Sprint

Lesson 1. What is a Sprint?

‘Sprint’ is a business self-help book written by author Jack Knapp, along with the co-author’s John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz. The authors, who were partners at Google Ventures, describe Sprint as a unique 5-day process for solving workplace problems. It’s designed as a process to isolate a company’s most pressing problem and find its solution within a week. The method has been proved to provide successful results for over a hundred companies and continues to do so. 

This five-day process was initially created by Jake, who was a designer at Google. Right from Google Search to Google X, sprints were used on almost everything. With the partnership of Google Ventures, they have completed more than a hundred sprints with companies in mobile, e-commerce, healthcare, finance, and many more sectors.

The method can be applied by anyone with an idea or a problem, irrespective of the size of their organization, to gain tangible results. Within five days, this technique will take your vision from an idea to a prototype, and finally to a decision; saving you and your team countless hours and dollars.

Lesson 2. The Central question on Monday morning.

On Monday, the team must start the sprint with a key problem to solve in mind. It’s important to isolate the key points and hone their focus for the week. Identify the problems you are facing and pinpoint the biggest one. Start the Monday morning by creating a team. Make sure that your team includes the two key roles: the Decider and the Facilitator. 

The Facilitator ensures that the time is managed properly and the discussions are carried on smoothly. The decider, who is often the head, takes control of the issues and settles them. It is advised that apart from the mentioned two roles, there should be five more people in the team. 

Research has shown that seven is an optimum number for the members of a team. If your team comprises more than seven members, it may lead to a clash of opinions and irrelevant discussions. Also, ensure that your group is as diverse as possible. It’s important to have ideas of different persons, irrespective of their position in the company.

To initiate a sprint, keep in mind that the problem to be solved should neither be too broad or too narrow. If it’s too broad, it can’t be completely solved with a sprint. In the other case, if it’s too narrow, then it wouldn’t require a sprint after all. 

For example, if a hotel startup defines its central