Visual Engagement Tools – Square Wheels Roll to involve and engage people using the powerful AI facilitation tools now available like Stormz.

Visual facilitation has exploded in effectiveness with so many online tools now available to actively involve people in workplace improvement actions, empowering organizations to make meetings more engaging and drive real culture change. They can capture ideas to generate group consensus on opportunities for improvement.

But while the world of visual tools offers a dazzling array of choices, nothing combines impact and adaptability quite like Square Wheels^® where a simple image becomes the launchpad for deep transformation. Identifying and implementing round wheels to address organizational issues and opportunities is an amazing motivator and the metaphor can accomplish so much more given the broad diversity of themes within the series. (Note that the unimproved wagon rolls on 4 wooden Square Wheels but the cargo are round rubber tires!)

Celebrate the implementation of round wheels

Exploring Approaches to Visual Facilitation

Visual facilitation is more than just adding pictures to a flip chart. At its heart, it’s about unlocking group wisdom, boosting participation, and surfacing ideas that drive meaningful change. It is a great tool for workplace dis-un-engagement.

Some leading, common approaches to engagement include:

• Graphic Recording: Skilled facilitators map live discussions as visually captivating murals, helping teams see their thinking evolve in real time and spot new connections.​ Nice, but expensive and often suitable for only the one discussion because of its uniqueness.

• Visual Storytelling: Storyboards and metaphorical images frame organizational challenges as shared adventures, sparking creative thinking and building buy-in for change.​ But these are often not totally inclusive or representative. 

• Collaborative Whiteboards: Digital platforms like Miro, Mural and FigJam let distributed teams brainstorm, map processes, and prioritize visually, multiplying engagement and energy.​ Of all these, my preference is Stormz, where we are currently developing useful templates.

• Mindmaps and Diagrams: Structured visual techniques clarify complexity, making action steps and obstacles visible and actionable.​ I have done hundreds of mindmaps as a creative planning process.

Each method amplifies participation, but effectiveness depends on more than the medium and the approach of asking for ideas. Optimally, it’s about using the right visual anchor to generate focus and to change the language of performance, generate group problem solving and to produce meaningful dis-un-engagement.

Did-Un-Engagement is my framework for doing things to help remove perceived and actual roadblocks to engagement. Note that there are more perceived ones than actual roadblocks! Note too that you simply cannot “engage” someone else because it is their choice. You cannot change their choices directly but you can coach and mentor to help them see things differently and remove some of the things to generate more active involvement. Every supervisor should have dis-un-engagement as a focus because so much more positive will happen.

Why Square Wheels Stands Out

Among all visual metaphors I have seen in my 40 years of experiential learning, Square Wheels delivers unmatched flexibility and impact for facilitating organizational change, engagement, and innovation. It is not a single image but a complete toolkit of different frameworks to help define issues and opportunities and to help change the language of performance in the workplace. It also easily combines with other tools to improve their effectiveness.

• Universality: The image—a cart stuck with square wheels and ignored round ones just waiting to be used—resonates with leaders, front-line staff, and cross-functional teams alike. It’s a springboard for discussing things that work but “could roll better,” surfacing barriers in a psychologically safe, non-confrontational way.​

• Participation Driver: Square Wheels acts like a visual inkblot, inviting every participant to interpret and relate their experience to the metaphor. This psychological ownership powers deeper insights and lets improvements emerge organically.​

• Integration Power: Whether used on paper, whiteboards, in digital collaboration spaces, or blended with graphic recording, Square Wheels fits seamlessly, structuring open discussions while anchoring conversations in shared understanding.​

• Culture Catalyst: Square Wheels helps spotlight everyday challenges and hidden opportunities, helping groups turn “problems” into creative innovations and build a culture that welcomes ideas for improvement.​

Here are 30 of our 70+ images

Comparing Other Workplace Metaphors

While other metaphors and themes like mountain climbs, whitewater rafting, relay races, jigsaw puzzles and similar may hold value for emphasizing teamwork or collective goals, they lack universal relevance. Firewalking is not about teamwork, and paintball sure leave an impact on people, but is that the kind of culture you really want to develop? (You will like this booking.com ad below using paintball as its messaging!)

Square Wheels delivers simplicity while depth and breadth: it works across industries, cultures, and team sizes, making it the top choice for facilitators who need flexibility to address engagement, innovation, motivation and culture.​

Closing Thoughts and a Free Toolkit

Visual facilitation is an essential toolset for any organization aiming to build engagement and spark innovation. And Square Wheels is easy to use by anyone, including the supervisors and managers. We’re talking real “workplace engagement” here and not simply some training option.

Choosing the right approach makes all the difference, and nothing beats the enduring brilliance and versatility of my Square Wheels metaphor. It transforms teams from passive observers to active problem-solvers, builds bridges across silos, and unlocks the latent energy that drives organizational culture forward.​

It’s never just about rolling forward—it’s about choosing the “round wheels” that move us all ahead.

Note: You can download a FREE copy of the Square Wheels One image for easy use in organizational improvement. After 30 years, I am putting it out there under a free Creative Commons licensing process making it readily available for use. Download it and a free toolkit here — and we may embed a free online brainstorming template (Stormz) with the package by the time you read this.

Download the FREE Square Wheels One image under Creative Commons license

—

For the FUN of It!

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools.
Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant who is trying to retire!! He now lives in Cuenca, Ecuador.

You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com
Learn more about Scott at his LinkedIn site.

What I am about:

My Square Wheels blogs and website exist to equip leaders, trainers, and facilitators with practical process improvement tools along with effective organizational change tools. My purpose is to facilitate engagement and active involvement to help make work smoother and more human.

By blending change management facilitation with proven workshop facilitation techniques, team collaboration activities, and creative problem solving activities, my mission is to support organizations in designing employee engagement strategies that are both energizing and sustainable. Through accessible, sometimes free team building resources and virtual facilitation tools, my focus is on helping teams everywhere discover better ways to collaborate together, innovate continuously, and own their path to improvement.

Square Wheels® are a registered trademark of Simmulations, LLC
and images have been copyrighted since 1993,

© Simmulations, LLC 1993 – 2025

#SquareWheels  #InnovationAtWork  #TeamEngagement  #FacilitationTools  #WorkplaceImprovement  #EmployeeEngagement  #CreativeProblemSolving  #OrganizationalDevelopment  #LeadershipTools #collaboration #leadership #stormz #visualfacilitation #dis-un-engagement