GVDS April 2019: Quick tips
A few tips on how to prepare for the biggest Design Sprint Event in the World.
Working in a Design Sprint format is a great experience, I’ve always loved the productivity and the achievements by end of the week, but honestly it’s quite exhausting and requires a lot of preparations coming into the week. To make things even more fun and crazy, Robert Skrobe created the Global Virtual Design Sprint which adds in different kinds of things into the mix and for that you need to prepare really well. I am sure that April’s event will be successful given all of Robert Skrobe’s preparations (you da’ real MVP) but it doesn’t hurt to prep for your Sprint week.
Here are a few tips if you’re joining the biggest design sprint event to date:
- Join the proper channels: Virtual Design Sprints Facebook group and Slack workspace.
Most instructions and content are shared in the facebook group, so make sure you’re part of it; you can also start some discussions over there should you have any concerns. Your team will have all of your communications through your own slack channel where all the Mural boards, video conferencing, and doodle links will be posted by your facilitator. So make sure that you’re part of it, a link was sent to you through your email. - Set aside some time in your schedule.
This is probably obvious but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. To get the best experience out of the event make sure that you set aside time for the sprint activities. You don’t have to take a leave from work, but make sure that there is enough time for you to do the exercises, it’s gonna be hard to keep up if you drop off at awkward moments. but to help things, coordinate with your team in advance about your availabilities, Doodle will be your number 1 tool for this. - Work in a place with no distractions during the sprint
As with the physical sprint, it will be quite hard to concentrate and generate ideas if you are distracted, so find a quiet spot where no one would disturb you while working. If you’re in your company’s building, maybe reserve a meeting room so you won’t have people looking over your shoulder when you’re working. Additionally, make sure that you close social media sites in your browser or at least turn off notifications; it will all be worth it. As much as possible, close all other tabs in your browser, so you won’t be tempted to take peeks. - Prepare the necessary tools or supplies
No need for post-its, we have Mural, but get a couple of A4 sheets and a sharpie to take down some personal notes and for the 4-part sketching. Also, make sure you have some water, coffee, or some healthy snacks when you’re working. - Coordinate schedules for different timezones
The participants were grouped together according to timezone, but given the roster, there are some teams with a bit of time difference (around 2–3 hours in my team). Doodle will help us coordinate, but make sure in the communications that timezones are accounted for because it’s easy to get lost in all the tasks. Facilitators should make sure that everyone is on the same page, meaning, those who left in the middle of the exercises, should have be filled in and things to do should be listed out; record your sessions and have a summary ready for every time the group convenes and
splits up. - Connect with your teammates
Make friends! For me, this is the best thing about the GVDS, we get to work with different people from different places with different backgrounds and experiences. Make sure that you create genuine relationships with your teammates, this also works really well for the efforts of the Sprint since you boost the team’s spirit. - Share your experience
Talk about your experience through your social media channels and spread the word of sprint. This is the second run of the GVDS and we’re happy to keep it going, talk about your experience with it and help build the Global Design Sprint community. Watch out for the social media kit as the days come along.
For any concerns, just send a message over at the #general slack channel or post in the Virtual Design Sprint Facebook group.
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Read about my experience in November’s GVDS run:
https://medium.com/@abelmdesign/even-when-were-miles-apart-72a93c13be2d
Follow me on Instagram @abelmaningas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelmaningas
