Sprints and Hacks and Coaching

Recently, I have found myself talking a lot more about how coaching conversations are changing as

Program Design Hack-Sprint December 2017

our client’s world has changed.

Over the last 14 years I’ve had the chance to innovate with a number of different program modalities to “meet clients where they are at”. A standard 60 minute, every other week, conversation model has not always worked. As a group and team coach, the shift started quite a long time ago in the world of  my clients, and in recent years I have found myself in engagements ranging from an hour a week over a year, to working embedded with teams for three days to a week. What I love about this is that our conversations are never static!

As a program designer I’m always listening for what my clients are yearning for next. It’s led to a couple of national awards, and more importantly, programming that fits their needs.

One of the program designs many of the coaches who work with me are flocking towards for their own development is participating in the regular (i.e. quarterly) program sprints and hacks I offer through the Learning Lab and Design Studio. 

As you can imagine, program work can expand to a pretty big canvas. This is especially true as coaches where we are always wanting to meet the client “where they are at”. I’m a real believer in Parkinson’s Rule, that tasks will take as long as we allocate them. This led me to start experimenting with a much more compressed program design cycle, influenced by the sprint and hacks coming out of the Agile space.

About 2 years ago I started offering 45-minute program development sprints and hacks as a quarterly offering. What we used to do in a 3-6 hour window we’re moving through in a compressed 45-minute window. Every three-to-four minutes we move through a cycle of questions, reflection and writing space. These reflective chunks can be interspersed with sharing and dialogue if you have more time.

One of the real-benefits of a process like this is that you can really zoom into some quick clarity, intuitive clarity, around new programs or processes. At the end of the 45 minute widow where we go

Wrapping up a Program Design Sprint Hack - Britton 2018

through about 8 or 9 sets of reflective questions, everyone who has participated in the last few years with me through these hacks has had a rough skeleton to leave with. It is by no means the final end product, but it is a solid foundation to build upon.

If you’d like to experience one for yourself, join us in the Learning Lab and Design Studio this month (March 2018) as one of our three calls this month will be another 45-minute Program Design Hack. 

The calls this month at the LLDS are:

Friday March 2^nd (845 – 930 am Eastern/Toronto)– 5 Skills Facilitators and Coaches Need

Thursday March 8^th (1:30 -5:30 pm Eastern/Toronto): Virtual Retreat – Get Things Done!

Friday March 23^rd (845 -930 am Eastern/Toronto): Program Design Hack

Learn more about the LLDS click here and join us for the month of March, or for the rest of the year. Monthly membership is $147/month or you can join us for the next 12 months for $1250 US. Email me to reserve your spot and be invoiced separately.