Testing and sketchnoting

Sometimes I think I'm not a very sociable person, geez, I've even realized I'm super introverted and I enjoy spending time by myself...but boy do I belong to different communities! 

This year I had the pleasure of meeting Marianne Rady and she warmly welcomed me into the sketchnoting community. In previous years there have been bootcamps in which a lot of sketchnoters from all over the world met, but because of this year's events, Marianne decided to organize an online conference. That weekend was a bit complicated for me because I was attending a testing conference that same week, but I ended up attending Sketchnote Connect and I had a blast! They had THE best Miro board I've ever seen (I wasn't expecting any less of this community, tbh!). The conference had an open space format, and we know how inspiring those spaces can be. 

(Inner voice says: GET TO THE POINT, ANTO) One of the conversations I had was how did I transition from paper to digital and so this is more or less what this post is about (sorry for the long intro).

BACK TO THE PAST

I distinctly remember being very picky about my notebooks in elementary school, I always wanted a specific brand called Rivadavia (they're popular in Argentina) and I always wanted pens with a specific shade and thickness. Writing with a fountain pen was compulsory in elementary school and I always wanted to buy the same pen (I think it was Bic). However, as we grew older, they allowed us to use ballpoint pens and I always wanted the same see-through blue Faber Castell, thick stroke, not navy and not light blue...it was the perfect shade of blue. 

My love for notebooks started when I watched Harriet the Spy for the first time. She was so picky about her notebooks and it made me feel validated. 

PRESENT TENSE

Although I've started sketchnoting "officially" this year, as my Instagram bio says, I've been sketchnoting since the first grade. I remember doodling things that helped me remember what I was being taught...perhaps it's intuitive and we lose it with age? Anyway, I won Mike Rohde's sketchnote book at a meetup this year and I've been experimenting ever since. 

I have a lot of notebooks, paper, and pens, but I decided to go digital (most of the time, especially if it's live sketchnoting) and I'll tell you why. You can scroll down all the way to the bottom of the page if you don't want to read a lot.    

PAPER MATTERS

                                                                 

This seems like an obvious thing to write and probably to read, but you never know. Notebooks have different types of pages...and different quality! Notebooks can have ruled or unruled pages, pages with a grid, dotted pages, etc. The color also varies, since pages can be super white, beige, yellowish, brown, etc. The thickness varies too! Oh, and the price!

INK MATTERS

Do you like using watercolor? Then you better check that your pen is waterproof! But what if you are looking for a bleeding effect and your pen doesn't do it? 

Do you make mistakes? Everyone does...maybe you need a pen you can erase! 

The pen(s) you choose need to agree with the paper you chose (unless you like surprises!).

 

BE A TESTER

The ink you use will depend on the paper your notebook has - or at least that's what I do...but I always had accidents until I started having a "Tester page". This is not my idea, I think I either saw it here or here (blog in Spanish). 

Whenever I get a notebook, I use the last page as a tester page. I use each pen I think will agree with the notebook and write its name on the page and then add some water (but only to part of the writing!). When it's dry, I turn the page and see if it has bled through the page. By writing the name of the pen with the pen itself, I don't have to remember which is which, the name is right there. 

ADD COLOR (IF THAT'S WHAT YOU LIKE)

There are different ways of adding color to sketchnotes, and some are wetter than others. If you're using thin paper then you might not want to use wet markers unless you don't cringe when the paper starts to wrinkle :D 

PAPER DISTRIBUTION

Sometimes, you know exactly how long a presentation will last and how big your paper needs to be in order to fit the information you think you'll write down. I get really disappointed when I reserve space and then the speaker doesn't say anything that resonates with me and I have a huge blank. I also get a bit frustrated when I run out of space...but there's something someone mentioned on Sketch Connect I think, which is that you can always add more paper and just stick it to the page! Seems like an obvious solution that I never thought of :O 

MONEY

I have a stationery shop across the street and I used to visit them every month. Is it the smell of stationery that relaxes me and makes me think that ain't no mountain high enough? I don't know, but it's a sanctuary. However, I started paying attention to my receipts and I realized I was spending a lot of money there! That's what made me think that perhaps going digital would be cheaper in the long run. Sure, iPads and tablets cost money too, but it seems to be a one time purchase (at least for a good couple of years). 

THE UNDO BUTTON AND BEING ABLE TO RESIZE PAGE ELEMENTS

Finally, resizing text and the undo button. Those are two features that both of the software I use have (GoodNotes and Procreate) and what, in my opinion, makes it all worth it. 

Yes, I will continue to use paper because the feeling is different, and there's something amazing, a sense of achievement that I get when I'm able to fix/conceal mistakes without the magic of the undo button...but there are days in which my brain wants to experiment and undo, as quick and easy as that, and I'm happy I give my brain the chance to do so.

PS: An iPad has its own problems, like screen glare, Apple Pencil tips, etc. Maybe I'll blog about it in the future ;)

The self-assessment time of the year

A couple of weeks ago we had to write our self-assessment reports in one of the HR platforms of the company. At first, I was very confused about it, especially because I have been working in this company for about eight months and sometimes it's hard for me to retrace things that I'd fill in in a self-assessment form. Anyway, even if I've had to assess my work every year in my previous company, each company has its own format for this type of evaluation. NOTE: If you don't care about the story behind this and just want to skip to the conclusion and tips, scroll down to the bottom. You're welcome :D

Fortunately, HR set up a training session in which they taught us how to use the platform, that we had to give examples, etc.

But what do I say? Each section of the form was mapped to our company values, and we had to provide examples of each and rate ourselves from 1-5 (each rate value has an explanation). I had lots of questions: "Have I done enough? Have I not done enough? Have I surpassed the expectations they had when they hired me? What were they expecting from me?" If I knew that, then I guess I'd know whether I've met such expectations or not. "Does my work apply to each value?" "Do I live and work and breathe the company's core values?"

It all made me think of quality since I had to assess the quality of my own work after all, and I suppose the company values and the rating 1-5 were my heuristics (or were they my oracles? I'm second-guessing myself here as usual). 

Jerry Weinberg's definition of quality says that "Quality is value to some person" and if you add Michael Bolton's and James Bach's addition to this quote "who matters", then the definition of quality is "Quality is value to some person who matters". 

Also, I remember learning that "quality is a subjective value" (I will quote the author when I remember who said it), but "how do I make it more objective so I can actually rate my work? Or should I remain subjective because this self-assessment is about me and my work?" Ugh...I know... I was getting way philosophical about it but that's how it happened.

I have impostor syndrome (maybe you have it too, dear reader) and I underestimate myself a lot, so how could I be objective about my work and not sell myself short? Or, once again, should I have remained subjective, since it was about me?

I was a bit stuck, so I googled "how to fill in a self-evaluation" and clicked on the first link I found: this link. 

I started scanning the text and this part caught my attention..."There’s no way to evaluate your performance without a clear description of your job. If you already have one, keep it handy while composing your self-evaluation."  I browsed my inbox, trying to find the job description that made me want to apply for this job and I found it. After reading it, I didn't feel that bad about myself, they were looking for someone with some experience but always willing to learn (hey! that's me!!). I was in a better place to review myself, so I sat in front of my laptop and started typing and I didn't move until I realized I was sitting in complete darkness (it's not like I typed for days though, it was probably that time of the day where it's about to be sunset but it's quite lit still). 

I read it aloud...it seemed okay and honest. I have to say that the assessment does have something I liked a lot, which is that the categories are our company values, so you provide examples of your work under each value. I detailed the things I consider an achievement, things that I've been struggling with but kind of overcame...I was ready to give myself a rating. Oh boy, here comes the overthinking part again.

"If I choose 3 for all, it'll sound like I think I do my job well, but I'm not arrogant about it. If I choose 4-5, will it look like I'm too self-confident about what I've done? What if I actually haven't done anything praise-worthy and I just have the illusion that I have?" (Dunning-Kruger effect FTW)

I thought I totally deserved a 4 in one of the values, so I gave myself only one 4, and the rest were 3s. 

Total: 3.2

"But what does it mean? Does it mean I'm OK? Do I deserve a raise or a promotion? Am I going to be the first one to get fired because I didn't get a 5 average? What does 3.2 even mean?"

I've given some feedback to HR about it already, perhaps so that people like me don't get anxious about a number whose meaning we don't even know...Also, if we knew how this will be used (maybe they did explain it but I missed it?) maybe we wouldn't be so uncomfortable with it (I know I wasn't the only one). 

Lessons learned (and tips, so if you're in this situation and don't know how to do it maybe this can help you a bit): 

1. Keep a record of your achievements and difficulties (especially if you've managed to overcome them). Not only will they come in handy for self-assessment, but also for a job interview.

2. Job description: If you're new at the job, it might help you to keep your job description near, so you can refer back to it if needed. Just remember that sometimes you might get a job because you meet the job description, but then your responsibilities can change over time.

3. Audience: Asking who will read your assessment and how it will be used will help you write it down. If you know this will be used for future promotions, maybe it'll even motivate you to come up with better examples of your achievements!

4. Ask a colleague for help: Getting a colleague (or maybe even your manager?) to proofread it or help out if you're stuck can be really helpful. Sometimes we don't see things others see, so I don't think this can hurt.

Why are we doing it anyway? Perhaps once a year is not enough.