Introducing the Virtual Design Sprint Mastery Program

You can even choose what kind of VDS Master you want to be. Monkey is probably mine. 🐵 (c/o Dreamworks)

The last thing I expected from a recent LinkedIn post about getting small groups together to learn about virtual design sprints was a massive amount of attention and inquiry.

Yet, here I am… late on a Friday night… writing about it. 😁

Truth be told, I’d been working on a learning program for virtual design sprints for the better part of this year. But it wasn’t until the last Global Virtual Design Sprint (GVDS) where I slowly started signing up people to begin working on it.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’m writing this article to better articulate what I’m planning on doing with the Virtual Design Sprint (VDS) Mastery Program in the coming months.

Part 1: Gathering the team together

The VDS Mastery Program will start with a signup process that captures the following information from each interested applicant:

1. Who they are (name, location, etc.)
2. Their strengths, skills and talents they bring to the table
3. What they’re currently learning (or actively learning)
4. What they would like to learn more about (with virtual design sprints, facilitation, session preparation, presentation and other related topics)
5. The amount of time they would reserve for learning during the week
6. How valuable they feel the Mastery Program is (at face value)
7. What they would eventually pay for it (if most outcomes/expectations were met)

Based on the above criteria, I’d gather a small group of 3–5 people with mutual interests together for a schedule-friendly kickoff session.

Part 2: Running the Kickoff Session

Once a potential team gets together, the following activities would help shape team dynamics and the overall learning agenda for the group.

1. Run a mini-team canvas
   The Team Canvas exercise was invaluable for virtual design sprint teams from the last GVDS to align on shared goals, values and norms. We’d utilize a mini-version of the team canvas to set a foundation for proper collaboration and understanding of one another.
2. Explore what team members do well / have confidence in
   Each team member would be bringing a certain level of expertise with them to the table. A short exercise would ask participants to briefly share and summarize their knowledge and experience.
3. Look for possible ways to learn from one another
   For team members who are more senior in their expertise than others, we’d consider the possibility of learning from one another as part of the Mastery Program engagement model. After a brief discussion, we’d plan on integrating some cross-collaborative learning into the mix.
4. Deep dive into the teams’ chosen topics
   We’d transition into our common topics of interest, elaborating on what we’d like to advance in terms of each individuals’ learning curves. A dot voting exercise would help determine which topics are the most interesting to everyone involved.
5. Rate topics with an ‘Effort/Impact’ Eisenhower Matrix
   Team members would evaluate their learning options using a 2x2 visual framework called an Eisenhower Decision Matrix. After a team vote, only items in the upper left and right quadrants (deemed the most impactful) would be considered for the teams’ Mastery Program.

A visual representation of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

Part 3: Logistics and Scheduling

Once the teams’ learning agenda is set, we’d turn our attention to scheduling activities for individual team members and the overall group. By the end of our kickoff session, we’d work out:

• Online and offline activities for all team members to participate in
• Individual activities and topics for team members to pursue
• Agreed upon time frames to complete our training
• Dates and times for checking in, tracking progress, etc.
• Individual 1 on 1 sessions (for those looking for coaching/guidance)

We’d also choose our tools to communicate with each other (Zoom, Meet, Whatsapp, etc.), white boarding services (Mural, Miro, Teams, etc.), software to document our progress (Slack, Basecamp, Notion, etc.) and how we’d use social media to share our stories (if applicable).

Finally, I’d work in a few ‘fail-safe’ options for participants to leave their team if things aren’t working out. Reasons could range from unexpected offline events to a change of heart about their learning plans. Participants could also pivot their learning schedule towards other topics of interest if their initial learning plan wasn’t working out.

Ultimately, the goal would be to create a learning framework that accommodates both unexpected change, individual learning styles and the right to non-discriminatory, safe learning environments. The more malleable the process, the better.

How much does this cost?

The Virtual Design Sprint Mastery program will run on a trust-based pricing model during its initial growth period. If you’re not familiar with the approach, it works like this:

• An applicant rates how valuable the prospect of the program might be for them professionally (from casually interested to extremely valuable)
• Then, the applicant determines the price range they think the Mastery Program is worth (these are set ranges in the online application form)
• Finally, the applicant states the initial price they would pay for the Mastery Program, based on the previous two answers.

If an applicant is selected and agrees to join a group, a 1–2 week trial period goes into effect where they can try out the Program for free (depending on the proposed length of the Program by the team). After the trial period is over, their stated initial price (from the above exercise) would be required to continue their learning journey.

If the Mastery Program chosen by participants runs within a fixed time frame (2–4 weeks), the participants’ initial cost is all that’s required. Programs with longer time frames would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Why should I choose this program over a Masterclass?

It’s really a question of applied practice and the results you want to achieve. If learning through recorded videos and asynchronous chat support / online user gives you the results you’re looking for, go for it.

I have a different point of view.

Currently, there are enough Masterclass offerings these days to make anyone feel like they could do anything they wanted without a ton of personal investment and time. You could play guitar like Carlos Santana, flow acid drops like Tony Hawk, direct like Ron Howard, or run a design sprint like AJ&Smart.

You can future proof yourself with a one time down payment, a monthly fee and your time and attention to learn as much as possible. It’s as simple as that.

But here’s the thing.
It’s nothing more than informational theatre.

Unless you intend on actually doing the work and putting in the time to practice what you consume from these courses, it’s never going to stick. As I’ve written about in a previous article on work ethic, you can’t play like Lebron James just because you’ve paid top dollar for a signed basketball.

You need to do the work.

If the Mastery Program sounds like something you’d like to try, you can start by filling out the following sign-up form.

Depending on timing and who’s interested, I’d plan to start our first kickoff sessions during the week of July 6–10. I’d slowly ramp up other teams the following week, paying close attention to my own bandwidth, how participants are getting along and the type of support and guidance they need to be successful.

If all goes well, I’ll be running the full VDS Mastery Program at the beginning of August when I’ll be starting work on the 5th (and final) Global Virtual Design Sprint in October.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below. You can also sign up to receive a newsletter I occasionally send out, or check out some of my videos on YouTube.

Talk with you later! 👍