Sprint stories from Brazil — what I’ve learned facilitating my first Design Sprint
For the past years, part of my job as branding specialist has been facilitating creative processes. For that reason, I wasn’t exactly surprised (but still flattered) when my leader invited me to facilitate Aurum’s first Design Sprint. We were considering a new strategy for a product and this method seemed like a good way to test it.
Design Sprint is, as said in their website, “a five-day process for solving problems and testing new ideas”. Invented by Google, tested by the folks at Google Ventures and “hyped” since they launched the book.
I had the opportunity to study about it and run a Sprint in a safe environment. The leaders who trusted me with the mission really trusted me with the mission, no micromanagement. All of the team members were people I already knew and had worked with. Aurum’s culture truly encourages the testing mindset. For those reasons, I had an amazing experience as a facilitator and here are some tips I’d like to share.
As a facilitator
1. Follow the process
Is it your first time facilitating a Design Sprint? Follow the process! Do you have experience with many other methods? Nice! Now, follow the process! I reproduced this conversation on my mind many times. Before starting a Design Sprint, be sure you are open to embrace it. You can use your previous background to help at some points, but if it’s your first time, give the process a chance.
* I could say “follow the book”, but the book is no longer the only source of information about the process. Check out the references at the end of this article.
2. Remember what a facilitator does
As a facilitator you don’t have many jobs, but you have the crucial ones. I like to think of them as the three big Ps: People, Process and Problems. About People: be vigilant on people’s energy and focus levels, create moments and spaces to keep them elevated. About Process: stay alert to the clock and the job to be done. You must be the one in control so everybody else can relax and create great things. About Problems: anything that happens and somehow harms the process or the people is your concern. I’m not being hyperbolical here, I really mean ANYTHING. If it can delay or interrupt the process or take away people’s focus or energy, solve it!
3. Share the responsibility
It’s very likely (and important) that everyone in the Sprint wants to be there and make a great work together. For it to succeed, each one has a part to play and you were chosen to take care of the tree big Ps, right? Yeah, however you shouldn’t be completely alone. Everybody in the Sprint must take some responsibility with the P of Process. That’s an important talk to have on Monday, the collective commitment to the process. Otherwise, your Sprint can look like a kindergarten — and you, like an exhausted super nanny.
4. Be polite, but steady
Design Sprint is a process with many rules and people will try to bargain them all the time. They do that not because they are malicious, but because they are humans. Some people may not be used to rules, others may not be used to not co-writing the rules. That’s why you must be steady! Regardless of if it’s the new intern or the CEO who you are talking to, be firm and do what you know is the best for the process. It doesn’t mean you should be bossy or arrogant. Speak peacefully and explain the reasons. Then, do what you should do.
5. Take care of yourself
Facilitation is a job of giving, helping, clearing the way so others can walk through. If you have the profile of a facilitator it is very likely that, sometimes, you’ll forget to facilitate your own job. Take the three big Ps and apply them to your job. Put yourself on the P of “People” and remember to look inside. Are you drinking enough water? Are you energized enough to energize others? Are you giving yourself enough resting time? If you see an issue when looking inside, try to fix it. If you can’t fix it, inform your team that you are not on your best day. Asking for help is hard for those used to help others, but it is also a sign of maturity. ;)
About the method
1. It works
In times of miraculous methods with cool names, I think it’s important to say: this works. Design sprint is not a growth-thinking-mindfulness-agile-mindset-wow-purpose-enlightenment, it is a step by step method. The book and all the online material about it works for teaching the process and aligning expectations. There’s a good amount of cases from around the world that show us you can run a Design Sprint anywhere. So, go for it!
2. It may be strange for some cultures
As a Brazilian, I’m used to talking a lot and loudly, to being touchy, to arguing and engaging in long discussions. Design Sprint values the silence as a necessity for creation. It offers specific periods and shapes for the discussion happen. Everything has a moment and a way to happen, except chaos. Do you know creative chaos? It is not invited to the Sprint. I’m not saying that to discourage you. But if you are about to start a Design Sprint and your culture is not that methodical, be prepared to try something new. You may be afraid that the silence and the presence of a definer might take away the co-creation spirit. I can tell you that it doesn’t. It’s only a different way to co-create.
3. “No devices” is really necessary
The authors are very strict about the “no devices” rule, and they are right to do so. Not only in the Sprint process, but in any dynamic or meeting where focus and creation are essential. Taking the devices away from people’s hands will be excruciating in the first day, but it gets better along the week. The way I see things, people want to be present and turn off the rest, but they feel guilty. Blame the method, blame the book, blame the facilitator and set people free to focus on one thing, the Sprint.
4. It covers until Friday
The Design Sprint method involves everything that happens from the initial goal until the end of the interviews. What happens after the interviews? According to the book, you should decide what to do and write it down. It’s a little vague, and it was the point where my former experience as a facilitator and the decider’s experience of the CEO were more required. I’m not saying that’s a huge gap, we could easily have handle it. But, as the book is very meticulous about every single tiny step, it may get people lost.
If you have any other tip you’d like to share, have questions or different perspectives about the method, let’s talk about it in the comments below. ;)
More content about Design Sprint:
https://sprintstories.com/23-facilitation-tips-for-design-sprints-34d876aa5317
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxk9zj3EDi0X5CgoFckoheIFAx-uT2i7j
