3/13/2019 How to transform the Design Sprint into a powerful Team Development Week

How to transform the Design Sprint

into a powerful Team Development
Week
Rasmus Belter Follow
Oct 5, 2018 · 8 min read

Recently a colleague asked me: “How did you come up with this version
of the Google Design Sprint?” — I replied “well, it’s actually the original
version”.

But she insisted that something was di erent.

She continued: “Your Design Sprint truly boosted our team’s

motivation. Beside building prototypes we also reached a higher level
of trust and cooperation.”

Me: “Sure, that’s what a Design Sprint usually does: it involves

everybody into the decision making and it’s a lot of fun to turn ideas
into prototypes in only a few days”.

But then it struck me.

I realized that I’ve learned a lot about facilitation and team

development in recent years and that I was unconsciously applying

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this knowledge to the Design Sprint process — small variations that

build trust and encourage open feedback.

However, the Google Design Sprint is not primarly built for team
development. It’s a 5 day huddle to innovate and design products that
focus on the user perspective.

Khai Yang
@ kh i
A snapshot from a Google Design Sprint

From my experience, it’s key to develop a strong team spirit along the
way.

That’s why I mapped out 6 key team development exercises that

make the great Design Sprint week even better. I call it the Team
Development Week.

In the following, I’ll show you day by day how to transform the Google
Design Sprint – of course while maintaining its original goal to develop
and test prototypes.

. . .

MONDAY

1. Kick o the Sprint with Personal Stories

Monday morning starts with an introduction round. We all know these
boring rounds where we actually don’t relly get to know the people but
rather their job titles.

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Encourage your team members to introduce themselve by sharing

personal stories not their professional background.

For example you may ask what hobby or activity they enjoy in their
spare time. Or where they like to travel to.

It’s an easy hack but personal stories change the way

your participants build relations.

Some participants don’t like sharing personal stories with colleagues.

Don’t worry: If your question is openly formulated they could reply
with more obvious personal details like “I like wearing Nike Sneakers”.

If your team members meet the very rst time, take a ipchart marker
and write down the names and the detail they share as they speak. It
makes it easier for everybody to remember both the names and the
personal stories.

2. Address the Elephant in the Room

On Monday evening there will be a few people left who question the
Design Sprint concept as a whole. Maybe they will challenge your
moderation or — even worse — protest silently.

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She remains sceptical (by rawpixel on Unsplash)

The unspoken elephant in the room should be adressed to open up

sceptical participants and increase trust. For this, I use the simple
“Stinky Fish” (not elephant) exercise on the very rst day of the Design
Sprint.

“The stinky sh is a metaphor for that thing that you

carry around but don’t like to talk about; but the
longer you hide it, the stinkier it gets.” Source

Ask them how they feel about the rst day. Or whether they like the
proposed approach of prototyping and testing?

Hand out a sheet of paper to everybody and let them draw a simple sh.
Now each participant takes 3 to 5 minutes time to write down their
personal thoughts (inside the sh’s body).

Then, sit in a circle (without tables) and let each participant share their
stinky sh to the rest of the group. One at a time, for 60 seconds each.
Don’t allow discussions but rather express a simple “thank you”.

Put all the drawings up on the wall to keep the thoughts in the room –
you may refer later to it.

Personally, I really like this exercise since it’s very easy yet powerful. It
takes only 15 to 20 extra minutes.

. . .

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TUESDAY

3. Check-in & Check-out

I’m sure you’ve experienced this before: People arrive rushed in the
morning or are somewhere else with their minds. Maybe they had to
squeeze into a packed train or make sure the kids are on time for
school.

by Karol Kaczorek on Unsplash

That’s why I recommend starting (from Tuesday onwards) with a

morning circle or “U shape” and craft two powerful check-in questions
to set the stage and open the process. Source

To catch the mood in the room, include one organizational and one
rather emotional question. Try to nd a connecting but playful tone to
frame your questions right.

Organizational questions may cover the participants morning routine

or important tasks your team members bear in mind. Emotional
questions may address unspoken expectations or feelings about the
Design Sprint.

If the mood is right, feel free to throw in fun

questions like “What super power will you contribute
today?” or “If our team ran a zoo, my role would
be …”

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On Tuesday evening you can introduce the daily check-out. It’s based
on the same principle as the daily check-in but focuses on the learnings
of the day.

Try to reach a positive framing of your questions since these statements

will stay with the group overnight. Ask “What’s your biggest insight
from today?” or “Where was your low, where was your high today?”.

Don’t write the statements down but give a handshake to everybody

after they made their statements to close the day with a small ritual.

by rawpixel on Unsplash

After the team members left the room, evaluate the schedule for the
next day – based on what they told you. It gives you the possibility to
improve the facilitation process and boost results.

Checking -in and out only takes 20 minutes of your day but makes a
huge di erence when it comes to managing the group dynamics and
developing the team further.

. . .

WEDNESDAY

4. Introduce Feedback Sessions

From Wednesday onwards, team collaboration is getting more intense
and structured feedback exercises really can really contribute to good
team work.

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To get started, try the Appreciation Train exercise (Source): Line up

your team members in two rows — each team member should face
another team member. Ask the ones in the rst row to tell their
counterpart at least one thing they really appreciate about him or her.

Tell them to rotate after a few seconds to keep the energy level high and
avoid silence. This exercise also could serve as an energizer after lunch
break.

Positive Feedback is a good start.

However, we all know, people don’t like to share negative feedback. I

believe it’s worth the e ort to include real feedback opportunities in
the Design Sprint. But how?

Feedback is best given using I-statements.

A popular approach to ensure open feedback is called I like, I wish, I

wonder. You can deploy it either written or verbal. Source

Split your team in smaller groups of 3 to 4 people and ask them to write
down their I like, I wish, I wonder individually. Let the use di erently
colored sticky-notes for each of the three categories. After a few
minutes let them share their ndings.

They may write: I like how we split our teams to get

work done. I wish we would spend less time on
discussions. And I wonder where to get additional
inspiration?

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Instead of saying: “In large groups we don’t make any progress but even
in our small team we face endless discussions. And our ideas are totally
uninspired”.

Please be aware that the purpose of this exercise is

not to exchange corrective feedback but rather to
learn how people perceive and interpret each others
behaviour.

Feedback sessions like this one will help your team members to
immensely improve collaboration within a few hours.

. . .

THURSDAY

5. Go out for Dinner

On Thursday, your team members craft the actual prototype and thus
reach their energetic high. It’s time to celebrate.

Just convince the decider of the Design Sprint to invite the whole team.
It’s a simple gesture but it changes everything: Your team will grow and
communication will improve a lot.

Easy but powerful: Dinner on Thursday

Find a restaurant that serves platter to share to encourage team

collaboration even during dinner. Don’t forget to ask them on Monday
whether they have any dietary restrictions.

. . .

FRIDAY

6. Team Retrospective is Key

After your team members conducted the user interviews on Friday you
should invite all team members to re ect on the Design Sprint.

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Originally taken from Agile Software Development there are many

good resources out there on the web on how to run a proper
retrospective. I prefer a public Trello list called “Retrospective
Techniques for Coaches Other Facilitators” Source.

Even if you’re not into agile methods I strongly encourage you to

include the following three questions into your retrospective. It’s not
that hard.

What did we learn? What should we do di erently

next time? What still puzzles us? Source

As mentioned earlier, encourage feedback that is based on I-

statements. If you like you can also use the I like, I wish, I wonder
approach again.

Yeah, Friday afternoon is tough. You may schedule it in the week after
the sprint as well. Typically I need 60 to 90 minutes to conduct it.

. . .

THAT’S IT

Five Days transformed.

Six tips for 5 days. I prepared a small overview for you which
summarizes everything described above. Please feel free to use it
during your next team development week.

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Team Development Week — Overview

Some people ask me if you can include all steps in a single Design
Sprint. I believe you can. However, if you’re not experienced with
facilitating feedback sessions or retrospectives, try baby steps rst.

Now, the ball is in your corner to leverage these tips and transform
your next Design Sprint into a powerful Team Development Week.

. . .

If you like my article it would mean a lot to me when

you click on the “clap button”.

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