Use these approaches and navigational tools to help eliminate surprises, and align the team so everyone is on a similar page heading into the Design Sprint. Humans are creatures of habit, so taking some of the uncertainty out of this major schedule change help folks show up with positive attitudes ready to work toward an outcome.

Whether you’re leading an hourlong workshop or a five-day Design Sprint, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from feeling emotionally drained and completely exhausted. My hope in sharing these 3 steps — which are my own learnings that I practice every day— is that they save you from feeling burnt out and get you back to the things you love.

Testing is arguably one of the most critical parts of the Design Sprint process. If you’re running a remote process, here’s a straightforward and streamlined way to stay organized and collect this key feedback from testers.

Jackie believes in service. She has been volunteering for most of her life and has worked with organizations in the Twin Cites such as Amicus (Prisoner mentorship program), Free Arts Minnesota, and as a hospice volunteer. When she started her business, she committed to giving back to help her community thrive. Each year, she offers her services pro bono.

The ways in which we collaborate have changed a lot as a result of the pandemic. More virtual meetings, more screen time, more A/V issues, and way more sneak peeks into our colleagues’ lives. While it’s certainly not a perfect reality, certain aspects of shifting to a remote model have resulted in a lot of positive outcomes for facilitator. Here are 4 examples.

Your job as a facilitator isn’t to show off with your knowledge of the business; it’s to drive people through a process that lands on a desired outcome. A few learnings have completely transformed the way I facilitate today.

Jackie partnered with Sprint book author, John Zeratsky, in 2018 & 2019 to bring Design Sprint bootcamps to Minneapolis. They were a ton of fun and we intended to bring it back to in 2020 to multiple cities but a global pandemic got in the way. In 2020, Jackie worked with John and Jake Knapp to offer the bootcamp online during three virtual workshops.

Design Sprints are a great way to test ideas before you invest a ton of time and money in building them out. You could certainly make something up without understanding your customer but you’ll get more out of your Sprint if you know a little something about the people you aim to help before you start.

The Job Story method takes the team deeper into the needs of the people we are solving a problem for. This means they are more likely to create a solution that meets those needs and as a result, make something people value.

When Justin Kaster and I first started talking, he was in the midst of working on the next iteration of his business ideas and wanted help defining what his team could do next. I ran a 3-day Design Sprint with Justin’s team to design, test, and get feedback on new concepts that could help him evaluate the best next direction for his business.

The magic of the Design Sprint is its ability to neutralize politics. When I work with teams, I have frank conversations about politics and team dynamics going into the Sprint. The agenda I design takes into consideration the realities of those dynamics. I use methods to draw out ideas from everyone in the room and facilitate sharing and dialog so that politics aren’t what matters and great ideas can shine through.

These methods used are both a means to solve the challenges at hand and as practice so that educators walk away with tools they can use to continuously improve and refine on their own. First: we identify our “to solve” and refine by putting the human beings we aim to help at the center of our problem solving. Then: we come up with new ideas rapidly. Last: we define solutions that will be tested and tried after our work together.