The closer a team works together, the greater the opportunity for friction. If this is left unaddressed it can slow down, or prevent progress on a project. Equally, if the project does not have the full commitment of every team member, it can lead to resentment. At the end of each phase of work it is valuable for the team to assess its performance and air any challenges.

Ideally, work with an independent facilitator - failing that, the team leader can facilitate but should not participate in the discussion. Before starting, it can be useful to read out a statement reminding the team that “we believe that everyone did their best, given the circumstances and what they knew at the time”. Remind people that the discussion should “remain in the room” rather than continuing afterwards.

Give everyone some post-it notes and ask them to write what went well - putting one thing per post-it. Put these on a wall and lead a discussion around each point. Avoid individuals ‘presenting’ their thoughts can help avoid issues becoming personal.

Next, ask everyone to capture thoughts on what didn’t go well. Facilitate the discussion in the same way.

Finally, ask everyone to capture thoughts on what they will do to make things better. Facilitate the discussion.

Then, encourage the team to take a break!

Setting up a Google Sprint

A ‘sprint’ is a period of time, usually a fortnight, in which a team tries to produce a solution to a problem. A team at Google devised a more intensive schedule to go from problem to solution in a week. You can combine all of these tactics into an intensive, 5 day course, to develop a solution.

The advice below helps you set up a sprint.

The bigger the challenge, the better the sprint

Google Sprints work best when you’re facing a big challenge and aren’t sure where to start. It works best when:

1. The problem is high stakes - a big problem which is likely to require considerable investment of time and money to solve. A sprint can check the direction of travel to reduce risks of heading off in the wrong direction
2. Not enough time
   Helping generate good solutions, quickly
3. Just plain stuck
   Generate a fresh approach to problem solving

Setting up the team

Ensure a decision maker is on the team. Sell it in the following terms:

1. We’ll make rapid progress
2. It’s an experiment
3. Explain what you will sacrifice to do this (in terms of existing commitments)
4. It’s about focus

The ideal team is seven people or fewer - enough so that everyone can contribute with different perspectives, but not so many that some people contribute less. Consider putting together people who don’t usually work together. Consider the following roles:

1. Decider
2. Policy expert
3. Comms expert
4. Frontline staff expert
5. user expert
6. Design expert

Pick a facilitator, and try to find a troublemaker - someone with a specific remit to think differently to the group and challenge its assumptions. If you need extra experts, schedule them for day one.

Time and space

Block five full days in the calendar Allow no devices in the room - it’s ok to leave to check a device You’ll need: Big whiteboards Post-Its Sharpies A4 and A3 paper

For inspiration

How Zapier uses Google Sprints

Speed up your team with a service blueprint

Service design at the BBC

The timetable