How to select and prepare the participants for a Book Sprint?
What is the role of the organiser?
The organisers approach the Book Sprints Team with an initial concept for a book. They are responsible for assembling the group of writers, organising the logistics, and establishing the mandate for the book. The organiser is the liaison between the participants and the Book Sprints Team.
At the beginning of the Book Sprint, the facilitator will provide the organiser the opportunity to reassert the mandate for the book. Then the facilitator takes the lead of the process and the organiser usually joins the other participants as a writer.
During the process, the organisers are a vital role model for the group and help set expectations of focus, punctuality, and work ethic as well as contributing to the spirit of collaboration. There may be critical moments during the process where the facilitator will ask the organiser to enforce a decision to protect the integrity of the group.
If the organiser is not participating as a writer during the Book Sprint itself, we will ask the organiser to respect the decisions of the group and trust the group to work on their mandate as best they can.
What is a good group constellation?
A good group consists of 6 to12 participants. More than 12 makes it difficult to achieve consensus while fewer than 6 may not be able to carry out the necessary workload.
The participants of a Book Sprint should bring with them the expertise and experience to cover all the subject areas to be addressed in the book.
Some diversity in participants —perspectives, experience, job roles, ethnicity, gender, etc— tends to create a better work dynamic and represents more complexity in the content.
At least some of the participants should be experienced writers and native speakers of the book’s language, but not all participants have to be.
What about attendance?
Participants must be present for the entire duration of the Book Sprint. It is not possible to only attend for a few days or drop in and out for half a day at a time, as you might do at a conference.
The main conceptual work happens in the first few hours, so it is especially important that all participants arrive on time.
We advise against visitors, spectators, or note-takers. All the people in the room for the Book Sprint will be contributing to the book being written, and people not present at the Book Sprint should not attempt to influence the content during the event. However, you may ask other colleagues to be available for a call in case you need specific information.
We implement the principles of autonomy and interdependence in the Book Sprint. This means that we expect each person to know what they need physically and mentally, be it a bathroom break, a short nap, or a jog, and to do so as needed. However, participants rely on each other so it is important to let others know when taking time out.
What do participants need to prepare?
Participants should arrive with open minds about the direction the book will take and not prepare a book structure or pre-written content before the Book Sprint. The book will develop through a collaborative process and the ownership will be shared by all participants. Their unique knowledge and expertise of the field is their main preparation. However, a compilation of reference material can be prepared and used during the Book Sprint.
