what are rich pictures rich pictures are free formats diagrams that allow analysts to document an existing business situation it is called a rich picture because the preliminary drawing is created following some initial investigation and this drawing is then enriched with further information as the analysis progresses as shown here is an example rich picture which shows a business situation within a cafe we will look at this in more detail later but first let's look at how to construct a rich picture it is important to understand that there are no rules for drawing rich pictures and no constraints on what may be drawn a good starting point is to identify the key stakeholder groups and consider their position within the organizational structure plus their ideas opinions and views about the business situation some areas to consider are the structure of the situation this could reflect the published organization chart but also more subtle things about the working relationships between people and departments it could also cover tangible aspects such as the physical location of buildings the complaints or criticisms that the stakeholders make about the business situation the stakeholders may have certain issues or views that they wish to share they may hold contradictory views sometimes they may have very strong opinions these issues views and opinions should be identified as early as possible the values and beliefs held by the stakeholders for example what do they value and what do they think is less important what do they think is the rationale or main focus for the business the business processes that are carried out it is often valuable to show information or document flows between people teams and departments the symbols evident in the organization for example is their evidence of a hierarchy with privileges for senior staff conflicts within the organization this could be between individuals or departments or perhaps two other organizations any areas of uncertainty things to be investigated further for example where the data supports the expressed opinions of stakeholders finally the culture of the business area is this a supportive firm or does it have a blame culture is there a silo approach or do the staff collaborate with colleagues from other areas the rich picture can be used to reflect what people say about the business situation and how they feel about their working environment it is important to understand that there are no rules for drawing rich pictures and no constraints on what may be drawn the key point is to represent the entire situation using any symbols Cheers and words considered useful it is typical that matchstick figures for people eyes for reviews or external scrutiny cross swords for a dispute etc are used within rich pictures some suggestions for symbols that may be used as shown here but these are only suggestions and you can use any symbols that are meaningful for you and your colleagues for clarity these symbols have been created using graphic software but in practice drawing the rich picture on a whiteboard or flip chart is a much more effective approach developing a rich picture is best approached as a group exercise with at least two people participating this allows for information and sharing crossing out and redrawing the picture is often required so it is usually best to use a whiteboard it is important to develop the picture as more information is obtained so the picture becomes richer during the investigation process let's go back to the rich picture we saw earlier which shows a business situation within a cafe several problem areas are highlighted in this rich picture for example cooking staff are under pressure and can't keep up with orders customers are not happy because having ordered their food they can't find somewhere to sit and available tables are often dirty the waitresses feel they are trying their best but can't keep up with the level of orders and tidying up the boss is worried about takings and is being scrutinized by his business partner the overall impression here is of a business situation where staff are trying but can't keep up with a demand for management are concerned because takings are down and customers are unhappy there is one exception the student customers who enjoy sitting in the cafe but don't buy a lot the picture uses simple drawings but still captures succinctly a sense of the processes the people and the culture of the organization experience of using this technique confirms that it helps to build a mental image of a situation that is holistic and meaningful rich pictures also help to organize information and create understanding while developing a rich picture the analysts begin to understand the issues and problems find new areas to investigate and identify root causes by distinguishing between the actual underlying problems and the displayed symptoms thanks for watching this video for more like this see our channel or 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