Management Infographics

    Infographics, in one form or another, have been around for many years. They are used by businesses, media, government or brands to convey information, data or knowledge in a visual manner. The basic premise of an infographic is as follows:

• Condense large amounts of information into an easily absorbable form
• Display data and information through use of visual elements
• Combine these elements to present an overriding message or insight

    Two common examples of an infographic that you might see most days are a subway map, or the T.V. weather report. Both use graphical elements to represent things such as weather patterns and rail lines, and have an explicit, functional message they need to convey. They follow the archetype structure of the infographic, made up of three parts — the visual, the content, and the knowledge.

    Visual
This covers the colours and graphics used on an infographic. Graphics can either represent specific pieces of data (theme graphics), or point towards particular areas of information (reference graphics).


    Content
All the information you need to convey the main message. Facts, figures, and statistical breakdowns.


    Knowledge

This is the message you want to convey to the reader. In the two examples previously mentioned, this would be informing viewers of the coming weather forecast, and instruct commuters on how to reach their destination.

    Infographics have become ubiquitous with modern day communication. This can be understood as the internet and social media providing a great platform for a communication method that shows information quickly and simply in a visual manner; and also as a necessity due to a trend towards a lower attention span from internet users.

    It is no surprise that this effective form of communication is used in all forms of business, for a variety of tasks. An infographic is suitable for whenever you need to convey data or a corporate message to the workforce.

    A sales team might want to show their performance over a certain time period, with a breakdown of different products/divisions/locations. Charts, graphs, and other indicators can be used to display corporate data and statistics, and split information into clearly defined sub-sections.

    Management might want to communicate a basic workflow for each division of the company, visualise business strategy and decision processes, or display a certain business training concept. In this case, an infographic can be more text heavy, and use illustrations to establish a timeline, process, or step-by-step sequence of events.

    The marketing side of a business can use infographics to relay information and marketing strategies internally amongst the workforce, or as a tool to educate consumers about the business model or product.

    The benefits of using such a visual method to convey your business ideas are tied to what we know about human behaviour when learning or processing new information. The majority of people are termed as 'visual learners' — so infographics have a broader influence than other methods of communication. Vision is our dominant sense; we process images faster than text, and can much more easily retain information that is accompanied by a visual cue. So a well designed infographic has the power to be more persuasive and striking than a simple block of text. They are user friendly to design — large amounts of information can be divided and shown in a clean, effective manner. Graphics and icons are eye catching, and easy to understand without the need for too much context.