When we work in EOS sessions with our clients, we neither require, nor desire, Internet access. We do all our work together on white boards or easels with paper.
Further, we provide Leadership Team Manuals for each leader, which are 3 ring binders with paper documents we distribute and generate.
We are often asked why we still use paper and why we don’t encourage the use of laptops or iPads for everyone?
The reasons we use paper Leadership Team Manuals are several:
- They foster face-to-face interaction, which is best for building team trust and for ensuring people are “present” in the meeting.
- They provide a place to take hand written notes which often, but not always, reinforces learning.
- They provide a convenient place to store materials that you develop.
- They are a reference place for EOS principles and tools.
- Eyeball to eyeball is the most effective way of building trust.
How frustrating is it for you when you are in a meeting and everyone is glancing at their phones, tablets or laptops checking email, or worse, typing?
The first and fifth benefits above accrue to meetings which use whiteboards, or paper easels, instead of PowerPoint. Don’t you agree?
Graphic credit: EOS Worldwide
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting POV, but I think we now live in an era where manuals are old school.
Jim, there are many who would agree with you. There is a middle ground in there somewhere. I am a fan of interactive text books as per the new iBooks initiative at Apple but I feel that is most appropriate for self paced study. Where human interaction is the goal, listening is more important and paper and pencil notes are less diverting then a browser and the Internet, don’t you think? Thanks for your comment.
In addition to the better engagement and fully cutting off the distractions, there is quite a bit of research showing the higher quality of the learning that occurrs when using paper and taking notes by hand than when using a computer. There turns out to be something in physical movement that aids learning. It also seems that your brain operates differently and seemingly in more creative ways. Who knew, the old ways can actually have benefits over the new.
For me that is certainly true. It is interesting to hear that it is noted in research. Thanks for commenting Steve.