The trifecta of the Iowa State Fair, back to school and Labor Day is upon us. Summer is officially winding down and in theory, now we’re all ramping up.

I’ve had so many people say to me, “Once summer is over, we’ll really hit it hard.” And in September, people will gear up. Until early November and then the holidays will be looming and people will say, “Once Thanksgiving is over, we’re going to push hard to the end of the year.”  About Dec. 10, people decide no one is listening to them anymore so they shut down the rest of the year.

Around Jan. 5 or so, on that first Monday after the 1st, everyone is raring to go and pushes hard for a few weeks. Until the next distraction. And before you know it, it’s June 1.

The reality is — whether it’s because several of your team are on vacation, or you’re traveling or it’s not your company’s peak season — we can excuse away going at half speed just about any time of the year, and many people do. 

It’s a little like dollar-cost-average investing. If you wait for the optimum time to deliver your messages, advance your next project or launch something new, it will never happen. It’s impossible to time your marketing precisely. Sure, there’s a seasonality to some work and messaging, but for the most part, it’s about being in front of your key audiences every day, delivering help and insight whether they are actively listening or not.

How do you keep the momentum going, even with all of the holidays, vacations, Super Bowls, Olympics, Iowa/Iowa State excitement going on all around us? 

One of the answers to that question is to operate in sprints. A sprint is a defined period of time (typically two to six weeks) where the entire team focuses on a single objective or project. It doesn’t mean they stop doing their day-to-day jobs. It just means that the entire team is working together on a new initiative as well.

The beautiful thing about sprints is that they force us to take action. Many teams get stuck in the discussion/discovery stage and never seem to be able to move away from talking into doing. 

To work through a sprint, you need to include these five elements:

1. A set timeframe for your sprint
2. A planning meeting to determine goals and assign roles
3. Daily standup meetings to keep the team on track
4. A tracking system that everyone on the team can access and update. 
5. A post-sprint review

Some best practices you should implement include:

Once you set the sprint’s length, you can’t change it. Otherwise, you will find yourself in one never-ending sprint as you allow excuses, distractions and surprises derail your efforts.

You can’t kick off your sprint until you have SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-specific) goals defined.

In your daily standup meetings (which should not last more than 10 to 15 minutes) each team member should quickly answer three questions. What did I do yesterday? What will I do today?  Are there any issues/impediments that the team needs to know about?

The point of these sprints is that you and your team get into a groove every two to six weeks, regardless of what the calendar says. You may adjust timelines or team members based on vacations or a companywide holiday, but you don’t let the “seasons” become excuses to get in the way of your progress.