Agile RetrospectivesMaking Good Teams Great

Toni Tassani - 23 January 2013

Structure of a Retrospective

1. Set the stage

2. Gather data

3. Generate insights

4. Decide what to do

5. Close the retrospective

Structure of a Retrospective

1. Set the stageAsk everyone in the room to speakTeam values and working agreements

2. Gather dataFacts and feelings

3. Generate insightsStep back, see the big picture and delve into root causes

4. Decide what to doList of Potential Experiments (One or Two per iteration)Better right before the planning (after a break)

5. Close the retrospectiveDecisively. Record what has been learned + Retro on the retro

Preparation

● Set a (useful) goal for the retrospective

● "Continuous process improvement" may

become stale

● Determining length: ○ 1 hour for 1 week.

○ 1/2 day for 30 days

● Release and Project Retrospectives

Example Planning

Set the stage 5% 6 minutes

Gather data 30-50% 40 minutes

Generate insights 20-30% 25 minutes

Decide what to do 15-20% 20 minutes

Close the retrospective 10% 12 minutes

Shuffle time 10-15% 17 minutes

Total 100% 120 minutes

Ten minutes break every 90 minutes

Activities to Set the Stage

● Check-In: short phrase. Answer to question.

● Focus On / Focus Off

● ESVP (Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer or

Prisioner)

● Working Agreements

Activities to Gather Data

● Timeline● Triple Nickels● Color Code Dots● Mad Sad Glad● Locate Strengths● Satisfaction Histogram● Team Radar● Like to Like

Activities to Generate Insights

● Brainstorming / Filtering● Force Field Analysis● Five Whys● Fishbone● Patterns and Shifts● Prioritize with dots● Report Out with Synthesis● Identify Themes● Learning Matrix

Activities to Decide What to Do

● Retrospective Planning Game

● SMART Goals

● Circle of Questions

● Short Subjects

Activities to Close the Retrospective

● +/- Delta

● Appreciations

● Temperature Reading

● Helped, Hindered, Hypothesis

● Return On Time Invested (ROTI)

Thank you