Readiness Sprints
For organizations that are nearly ready for our approach, Readiness Sprints are short, structured engagements that help soon-to-be collaborators genuinely prepare for community ownership before an evaluation begins.
What is Readiness Sprint?
A Readiness Sprint is a focused engagement (often a few weeks, sometimes a few months) where we clarify what’s realistically possible in your context and build the conditions for community ownership to work in practice.
Step 1: Readiness Track Placement
You’ve already taken the first step by completing the quiz. Together, we’ll review your answers and understand the drivers behind your results. Then, we’ll focus on which areas matter most for your context. Common focus areas include:
- Community Relationships
- Timeline and Planning
- Budget and Participation Supports
- Decision-Making and Power Sharing
- Sustaining Follow-Through
Step 2: Tailored Readiness Sprint
1) Community Relationships
If you’re still building strong relationships, we help clarify who is in your orbit and identify realistic engagement pathways. For some collaborators, though, the first COE focuses on current program participants.
2) Timeline and Planning
Community ownership takes time. If your current timeline is too tight, our team can support you to build an on-ramp for your next evaluation. This can include:
- Contracting windows and milestone planning based on a fixed deadline.
- Planning deliverables so deadlines don’t eliminate deliberation.
- Preparing clear donor-facing materials that explain what donors gain by starting earlier (and what becomes possible when community ownership is real).
3) Budget and Participation
If your budget is uncertain or constrained, we can help you identify the bare minimums that must be resourced for non-extractive participation, then help determine if a phased approach or subsidized/equity pathway is a good fit.
4) Power Sharing and Accountability
Community ownership can feel unfamiliar or risky. We’ll walk you through our existing guardrails and scaffolding so you can see what ownership looks like in practice (and what keeps it safe and viable).
We’ll also identify any real constraints your organization is operating under (legal, safety, feasibility, budget, timeline) and document them transparently for community members to consider as they set governance protocols and make decisions.
5) Sustaining Follow-Through
If the challenge is sustaining ownership, we help you build lightweight post-evaluation infrastructure, including templates, tracking tools, and engagement pathways with affected communities so that ownership doesn’t end with a final report.
interested?
Book a COE Discovery call and we can discuss your quiz results and context and an actionable path toward community-owned evaluation.
frequently asked questions
Why should we do a Readiness Sprint?
If you're serious about community ownership, Readiness Sprints help to identify and address predictable constraints before the evaluation begins. That way, the process is less likely to stall due to timeline, budget, participation support, or decision-making misalignment.
When should we start a Readiness Sprint?
We generally recommend people allow at least 7 months for a COE. With a Readiness Sprint, we recommend starting an engagement roughly 9 months before your final reporting deadline. For many organizations, this means preparing for the next evaluation cycle rather than the current one.
What Will we Walk Away With?
Readiness Sprints typically produce:
- A go/no-go recommendation for moving into a full COE (or a phased approach).
- A customized COE On-Ramp Guide, outlining steps, timeline, and responsibilities.
- An abridged Constraints and Opportunities Memo, detailing what’s fixed, flexible (similar to what is produced at the start of a COE).
Is there a cost?
Discussing the results of your quiz is free. If you choose tailored support, pricing depends on region, and equity subsidies may be available when cost is a barrier. If you complete a Sprint and then contract the Studio for an evaluation, we typically credit Sprint fees toward that evaluation.
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