We would like to share this with you on one of the last working days of 2022: 100MTC's sprint plan for the coming months. Pioneers prove that working in sprints with a good design contributes to accelerating the transition. That is why we apply this approach ourselves.

In recent months we have made sprint plans with many Partners. Experience shows that it works well! Sprints ensure that you can make room for innovation with focus and the targeted bundling of forces. It saves time, gives energy to yourself and others and provides a good overview. That is one of the most important accelerators at the moment. And with that something we wish for every professional in our network.

In the visual (also as an attachment) and this post we show what a Sprintplan looks like.

What is a Sprint?

Where others close the year, here we are working on the start of a set of months. We call that sprinting. With such a plan, we as a team can enter the new year with peace of mind. A sprint is a fixed period in which the preconditions are created to transform as an organization. Focus has been applied and resources have been arranged to organize actions that really contribute to acceleration.

We hope that all Partners will prepare the sprints for the months to come.

After all, we no longer have years to take the right actions to achieve the goals in 2030. Every organization will have to set the pace for achieving the sustainable or climate goals. For some, getting the basics in order that are required by law or organization is first necessary, such as following the recently published CSR-D report, CO2 performance ladders and the annual reports.

How do you make a sprint?

Basically, making a sprint is a fairly simple exercise of one or two hours with your team. Provide a writing wall with sufficient space and let everyone take a role in the conversation. In this explanation we refer to the success factors as described in the book 'Klimaatwerkers' (Climate Workers).

The key to success is three things:

Determine the period of the sprint: a defined period with a dedicated team (Changeteam) that wants to use the acceleration. This can be a natural period, for example from now until the summer or around a practical milestone in your organization.
Define with this Changeteam which gear you will use and which desired effects you want to achieve with which target groups. If all goes well, you have your perspective and other preconditions in order (success factor 1 to 4) and you know in outline where your priorities lie and where energy is concentrated in the organization. Now you will zoom in. What does that mean concretely for the coming period? Where are you now and where do you want to go? Describe this as concretely as possible: who do we really need in this sprint? What are these people going to do differently? What will it look like if this sprint is successful? Key: translate the desired effect in terms of behaviour!
Consider which criteria are important to keep in mind: what are you from, what do you stand for or which assignment should it really fit in with? For 100MTC that is Inspire/Empower & Learn/Grow (referring to the keywords in the visual - top left in green, dark and light blue). After that you'll get in action: by reasoning back with the Changeteam what is most necessary and feasible now to accelerate, actions will automatically be put on the table. These are often initiatives that are already running or are otherwise a good or smart idea to tighten things up. Key: smaller rather than larger. So focus on 1 or 2 very targeted actions, organize them very well with your Changeteam (use the K.R.A.C.H.T. (Strength) factors as described in the book Climate Workers). Don't forget to make your sprint easily shareable through visualization. And make sure that the most important people in your area know what your plans are, this way they can help you.

In recent months we have helped dozens of organizations to create a sprint plan. A 100MTC Experience was often the conversation starter to put acceleration on the agenda or to focus on the realization of the most important changes needed in the organization. The driving force that sustains the movement is a Changeteam that ensures effective process design for the short term.

What does it yield?

Last year's sprints delivered fantastic things, such as:

  • A financial who starts to think differently about the concept of risk and consistently builds this into the decision moments and learning systems.
  • A builder who converts a radical vision of the future step by step into new business models.
  • A tech company in the agri-food sector that will take on a different role and organize a future-proof chain.
  • A central government that, with a simple change around coffee consumption, stimulates a major conversation about the accelerated realization of the government's sustainable goals and facilitates leaders.