Retrospectives are a key tool in the Agile toolkit. But, they aren't easy. Some teams do them regularly - but they can become boring and repetitive. Other teams don't do them - they lack the time, the energy or they don't have a suitable facilitator. In fact its not just retrospectives. Teams need to learn to talk, discuss, reflect together over many things. Good conversation makes for good software. Retrospective Dialogue Sheets can help overcome these problems. These are a new tool in the Agile toolkit to inject some fun and variety into retrospectives. Teams which have tried dialogue retrospectives report higher energy levels, more inclusive discussions and innovative findings. And all this without a retrospective facilitator! This is a hands on session, everyone will get a go at working with a dialogue sheet and will learn what a dialogue sheet is and how to use one. After everyone has had a chance to try a Dialogue Sheet Allan will discuss some of the ways teams are using dialogue sheets and look to the future. About the session: - Participants are divided into teams of between 3 and 8 and given an A1 sheet to work with - Teams discuss the questions on the sheet and write their answers directly on the sheet - Teams review each others sheets and discuss the technique Running order: - 10 minutes introduction to sheets and creating groups - 50 to 60 minutes for teams to complete the sheet - 20 to 30 minutes for review and discussion

2. allan
kelly
@allankellynet
Retrospec)ve
Dialogue
Sheets
h4p://www.dialoguesheets.com

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Allan
Kelly…
Chapters
in…
• Business
Analysis
and
Leadership,
Pullan
&
Archer
2013
• 97
Things
Every
Programmer
Should
Know,
Henney,
2010
• Context
EncapsulaAon
in
PaBern
Languages
of
Program
Design,
vol#5,
2006
Ø ConsulAng
on
soCware
development
&
strategy
Ø Training
for
Agile
Author
– Changing
SoCware
Development:
Learning
to
be
Agile
(2008,
Wiley)
– Business
Pa4erns
for
So@ware
Developers
(2012,
Wiley
-­‐
ISBN:
978-­‐1119999249)
– Xanpan:
ReflecAons
on
agile
(work
in
progress)
hps://leanpub.com/xanpan

5. Tell
me
about…
• Your
retrospecAves?

6. Exercise
• Groups
• Sheet
• Do
– 1
hour
– Write
all
over
the
sheet!
• Review
&
discuss
– 30
minutes

7. Comments
#1
we
had
our
retrospecAve
this
morning
…
and
the
difference
from
the
last
few
)mes
was
like
night
and
day.
I
had
some
worries
[that]
team
members
would
be
reluctant
to
engage
but
found
that
no
one
held
back
and
everyone
got
involved
in
scribbling
on
the
sheet
and
talking
about
the
sprint.

8. Comments
#1
ACerwards
I
got
some
very
enthusiasAc
feedback
from
the
people
who
I'd
originally
worried
about!

9. Comments
#2
Using
the
sheet
definitely
promoted
discussion
in
the
retrospecAves
and,
by
bringing
the
focus
away
from
the
facilitator,
the
team
concentrates
more
on
the
project.

10. Comments
#2
The
team
thought
it
was
a
fun
way
of
doing
a
retrospecAve,
it
felt
fresh.
When
I
asked
them
if
we
should
try
using
them
in
the
future,
the
answer
was
a
definite
yes.

11. I
was
a
bit
nervous
about
trying
something
…
but
the
energy
in
the
room
was
tremendous.
In
fact
I
had
several
people
tell
me
it
was
the
best
retrospecAve
they
have
had
in
years.
Comments
#3

12. Comments
#4
First
let
me
say
as
a
manager,
I
was
impressed
by
the
Dialog
Sheets,
especially
in
the
way
it
provides
a
simple
path
that
pulls
everyone
into
being
a
contributor,
helps
analysis
by
introducing/
recommending
tools
(Fishbone),
and
finally
leads
to
acAon
steps.

13. Comments
#4
Walking
around
the
pods,
it
was
interesAng
to
see
that
the
teams
posted
their
resul)ng
sheets,
and
in
one
case
had
referenced
it
several
)mes
during
a
conversa)on
about
an
issue
they
were
discussing.

14. Statne
-­‐
Norway
*
The
sheet
s)mulates
equality
among
team
members
during
the
discussions,
by
the
fact
that
all
must
be
seated
around
a
table
(no
one
standing
up
and
facilitaAng
the
discussions).
…
*
The
sheet
is
very
physical
and
with
few/no
barriers
for
par)cipants
to
express
themselves
on
the
sheet
for
everyone
to
see
-­‐
even
if
it
is
only
by
drawing
"sAck
men"
on
the
edge
…
*
The
sheet
and
rules
(when
followed)
prevent
the
Scrum
Master
from
falling
into
a
"team
leaderish"
role
when
the
rest
of
the
team
gets
lazy
and
wont't
bother
to
involve
in
the
process
-­‐
they
all
have
to
take
their
part
of
a
common
responsibility
for
geong
through
the
quesAons
and
to
the
end
of
the
"game".
...and
there
are
more.
These
characterisAcs
make
our
retrospecAve
sessions
less
bureaucra)c
and
more
inspiring
than
with
our
old
technique.
We
have
been
using
the
more
tradiAonal
technique
for
several
years…
…
we
spend
our
)me
on
issues
of
real
value
to
the
team
instead
of
ceremony
parts
no
one
really
likes,
and
more
in
line
with
the
original
intenAons
for
this
session.
And
the
sheet
can
be
put
directly
on
a
wall
a@er
the
mee)ng,
for
everyone
to
see.
…

15. Common
reports
• Everyone
gets
to
speak
– Even
the
quiet
people
• Refresh
retrospecAves
• No
facilitator
changes
discussion
• Energy!

16. Plus…
IteraAon
planning
sheet

17. Sprint
retrospecAve

18. T4
-­‐
Follow
up

19. Team
Start

20. More….
Download
(free)
www.dialoguesheets.com
Plus
print
on
demand
(paid)
Allan
Kelly
– allan@allankelly.net
– Twier:
@allankellynet
– hp://www.soCwarestrategy.co.uk