How to do great Retrospectives !Steve Conard

26 October 2012Copyright images http://taylormali.com/

Agenda

• Framework

• Sprint exercise

• Retrospective exercise

• Teach back session

At the end of a period

Special meetings

How can the team improve their way of working?

Let’s do retro’s that are fun !!!

• Set the stage

• Gather data

• Generate insights

• Decide what to do

• Close the retrospective

Flexible framework

Set the stage

Set the stageSet 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)

Gather data

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)

Generate insights

Generate insightsGenerate insights

• Understand systemic influences & root causes

• Observer patterns

• Move beyond habitual thinking

• Build shared awareness

• See system effects

Decide what to do

Decide what to doDecide 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”

Close the retrospective

Close the retrospectiveClose the retrospective

• Reiterate actions and follow-up

• Appreciate contributions

• Identify ways to make the retrospective better

• Set the stage

• Gather data

• Generate insights

• Decide what to do

• Close the retrospective

Flexible framework

Don’t lose your retro wheels

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

ExerciseExercise

• 3 minutes planning

• 6 minutes building & testing

• Build as much successful planes as

possible• Rules:

o Use 1/4th of A4 sheet of papero One fold per person!o Test: plane should fly 3m

Techniques

• Set the stageo Check ino Working agreements

• Gather datao Timelineo Triple Nickleso Color dot votingo Sad Mad Glad

Techniques

• Generate Insightso 5 Why’s?o Cause – effect diagram

• Decide what to doo Triple Nickleso Color dot votingo Circle of questionso Short subjects

Techniques

• Closingo +/Deltao Appreciations

Techniques – more

http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Retrospective_Plans