The Art of the
Retrospective
Chris Smith
Project Manager, Red Gate
@cj_smithy

Introductions

Introductions

What is a Retrospective Meeting?
“Special meeting that takes place at the end of a
period of work – usually an iteration or software
release.
In a retrospective, a team steps back, examines
the way they work, analyses and identifies ways
they can improve”
Esther Derby

Inspect and adapt
We will always
know more
than we know
here
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective

Sprint Retrospectives
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective

Retrospectives can be perfunctory

Retrospectives can be ineffective
Habitual thinking
Lack of focus
Lack of participation
No end product

So… Retrospectives can be unpopular

So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
My team are literally allergic to the word
‘Retrospective’

So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
My team talk to each other and we fix things
when they come up (you idiot)

So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
My team/project is special because [reason], so
we don’t do retrospectives

So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
Let’s not bother
Or worse
Let’s continue ticking the box

Retrospectives can be awesome
Continuously improve
Respond to change
Think creatively
Happier team

I am not a hero

How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?

References
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good
Teams Great (Derby and Larsen)
Gamestorming: A Playbook for
Innovators, Rulebreakers, and
Changemakers (Gray, Brown and
Macanufo)

How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?
• Prepare well
• Deliberately facilitate
• Keep to Retrospective Framework
• Vary retrospective activities
• Track actions

Be prepared
Invest time
• More in = more out
• 2x meeting length

Be prepared
Decide
• Focus
• Duration
• Agenda
• Plans A & B

Be prepared
Gather
• Materials
• Snacks
• Help
• People

Facilitate
Be deliberate…
• Clear
• Confident
• Aware
• Don’t contribute (too much)

Retrospective
framework
• Set the stage
• Gather data
• Generate insights
• Decide what to do
• Close the
retrospective

Structuring a retrospective

Activities
(or “Games”)
• Share information
• Encourage
participation
• Encourage
collaboration
• Encourage creative
thinking
• Move things forward

Set the stage

Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal

Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
Agree mind-set

Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
Agree mind-set
Hear everyone’s voice

Set the stage: Check-in
Everyone answers a question
in one or two words:
“How was the sprint for you?”
“What is on your mind right now?”
“What are your hopes for
this retrospective?”

In one or two words…
How has Agile Cambridge 2013 been
for you?

Set the stage: Other activities
• Focus On/Focus Off
• Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer,
Prisoner

Gather data

Gather data
Generate shared memory
Observations not evaluations
Open up space to explore later

Gather data: Team Poll
Measure Satisfaction with Teamwork, Quality,
Engineering, ???

Gather data: Pair Interviews
• Pose a question like “What were the high and
low points of this sprint?”
• Pair-up, each person to interview the other
• Not a conversation; encourage interviewees to
keep to the role
• Report back

Gather data: Other activities
• Timeline
• Short Subjects
– Mad/Sad/Glad
– Stop/Start/Continue
• Learning Matrix
• Like to Like card game

Generate insights

Generate insights
Explore, interpret, analyse the data
Look for patterns and themes
Think creatively

Generate insights:
Fishbone Diagram

Generate insights:
Fishbone Diagram

Generate insights:
Challenge Cards
Two Teams
• Challenge Team brainstorms
potential problems
• Solution Team brainstorms
features and strengths of the
team

Generate insights:
Challenge Cards
To Play:
• Challenge Team plays a card, solution team
picks a card that addresses the challenge
• Winner decided and points awarded
• If there is no solution, team designs a new
solution card together

Generate insights:
Challenge Cards

• Each person has paper divided into ~4 sections
• Idea added in 1st section
• Paper passed to next person who builds on idea
Generate insights: Brainwriting

Generate insights:
Mission Impossible
• Take an existing challenge/goal and change a
fundamental aspect that makes it seem
impossible
– “How do we remove all our technical debt… in a day?”
– “How do we add a feature… without writing code?”
• Brainstorm
• Ask “Which of these ideas would be worth
actually trying?”

Gather data & Generate insights:
Mission Impossible

Generate Insights: Other activities
• Five Whys
• Force Field Analysis
• Flip it
• De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats
• Anti-problem
• Speedboat
• Pre-Mortem

Decide what to do

Decide what to do
Move toward conclusions
Focus on improvement
Identify 2-5 actions

Decide what to do: Prioritize
Activities to prioritize:
• Dot voting
• £100 Test
• Absolute order

Decide what to do: Create actions
Actions are return on investment
Ask:
• “Can ‘we’ achieve this?”
• “What does success look like?”
• “What’s the first step?”
• “Who is going to own this?”

Decide what to do: Create actions
Not sure exactly what to tackle?
Arrange an experiment

Decide what to do: Create actions
Team seems unsure or noncommittal?
Measure with ‘Five-Fingered Consensus’

Close the retrospective

Close the retrospective
Find out how the meeting went
What worked?
What didn’t?

Close the retrospective:
Feedback wall

Structuring a retrospective

Tracking actions
• Recorded
• In your face
• Reviewed
• Celebrated
• Disposable

How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?
• Prepare well
• Deliberately facilitate
• Keep to Retrospective Framework
• Vary retrospective activities
• Track actions

References
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good
Teams Great (Derby and Larsen)
Gamestorming: A Playbook for
Innovators, Rulebreakers, and
Changemakers (Gray, Brown and
Macanufo)
Agile Retrospective Resource Wiki
@cj_smithy

Questions?
?
@cj_smithy