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Agile Retrospectives <ul><li>Stoke the engine for team improvement. </li></ul><ul><li>esther derby </li></ul><ul><li>www.estherderby.com </li></ul>

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Agile Retrospectives are special meetings that take place at the end of a period of work--usually an iteration or software release.

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In a retrospective, a team steps back, examines the way they work, analyzes, and identifies ways they can improve.

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Agile Retrospectives stoke the engine of team improvement.

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But too many retrospectives fail to deliver meaningful (or any) results.

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Too often, retrospectives are boring, painful, a waste of time.

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Why? <ul><li>lack of... </li></ul><ul><li>focus </li></ul><ul><li>participation </li></ul><ul><li>genuine insight </li></ul><ul><li>buy-in </li></ul><ul><li>follow through </li></ul>

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It doesn’t have to be that way.

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A flexible framework to improve retrospectives. <ul><li>Set the stage. </li></ul><ul><li>Gather data. </li></ul><ul><li>Generate insights. </li></ul><ul><li>Decide what to do. </li></ul><ul><li>Close the retrospective. </li></ul>

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Set the Stage <ul><li>Purpose: </li></ul><ul><li>establish the focus for this retrospective </li></ul><ul><li>share the plan for the meeting </li></ul><ul><li>establish or re-purpose working agreements </li></ul><ul><li>get every voice in the room </li></ul><ul><li>set other concerns aside (for now) </li></ul>

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Gather Data <ul><li>Purpose: </li></ul><ul><li>create a shared pool of data </li></ul><ul><li>ground the retrospective in facts, not opinion </li></ul><ul><li>consider objective and subjective experience </li></ul><ul><li>(the focus determines what data is relevant for a particular retrospective) </li></ul>

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Generate Insights <ul><li>Purpose: </li></ul><ul><li>understand systemic influences & root causes </li></ul><ul><li>observe patterns </li></ul><ul><li>move beyond habitual thinking </li></ul><ul><li>build shared awareness </li></ul><ul><li>see system effects </li></ul>

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Decide What to Do <ul><li>Purpose: </li></ul><ul><li>move from discussion to action </li></ul><ul><li>resolve on one or two actions or experiments </li></ul><ul><li>focus on what the team can accomplish </li></ul><ul><li>ask what the team has energy for, not what is “most important” </li></ul>

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Close the Retrospective <ul><li>Purpose: </li></ul><ul><li>reiterate actions and follow-up </li></ul><ul><li>appreciate contributions </li></ul><ul><li>identify ways to make the next retrospective better </li></ul>

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Some people worry these steps will take too long.

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But leaving out a step undermines the purpose and effectiveness of the retrospective.

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Leave out... <ul><li>Set the Stage and you get Brownian Motion . There’s no common focus. </li></ul><ul><li>Gather Data and the retro is ungrounded . Everyone will be working from his own set of facts and opinions. </li></ul><ul><li>Generate Insights and you’ll get habitual thinking. </li></ul><ul><li>Decide What to Do and really, what is the point? </li></ul><ul><li>Close the Retrospective and lose an opportunity to appreciate and improve. </li></ul>

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Some (ineffective) retrospectives start in the middle, by asking the group to list what they did well, and what they should do differently.

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“ What did we do well?” is a questions that asks about insights, in the absence of data.

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“ What should we do differently?” is a questions that asks for a conclusion with neither data nor analysis.

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So don’t skip a step, and don’t short change the retro. 1/2 hour is not enough time to get beneath the surface of most problems.

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Every retrospective should be unique.

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Choose a focus that reflects what’s going on for the team.

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Identify what data will help the team sort through that issue.

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Select activities that will enable all members of the team to participate, and think, learn, and decide together.

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If you always use the same focus and activities, you’ll end up in a rut. Switch it up.

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Retrospectives can’t fix everything.

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Retrospectives aren’t the place for individual performance feedback.

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Retrospectives aren’t the answer for inadequate technical or collaboration skills.

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Retrospectives may not correct faulty mental models of software development or of how organizations work.

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Some issues require feedback, coaching, training.

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Retrospectives do help teams think, learn, and decide together.

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Retrospectives make time for teams consider ways to re-design their work and team culture.

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Retrospectives help teams improve. Over time, they help good teams become great teams. Over time, they help good teams become great teams.

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To learn more: <ul><li>A collection of articles and posts: </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.estherderby.com/category/reading/_retrospectives </li></ul><ul><li>For even more, click “Retrospectives” in the tag cloud. </li></ul>

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You can read more about my thoughts on management, leadership, teams, and organizations at www.estherderby.com . You can also sign up for my newsletter there. @estherderby on Twitter @estherderby on Twitter @estherderby on Twitter @estherderby on Twitter @estherderby on Twitter