Session at Agile Tours Brussels 2012 Txs to Ester Derby and Jef Cumps!

1. How to do great Retrospectives !
Steve Conard
26 October 2012 Copyright images http://taylormali.com/

2. Agenda
• Framework
• Sprint exercise
• Retrospective exercise
• Teach back session

3. Special meetings
At the end of a period
How can the team improve their
way of working?

4. Let’s do retro’s that are fun !!!

5. Flexible framework
• Set the stage
• Gather data
• Generate insights
• Decide what to do
• Close the retrospective

6. Set the stage

7. Set the stage
Set the stage
• Establish the focus for this retrospective
• Share the plan for the meeting
• Establish or re-purpose working agreements
• Get every voice in the room
• Set other concerns aside (for now)

8. Gather data

9. Gather data
• Create a shared pool of data
• Ground the retrospective in facts, not in opinion
• Consider objective ans subjective experience
(the focus determines what data is relevant for a a
particalar retrospective)

10. Generate insights

11. Generate insights
Generate insights
• Understand systemic influences & root causes
• Observer patterns
• Move beyond habitual thinking
• Build shared awareness
• See system effects

12. Decide what to do

13. Decide what to do
Decide what to do
• Move from discussion to action
• Resolve on one or two actions or experiments
• Focus on what the team can accomplish
• Ask what the team has energy for, not what is
“most important”

14. Close the retrospective

15. Close the retrospective
Close the retrospective
• Reiterate actions and follow-up
• Appreciate contributions
• Identify ways to make the retrospective better

16. Flexible framework
• Set the stage
• Gather data
• Generate insights
• Decide what to do
• Close the retrospective

17. Don’t lose your retro wheels

18. Set the stage and you get Brownian Motion. There’s no common
focus
Gather data and the retro is ungrounded. Everyone will be working
from his own set of facts and opinions.
Generate Insights and you’ll get habituals thinking.
Decide What to Do and really, what is the point?
Close the retrospective and lose an opportunity to appreciate and
improve

19. Exercise
Exercise
• 3 minutes planning
• 6 minutes building & testing
• Build as much successful planes as possible
• Rules:
o Use 1/4th of A4 sheet of paper
o One fold per person!
o Test: plane should fly 3m

21. Techniques
• Set the stage
o Check in
o Working agreements
• Gather data
o Timeline
o Triple Nickles
o Color dot voting
o Sad Mad Glad

22. Techniques
• Generate Insights
o 5 Why’s?
o Cause – effect diagram
• Decide what to do
o Triple Nickles
o Color dot voting
o Circle of questions
o Short subjects

23. Techniques
• Closing
o +/Delta
o Appreciations

24. Techniques – more
http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Retrospectiv