Activating improvements through retrospectives
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The document discusses the importance of agile retrospectives for continuous improvement within teams, highlighting various techniques and frameworks to make them effective. It emphasizes the creation of a safe environment for open discussion and learning, and provides diverse patterns to engage teams in meaningful reflection. The content concludes with suggestions for scheduling regular retrospectives to foster ongoing growth and adaptation.
Activating improvements through retrospectives
- 1. Accelerate Through Retrospectives An easy tool Agile teams use for fast paced learning and early course correction Here’s why you should use it, too. LAST Conf Canberra 21 Sept 2018 Mia Horrigan page 01 Special thanks to Victoria Schiffer - https://www.slideshare.net/Erdbeervogel/accelerate-through-retrospectives-activate-agile-agile-australia-2018 Mia Horrigan@zenexmachina.com Blog – www.zenexmachina.wordpress.com Twitter - @miahorri www.zenexmachina.com
- 3. page 03 Mechanical Scrum (aka Zombie Scrum) • What went well? • What didn’t go well? • What can we improve?
- 4. page 04 Why Agile Retrospective? • Formal point for inspect and adapt • Lessons learned can be actioned directly into the next Sprint • Safe environment in which Team can share failures and learn from them • Honest, open and transparent
- 5. page 05 Driving Improvement Image Source:https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/improvement-tools-continuous-improvement-and-innovation Time Speedimprovement&innovation Value,impacts&returns • Too many Retrospectives fail to deliver meaningful results • Too often retrospectives are painful, boring or a waste of time Different Results Different Approach
- 6. page 06 Retrospective Patterns and Ideas A years worth of Sprints (2 weeks) page 06
- 7. page 07 • Set the stage • Gather data • Generate Insights • Decide what to do • Close the retrospective Framework for Retrospectives http://agile.2ia.net/Agile%20Retrospectives.pdf
- 8. page 08 “Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand” Norm Kerth Retrospective Prime Directive No Blame! No Judgement! Psychological Safety! Growth Mindset!
- 9. page 09 Gather Data, Generate Insights
- 10. page 010 Mad Glad Sad Image Source:https://blog.mikepearce.net/2013/02/14/mad-glad-sad-retrospectives/ Write up things that made you ● Mad ● Glad ● Sad Any alliteration will work: • Wow, WTF and What If… • Praise, Ponder, Practice
- 11. page 011 6 Thinking Hats • Team discuss the previous Sprint whilst collectively wearing one of De Bono’s ”hats” • Gets Team members think about the Sprint from another’s perspective http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=6_Thinking_Hats_Retrospective
- 12. page 012 Image Source: https://dribbble.com/shots/2582999-Agile-retrospective SAILBOAT - Your team • ISLAND - Your goal (e.g.project) • WIND - Helps to get you there • ANCHOR - Holding you back • ROCKS - Future risks preventing you from reaching the island Sailboat
- 13. page 013 Plus-Delta (+/Δ) Image Source:https://medium.com/scrum-expert/scrum-expert-75036ed85489 Write up things that + went well Δ should change
- 14. page 014 Well - Learned - Different – Puzzled and Superheros • An activity like Liked, Learned, Lacked and Longer For • By using different words and different drawings you challenge and surprise people again https://agilestrides.com/2017/09/25/40-ideas-to-spice-up-your-retrospective/
- 15. page 015 One Word • Ask people to describe the last iteration with just one word • Everyone shares their word and explain their one word • Are there any patterns and discuss https://agilestrides.com/2017/09/25/40-ideas-to-spice-up-your-retrospective/
- 16. page 016 Lean CoffeeCollect data via lean Coffee format • One topic per sticky note • Explain topic • Dot voting • Prioritise • Discuss 5 minutes • Roman vote to continue discussion or move on • Next topic http://www.neomobile-blog.com/lean-coffee-hack-meetings/
- 18. page 018 • Team members jot down what was liked, learned and lacking • Place post-it notes on poster • Identify themes • Dot vote on 2 key actions for next sprint • Ask – “how can we satisfy lacking” items 3 Ls – Liked, Learned, Lacked http://www.funretrospectives.com/happiness-radar-3-ls-dot-voting/
- 19. page 019 The Fast and the Furious Write up ● Fast: things that went very fast ● Furious: things that made you furious ● Fun(ny): things that were fun or funny ● First: things that you experienced the first time ● Fantastic: things that delivered value http://tastycupcakes.org/2018/01/the-fast-and-the-furious-and-other-fs-retrospective-activity/
- 20. page 020 How do we reach the finishing line together? • Imagine the snakes to be the impediments teams faced during the Sprint • Think of the ladder as best practices we should continue that helped us realise our Sprint goal Snakes and Ladders http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Snakes_and_Ladders
- 21. page 021 Starfish Image Source: https://medium.com/scrum-expert/scrum-expert-75036ed85489 Write up thingsto ● Keep Doing ● Stop Doing ● Start Doing ● do MoreOf ● do Less Of
- 22. page 022 Three Little PigsDraw three columns ● House of straw – what do we do that just about hangs together, but could topple over at any minute? ● House of sticks – what do we do that is pretty solid, but could be improved? ● House of bricks – what do we do that is rock solid? http://www.funretrospectives.com/three-little-pigs/
- 23. page 023 ROTI – Return on Time Invested • High ROTI score – continue doing • Low ROTI scores - identified for change and improvement • Describe and summarises particular events, activities and milestone in past Sprint • Team Rates Value of that event/activity • Team notes behaviours that contributed to rating https://www.amazon.com.au/Agile-Retrospectives-Making-Teams-Great/dp/0977616649
- 24. page 024 Know – Didn’t Know - ActionList all the knowledge and skills your team should have and ask: • we know that we know – it is clear that we have this knowledge • we didn´t know that we know – the knowledge existed but it was not clear to group. • we didn´t know that we don´t know – no one was aware of it. • we know that we don´t know– knowledge does not exist within the group, but we were aware of it. • Add actions to move to the other quadrant - eg move from we know that we don´t know to we know that we know Know we Know Didn’t know we know Didn’t know we didn’t know Know we Don’t Know http://www.funretrospectives.com/understanding-the-group-knowledge/
- 25. page 025 Strengths based Retrospective Discover Strengths How did we do it? • Which skills made the difference? • Which strengths made it possible? • What did team do to help you? • What strengths do you and the team have? Define actions to use them • How can you or the team use these strengths? • What would u do more of to stop the problem from happening again? http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Strengths-Based_Retrospective
- 27. page 027 Appreciate Retrospective Ask the team • “What did we do well? • What worked ?” • Ensure that what makes us good is identified and refined http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Appreciative_Retrospective Thank YouThat’s Awesome Great Job Wow, that worked well
- 28. page 028 Ask team to pick a candy from the jar, and then share something according to the candy colour: • Red - What you love about your work • Yellow – Life goal • Brown – Favourite movie or pastime • Orange - something about your job you like • Blue – Best part of the sprint • Green – Something about your work you would like to change Candy Love http://www.funretrospectives.com/candy-love/
- 29. page 029 Spiderweb • Talk about what abilities are important to an Agile team • How your team rates against them? http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Pillars_Of_Agile_Spiderweb_Retrospective
- 30. page 030 Kudos CardsAsk people to write a Kudo card - Great job - Thanks - Well done - Awesome • Start a Kudo card Wall in your team area • Make sure you have at least one card for each team member (eg can write >1 cards) https://agilestrides.com/2017/09/25/40-ideas-to-spice-up-your-retrospective/
- 31. page 031 Place 4-5 chairs facing each other in middle of room • Instruct team to sit on chairs but leave one chair vacant • Select a topic and they start the conversation (others in team listen) • Available chair used when an observer has something to add to the conversation • When a new person enters fishbowl, then someone vacate a chair • Good for larger groups Fishbowl http://www.funretrospectives.com/fishbowl-conversation/
- 33. page 033 Strategic planning for a new Initiative Ask the team to look forward 12 months and describe what that looks like from three perspectives: • Attitudes • Behaviours • Culture Then ask them what Enablers are needed to get there: • People • Technology • Process Futurespective
- 34. page 034 Hero’s JourneyFuturespective activity to help describing a story a team is pursuing • Hero - who is the team going through the journey • Guide - the people and things guiding the hero • Cavern - the challenges ahead • Treasure - the awards and achievements http://www.funretrospectives.com/heros-journey/
- 35. page 035 Themed – A Christmas Carol • Based on Charles dickens “A Christmas carol” this Futurespective asks the Team to think about : • Past • Present • Future • Team then brainstorms actions to address gaps and future needs • Team puts the top actions as presents under the tree for the team to work on.
- 36. page 036 Captapult• Great for planning and preparing for an upcoming challenge Draw diagram and ask team to write notes for each of the three areas: • The catapult: notes related to the organisation preparing people to overcome the challenge • Team flying thru the air: notes related to the person facing the challenge • The mountain: the challenge itself. • http://www.funretrospectives.com/the-catapult/
- 37. page 037 Postcard from the Future • Ask Team members to write themselves a postcard from the end of the next Sprint • Postcard should capture what they would like to see happen in the future Sprint • Read the postcards out and keep them for the future http://www.funretrospectives.com/letters-to-the-future/
- 39. page 039 Happiness RadarTeam members rate Happiness against each area ● Processes and practices ● Technology and Tools ● Scope and Schedule ● People and interactions http://www.funretrospectives.com/happiness-radar-3-ls-dot-voting/
- 40. page 040 • Fosters a group conversation about feelings and future directions • Ask everyone to build an animal with 8 LEGO® bricks to represent how they are feeling. • Share with group • In small groups give team 6 minutes to build a model with any number of LEGO® bricks to represent the group’s future directions and share LEGO® Retrospective Problem http://www.funretrospectives.com/lego-retrospective/ • Alternate pattern – use LEGO® to describe the Sprint
- 41. page 041 Weather or the Seasons• Ask people to put a sticky note on the weather that represents for them the last sprint • Discuss the results and especially when some people feeling Sunny and some are feeling like Rain Alternate • Winter is cold, slow • Spring is growth, fresh • Summer is happy, hot • Autumn refers to change, getting darker https://agilestrides.com/2017/09/25/40-ideas-to-spice-up-your-retrospective/
- 42. page 042 Inspect and Adapt Workshop Patterns Agile at Scale (end of Program Increment (PI) ) 4
- 43. page 043 Timeline or Bubble Up• Think back over the iteration (PI) • Note significant or memorable events, highs and lows • Analyse • Identify team improvements • Bubble up and escalate program impediments http://agile.2ia.net/Agile%20Retrospectives.pdf
- 44. page 044 5 Ws – What, Where, Who, Why, When• What happened – the series of events as a process • When did it take place – in relation to Sprint , time of day • Where did it take place – e.g. in the code, during planning • Who was involved • Why did it happen – causal factors http://agile.2ia.net/Agile%20Retrospectives.pdf
- 45. page 045 5 Whys • Start with problem and ask why? • Each Why question leads to another layer • Identify the cause not the symptoms • Perform evidence based analysis • Proactively look to eliminate issues • Seek Improvements https://www.amazon.com.au/Agile-Retrospectives-Making-Teams-Great/dp/0977616649
- 46. page 046 • Look past symptoms to identify root causes related to an issue • Look for reasons behind problems and breakdowns • Look for ways they can make changes or influence those factors. Fishbone – Root cause Use this to generate insights in a longer iteration, release, or project retrospective People ProcessTechnology Program Systems Problem http://agile.2ia.net/Agile%20Retrospectives.pdf
- 47. page 047 • For program-level problems, a structured, root-cause problem- solving workshop is held by the ART • Root cause analysis provides a set of problem-solving tools used to identify the actual causes of a problem, rather than just addressing the symptoms Inspect/Adapt Workshop https://www.scaledagileframework.com/inspect-and-adapt
- 48. page 048 What’s your favourite Pattern?
- 49. page 049 WorkshopDivide into Groups • Share your favourite Retro patterns • Write up your pattern on a chart • Feedback to the Group • Collect the patterns and Share http://www.funretrospectives.com/happiness-radar-3-ls-dot-voting/
- 51. page 051 Image Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/mO3s5xdo68Y Schedule Retrospectives every Sprint
- 52. FACILITATE and Mix it Up https://www.slideshare.net/Erdbeervogel/accelerate-through-retrospectives-activate-agile-agile-australia-2018 http://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls-menu
- 55. page 055 https://agilestrides.com/2017/09/25/40-ideas-to-spice-up-your-retrospective/ http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Retrospective_Plans http://tastycupcakes.org/category/agile/ http://www.funretrospectives.com/ http://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls-menu Need more inspiration? Mia Horrigan@zenexmachina.com Blog – www.zenexmachina.wordpress.com Twitter - @miahorri www.zenexmachina.com