectives and experiences is exciting to me. I also want to connect to a network of design thinkers, across different disciplines.
Self-Coach
As self-coaching is my favourite way to work stuff out I decided to use the JOURNAL acronym tool to explore the reasons for this difference between people signing up and people attending further. This tool is used by free-witing under some headings – below is a flavour of what I wrote:
(J) Judgement-free: I recognise I have emotions around the work I create and that’s okay, I can share these with others too, I don’t have to just share the brilliant stuff.
(O) Observation: People struggled with the link. Someone misunderstood the topic. I think some people booked on because it was free but didn’t really value it-because it was free. I really enjoyed delivering the session, felt engaged, fulfilled. People asked great questions/gave great examples.
(U) Understanding: I understand that people are interested but have busy lifes- like me! I also understand that people may feel less of a connection with me when booking through Eventbrite rather than on social media.
(R) Revelation: The most important thing to me is to build connection with others interested in this approach- and to hear diversity of experience- maybe there are other ways I can do this?
(N) Needs Assessment: I need to focus on the process between booking/attending
(A) Awareness: I think I need a better tech solution Eventbrite to Googlemeet to social media/newsletter feels clunky – awareness around other options
(L) Life: Thinking things through means I am more intentional and considered with the next steps I take- which helps my overall feeling of wellbeing and security.
My takeaways
The tool highlighted two key areas for me to focus on,
practical process
building relationships.
It also helped me recognise what is inside and outside of my control.
I have now taken steps to simplify and connect. I’m going to use Facebook to promote, book and connect with people for future webinars and have added a small fee to encourage people who book on, to make a conscious choice and commitment to attend.
I am going to take some steps to reconnect with past attendees and bookers and find out about their experience, inviting them into other social spaces I manage such as Brilliant Thing- The Collective and social media as this is where lots of my connections flourish.
I’ve taken a step back and recognised this as part of the journey, that journey being a smooth curve, and not a critical folk in the road. Maybe this tool will help you too?
If you are interested in booking on please visit Brilliant Thing on Facebook and click events.
You might also be interested in Design-thinking The Retreat
