This document provides guidance on conducting effective retrospective meetings to continuously improve processes. It discusses that retrospectives should focus on gathering data about what went well and what could be improved. The key parts of a retrospective meeting are set the stage, gather data, generate insights, decide what to do, and close the retrospective. Various activities are described that can be used for each part, such as MAD/SAD/GLAD for gathering data and SMART goals for deciding actions. The document emphasizes that retrospectives should be adapted over time through experimentation and learning from experience.

1. EFFECTIVE RETROSPECTION
HIRUNA DISSANAYAKE
March 2016

2. WHAT COMES TO YOUR MIND?

3. DO YOU WANT THIS?

4. ACHIEVE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS

5. FOCUS ON THE PROCESS

6. ADAPTATION

7. RETROSPECTIVE
VERSION 1.0
What could we do better?
What can we try next time?
What issues should be escalated?
What did we do well?

8. HOW TO GET RETROSPECTIVES PRODUCTIVE?

9. RETROSPECTIVE
VERSION 2.0

10. PARTS OF RETROSPECTIVE MEETING
SET THE STAGE
GATHER DATA
GENERATE INSIGHTS
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
CLOSE THE RETROSPECTIVE

11. SET THE STAGE
MENTAL CHECK-IN

12. GATHER DATA
GATHER SHARED PICTURE OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED

13. GENERATE INSIGHTS
WHY DID WE ACT AS WE DID?

14. DECIDE WHAT TO DO
HOW SHOULD WE PROCEED?

15. CLOSE THE RETROSPECTIVE
END MEETING IN A STRUCTURED MANNER

16. PARTS OF RETROSPECTIVE MEETING
SET THE STAGE
GATHER DATA
GENERATE INSIGHTS
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
CLOSE THE RETROSPECTIVE

17. ACTIVITIES

18. ACTIVITIES
SET THE STAGE
● ESVP
● Check in
● Working agreement
GATHER DATA
● MAD SAD GLAD
● Timeline
● Triple nickels
● Prioritize with dots
GENERATE INSIGHTS
● Brainstorming
● Five whys
● Force field analysis
● Triple nickels
● Prioritize with dots
CLOSE THE RETROSPECTIVE
● ROTI
● +/- Delta
● Appreciation
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
● SMART Goals
● Short subjects
● Circle of questions

19. SET THE STAGE
ESVP

20. ACTIVITY: ESVP
Which attitude do you have towards
Your Retrospective Meetings ?

21. EXPLORER
EAGER TO GET NEW IDEAS AND INSIGHTS

22. SHOPPER
LOOKING FOR ONE OR TWO USEFUL IDEAS

23. VACATIONERS
NICE BREAK FROM THE DAILY WORK

24. PRISONERS
FORCED TO ATTEND RETROSPECTIVE

25. ● Everyone states which role they are at the meeting anonymously
● Process Master collects responses, displays common group result and
keeps histogram
● Team discuss what gathered data means for running the retrospective
HOWTO: ESVP
TIME: 10-15 MINUTES

26. GATHER DATA
MAD SAD GLAD

27. MAD SAD GLAD
MAD SAD GLAD

28. MAD SAD GLAD
EVERYBODY NOTES EVENTS
Mad
Sad
Glad

29. MAD SAD GLAD
ALL EVENTS ARE BEING VISUALIZED FOR EVERYONE
Mad Sad Glad
Assignment was
unclear and shifting
Struggled with my
database
development
Had huge problems
configuring my
development tools
Couldn´t get hold of
customer
representative for 2
weeks
Customer
Complained about
our quality
We got feedback
regarding poor
quality
Reported quality
issues
Realized we have to
redo one large client
form which meant one
week of re-work
Finished order
handling
We found the
performance issue in
when listing orders
Performance
issue found
Build completed
after being halted for
2 days

30. MAD SAD GLAD
EVENTS ARE CLUSTERED
Mad Sad Glad
Assignment was
unclear and shifting
Struggled with my
database
development
Had huge problems
configuring my
development tools
Couldn´t get hold of
customer
representative for 2
weeks
Reported quality
issues
We got feedback
regarding poor
quality
Realized we have to
redo one large client
form which meant one
week of re-work
We found the
performance issue in
when listing orders
Performance
issue found
Finished order
handling
Build completed
after being halted for
2 days
Customer
Complained about
our quality

31. MAD SAD GLAD
EVENTS ARE CLUSTERED
Mad Sad Glad
Assignment was
unclear and shifting
Struggled with my
database
development
Had huge problems
configuring my
development tools
Couldn´t get hold of
customer
representative for 2
weeks
Reported quality
issues
We got feedback
regarding poor
quality
Realized we have to
redo one large client
form which meant one
week of re-work
We found the
performance issue in
when listing orders
Performance
issue found
Finished order
handling
Build completed
after being halted for
2 days
Customer
Complained about
our quality

32. GENERATE INSIGHTS
PRIORITIZE WITH DOTS

33. ACTIVITY: PRIORITY DOTS
GIVE COLORED STICKY NOTES
1
11
1 1

34. ACTIVITY: PRIORITY DOTS
PRIORITIZE ITEMS TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH

35. DECIDE WHAT TO DO
SMART GOALS

36. ACTIVITY: SMART GOALS
INTRODUCE SMART GOALS

37. ACTIVITY: SMART GOALS
EXAMPLES
“We should pair program more”
“We should pair program at least 5
hours a day, a paring schedule should
be revised on weekly basis. Activity is to
be followed up and evaluated during the
retrospective on the 1st of March

38. ACTIVITY: SMART GOALS
FORM GROUPS AND BRAINSTORM

39. CLOSE RETROSPECTIVE
RETURN ON TIME INVESTED
(ROTI)

40. WAS IT WORTH TIME INVESTED?
TWO INDICATES “BREAK-EVEN”
1
2
3
4
0

41. ACTIVITY: RETURN ON TIME INVESTED
EACH PERSON RATE THE RETROSPECTIVE
0 3 1 4

42. ACTIVITY: RETURN ON TIME INVESTED
EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS
I got all my
problems solved

43. ACTIVITY: RETURN ON TIME INVESTED
EXPLAIN THE NEGATIVES
I don’t think the
actions we decided
are practical

44. ACTIVITY: RETURN ON TIME INVESTED
TEAM CHART

45. ADDITIONAL PHASE NEEDED
SET THE STAGE
GENERATE INSIGHTS
GATHER DATA
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
CLOSE THE RETROSPECTIVE
FOLLOW UP

46. IMPORTANT
CONSIDERATIONS

47. RETROSPECTIVE LENGTH
TRY TO NOT MAKE THE RETROSPECTIVE TOO LONG
2 Hours

48. PRIORITIZE BETWEEN PHASES

49. TIME BOX ACTIVITIES

50. TOOLBOX, NOT A SET OF EXACT LAWS

51. ORGANIZER TO PREPARE PRIOR TO MEETING

52. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT

53. VERSION 1.0
LEARNING FROM OUR EXPERIENCE

54. VERSION 2.0
UNDERSTANDING, COLLABORATION, FACILITATION
Agile Retrospectives – Esther Derby & Diana Larson
Set the
Scene
Close the
Retrospective
Gather
Data
Generate
Insights
Decide
what to do

55. VERSION 3.0
CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
Make the retro a tinkering space
Play

56. THANK YOU !