The document summarizes the agenda and activities for a retro meeting of the LittleMonsters team. It includes an activity duration timeline, a summary of the tools and team details used, and the action items from the last retro. It then provides the draft newspaper created by the team to summarize the most recent sprint, including article topics on team collaboration, processes, external factors, management, and tools. Finally, it lists the action items identified for the next sprint's retro.

1. Activity Duration
Open retro 5 mins
Setting the Stage 10 mins
Develop story ideas (individual silent writing) 10 mins
Coffee break 5 mins
Newsroom discussion & story assignments 20 mins
Write stories (pairs) 10 mins
Publish newspaper 10 mins
Close retro 5 mins
Total Running Time 75 mins
Today’s Agenda
What we used:
Screensharing = Skype for Business
Audio = Conference Line
Collaboration = SharePoint + Office365
No video cameras*
About Us:
• Team size = 6 including
ScrumMaster
• 3-week sprints
• Retro typically 60 minutes
“Everyone has a plan until they
get punched in the face.”
*This retro occurred on Wednesday, May 13th at 9AM EDT

2. Retro 9 Action Items
• Cross Team Work
• How do we work better and stay in-sync (Combined Retro Action.
Take topic to tomorrow’s combined retro at 9AM)
• Invite ParrotHeads representatives when we need their participation.
• For example, the follow-up meetings with 508. Invite them to the session with Ken M.
• Clear Goals
• More meetings (1/week) isn’t moving fast enough
• Get working team right-sized vs. informing our (RACI, pigs vs.
chickens, etc.)
• Working group might evolve over time.
Last Sprint’s
edition

3. • Politics are all articles about team collaboration
• Technology is all about tool usage
• Business is all about the process
• Science is about new discoveries or learning the team has made
• Foreign Affairs is all about things external to the team
• The Nation is the section devoted to things about management
• Real Estate is the section devoted to physical space (meeting rooms,
team space, etc.)… can include our virtual space
LittleMonsters Gazette

4. LittleMonsters Gazette – Editorial Meeting
Politics (team collaboration)
• LittleMonsters Collaboration session held yesterday
• Operating agreement between member states is in the works
• Team collaboration during this Sprint was great.
• LittleMonsters finally broke ground on its team working agreement. The foundations
have been poured. Are they ready to build?
Business (process)
• At the start of the sprint, LittleMonsters came out of the gate in a fog but quickly
recognized their fumbling and re-focused on organizing their work. In week 2,
LittleMonsters was able to determine work assignments and regained momentum.
• Meetings everywhere. Lot’s of “refinement” and “planning” conversations
• LittleMonsters Struggles through the darkness in an attempt to find a way forward
• Dark Nights, Dark Days Ahead for LittleMonsters
Science (discovery/learning)
• MusicHOUSE closer to reopening (some) offices closed due to COVID-19 crisis
• CIO press conference reveals new details
• Clarification: OMB, not MusicHOUSE. CIO said no time soon for MusicHOUSE main office
• I enjoyed the research and it served as a learning process for me personally.
• LittleMonsters (and the ParrotHeads) gained increased insight into the need for a
whole system approach in Process Owner collaboration.
Technology (tools)
• Keeping JIRA up-to-date: LittleMonsters continues to struggle
with timely updates to JIRA; ironically, the team recognizes the
need for close coordination and transparency and JIRA is the
main collaboration tool used on the LittleMonsters work.
Foreign Affairs (external to team)
• Wingdings and LittleMonsters Synergy Abounds as
LittleMonsters Scrambles Internally
• LittleMonsters has no control over Foreign affairs (i.e. SDLC
process team)
• Not knowing
• Tempers flair over borders. The parties are talking, but is
anyone listening?
The Nation (management)
• Clearer Direction from management
• Management uncertainty and way forward
Real Estate (virtual/physical space)
• LittleMonsters Teleworking a grand success as team member
states, "team members equally tele-annoying when working at
a distance"
Front Page finalist Celebrate Improvement Opportunity Insight

5. Article 1: ???
• Item 1

6. Article 2: ???
• Item 1

7. Article 3: ???
• Item 1

8. • LittleMonsters finally broke ground on its team working
agreement.
• The foundations have been poured. Are they ready to build?
• Tempers flair over borders. The parties are talking, but is
anyone listening?
• Keeping JIRA up-to-date: LittleMonsters continues to struggle with timely
updates to JIRA; ironically, the team recognizes the need for close coordination and
transparency and JIRA is the main collaboration tool used on the LittleMonsters
work.
LittleMonsters Gazette : Sprint 10

9. Retro 10 Action Items
• Facilitating External Meetings (All)
• We should take a more directive stance as meeting facilitators.
(i.e. use Parking Lot)
• Keeping JIRA current
• Stories not current or in correct status (Follow-up needed)
• Proposal 1: Update status during standup
• Upside: Things are current.
• Downside: Another thing to do in the standup timebox
• Proposal 2: Update active stories once per day
• How do we handle stories on the board (Adam)
• Backlog/unstarted
• How cards move from Dev->Test->Done

10. Adam
• Politics: LittleMonsters finally broke ground on its team working agreement. The foundations have
been poured. Are they ready to build?
• Business: Meetings everywhere. Lot’s of “refinement” and “planning” conversations
• Foreign Affairs: Tempers flair over borders. The parties are talking, but is anyone listening?

11. Diamond
LittleMonsters Collaboration session held yesterday
- Operating agreement between member states is in the works
MusicHOUSE closer to reopening offices closed due to COVID-19 crisis
- CIO press conference reveals new details
Oil Prices are at record lows

12. Gregg
• Item 1
• Politics: Team collaboration during this Sprint was great.
• Science: I enjoyed my SE research and it served as a learning process for me personally.
• The Nation:
• Foreign affairs: Not knowing what to expect during our external meetings e.g (sprint Review & 2pm
meeting) that's beyond our control.

13. Iris
• Clearer Direction from management
• Management uncertainty and way forward
• Foreign affairs having no control

14. Ronda
• Wingdings and LittleMonsters Synergy Abounds as LittleMonsters Scrambles Internally
• LittleMonsters Struggles through the darkness in an attempt to find a way forward
• Dark Nights, Dark Days Ahead for LittleMonsters
• LittleMonsters Teleworking a grand success as team member states, "team members equally tele-
annoying when working at a distance"

15. Sally
• Business – At the start of the sprint, LittleMonsters came out of the gate in a fog but quickly
recognized their fumbling and re-focused on organizing their work. In week 2, LittleMonsters was able
to determine work assignments and regained momentum.
• Technology – LittleMonsters continues to struggle with timely updates to JIRA; ironically the team
recognizes the need for close coordination and transparency and JIRA is the main collaboration tool
used on LittleMonsters work.
• Science – LittleMonsters (and the ParrotHeads) gained increased insight into the need for a whole
system approach in Process Owner collaboration.
•