Effectively using retrospectives for the situation

1. Situational Retrospectives
One size does not fit all…..

2. • Agile trainer and coach
• Member of PMI, Scrum Alliance,
Agile Alliance, Agile Leadership
Network
• CST, CSM, CSPO, CSP, PMI-ACP,
PMP
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member of Agile Discovery for
Agencies, Programs, and Teams
(ADAPT)
• Expertise in Federal and
commercial Agile transformations
Richard Cheng
richard.cheng@excella.com
@RichardKCheng

3. What is a Retrospective
from ScrumPrimer.com

4. Scenario A
Your team is great. You've continually met all
your sprint goals and your Product Owner is
pleased with the results to date. Yeah!
Scenario B
Your team did not do so well. Zero story points
completed last sprint. Team members are
complaining and blaming each other for the
failures.
What would you do?

5. Retrospective Prime Directive
Regardless of what we discover, we understand
and truly believe that everyone did the best job
they could, given what they knew at the time, their
skills and abilities, the resources available, and the
situation at hand.
-- Norm Kerth

6. Retrospective Techniques

7. +/Δ
• Pluses – What went well
• Deltas – What we want to do different

8. Silent Writing
Team members silently write down their
thoughts and then post or share the thoughts
Dot Voting
Each team member gets X number of votes to
distribute across a selection of items
Silent Writing and Dot Voting

9. Starfish

10. Niko-niko Calendar
http://agiletrail.com/2011/09/12/how-to-track-the-teams-mood-with-a-niko-niko-calendar/

11. Team Radar
Delivering Business Value
Asking & Receiving Feedback
Responding to Change
Understanding Vision & Goal
Planning
Applying Technical Practices
Working as a Team
Continuously Improving
Sprint 1 Team Self Assessment

12. Team Radar
Delivering Business Value
Asking & Receiving Feedback
Responding to Change
Understanding Vision & Goal
Planning
Applying Technical Practices
Working as a Team
Continuously Improving
Sprint 5 Team Self Assessment

13. 5 Whys
Why?
Because
the battery
is dead
Why?
The
alternator
is not
functioning
Why?
The
alternator
belt is
broken
Why?
Belt was
well beyond
its useful
service life
Why?
Belt was
never
replaced
Why?
Not
following
the service
schedule
My Car Won’t Start

14. 1. Ask the attendees to
silently reflect on the on
the events of the last
iteration or release
2. Ask them to draw a picture
reflecting their feelings
3. Place the picture on the
wall
4. In turn, let each participant
describe their picture and
provide a title
5. Try to observe patterns to
highlight significant events
or impediment
Draw Me a Picture
14

15. Future-spective
• Imagine a date in the future
• Run a retrospective to identify
– Where we are?
– How did we get here?

16. In your groups, pick a
set of the
retrospective
techniques and
identify situations in
which they would be
particularly
applicable.
Group Exercise
16
Techniques:
– Pluses and Deltas
– Silent Writing
– Dot Voting
– Star Fish
– Niko Niko
– Team Radar
– 5 Whys
– Draw Me a Picture
– Future-spective

17. Retrospective Structure*
1. Set the Stage
2. Gather Data
3. Generate Insights
4. Decide What to Do
5. Close
* from Agile Retrospectives – Making Good Teams Great

18. 1. Who should be in the retrospective?
2. Who should NOT be in the retrospective?
3. How long should a retrospective last?
4. Can the retrospective happen before
Sprint Review?
5. Who facilitates the retrospective?
6. Who’s fault is it if the team keeps
encountering the same problem over and
over again?
Other Notes on Retrospectives
18

19. 1. Think about the biggest problem plaguing
your team or project
2. How long has it been an issue
3. Is there an effective way to form a
retrospective to deal with this problem
In Conclusion
19

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21. Books

22. Contact Information
Richard K Cheng
richard.cheng@excella.com
703-967-8620
Twitter: @RichardKCheng