Behind the scenes of retrospective workshop-goat16-november 21th-2016-hand-out

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Behind scenes of
Retrospectives
Facilitated By Jesus Mendez

Behind scenes of retrospectives – #GOAT2016
Workshop Series: Transforming Teams
Agile Coach, Professional
Certified Scrum Master and
Certified Product Owner
About Me
Jesus is an inspiring learner extremely
passionate about helping Leaders survive and
thrive by connecting them
to their most unique and authentic self.
Untangle leader
at
iWeb Technologies
“Coaching individuals, teams and
executives to be more Agile”
An Open space technology facilitator
ACCC 2016 East
Teacher (Kanban/Lean)
Agile Project management program
Author of the book
Forming Agile Teams:
Techniques for structuring
and get sustainable Agile
Teams high-performance
ready
15 Years of IT experience

My Purpose
Share what I’ve learned about agile
retrospectives in the past 6 years and walk
you through it by practicing all together.

• Intro (10 Mins)
• Section one (The What): (5 Mins)
• Section two (The Why): (5 Mins)
• Section three (The How): (60 mins)
1. Designing + Preparing
2. Running an agile retrospective
3. Documenting + Sharing
4. Inspecting + adapting
5. Inspect and adapt retrospectives
6. Following up
• Outro (10 Mins) – Agile Retrospective Live Demo
PROCESS

Individuals
Teams
Divisions
Organization
Consume + Request
CONTEXT

CONTEXT

What an agile
retrospective is
all about?

WHAT AN AGILE RETROSPECTIVE IS ALL ABOUT?
What’s that?
“A very old ritual used by
human beings as a vehicle to
discover, share and pass
along learning from
experience, sometimes called
“wisdom”.

What’s that ?
It is an opportunity to pause, reflect, analyze, and think collectively
to learn and decide what and how to continue improving

What’s that ?
It’s a way to get away from bad habits, a way to face each other, a
safe space to build self-awareness by practicing

What’s that ?
The heart of continuous improvement for any team willing to get
out of the comfort zone to build greatness

Roles
Facilitator Participants (Team Members)

THE FACILITATOR ROLE

ALL FACILITATORS BELIEVE

FACILITATORS HOLD THE PROCESS
CONTENT PROCESS
What How
The task
The subjects for discussion
The problems being solved
The decisions made
The agenda items
The goals
The methods
How relations are maintained
The tools being used
The rules or norms set
The group dynamics
The climate
YOU CREATE THE CONTAINER (PROCESS)
THEY CREATE THE CONTENT

THE PARTICIPANTS ROLE

What it takes to
make it last?

WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT LAST?

CONTINUITY

CONTINUITY
SHARED VALUES
SHARED PROCESS

CONTINUITY
BELIEVERS !

CONTINUITYCARE ABOUT PEOPLE’S GROWTH

What needs to be
covered in an Agile
retrospective?

WHAT NEEDS TO BE COVERED IN AN AGILE RETROSPECTIVE?
UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST
LEARN ABOUT IT
TO IMPROVE IN THE FUTURE
BY TRYING SOMETHING
What worked?
What didn’t work?
What would we do differently next time to help us improve?
PROCESS
IMPROVED
FEELINGS AND
HOPE TO GET
OUT OF THE
MEETING
PURPOSE
& FOCUS
FACTS

DESIGNING
+
PREPARING

Goal
- Understand in which team development stage the
team is in.
- Gather information about the team, previous
iterations, project, product, and development issues,
etc.
DESIGNING

Tools
- Team Development Stage assessment
- One on one interviews (Fav)
- Group interviews
- Direct observation (Fav)
- Surveys
DESIGNING

Team Development Stages
DESIGNING
The honeymoon
I know who I am so …. ARRRR
We have a common purpose,
we need some rules to work better
The old couple
It’s time to let it go

Goal
- Create a proposed agenda for the team’s retrospective.
- What’s the purpose of the retrospective?
- What’s the focus of the meeting, if there is one?
PREPARING

Tools
- Team Development Stage assessment results
- Information previously gathered about the team
(Interviews, Direct Observation, Feedback)
- Iteration Retrospective Agenda Template
- Get by downloading/buying my workbook – Forming Agile Teams
PREPARING

RUNNING AN
AGILE
RETROSPECTIVE

Goal
- Make the most efficient meeting possible.
- Help the team with creating a plan to take actions that
would help the team improve in the future, one action
at a time.
RUNNING AN AGILE RETROSPECTIVE

Tools
- Use more Facilitation techniques
1. Starting (Set Purpose, share Process & time frame)
2. During (Check process, pace & time frame) Recording ideas,
- Use different tools depending on the Type of meeting
- Non decision making/Decision Making
3. Ending (Wrap up conclusions, actions & responsibles)
- Create a proposed agenda, based on the « Phases of an
agile retrospective » @Retromat www.plans-for-retrospectives.com
1. Set the stage
– (Team’s performance satisfaction template – Show in Book)
2. Gather data
3. Generate insights
4. Decide what to do
5. Close retrospective
– Dismiss proposed agenda (Let it go)
RUNNING AN AGILE RETROSPECTIVE

THE PHASES OF AN AGILE RETROSPECTIVE
Set the goal;
Give people time to
“arrive” and get into the
right mood
1. Set the stage

Help everyone remember;
Create a shared pool of
information (everybody
sees the world differently)
2. Gather Data

Why did things happen
the way they did?;
Identify patterns; See
the big picture
3. Generate insights

Pick a few issues
(no more than 2) to
work on and help the
team with creating a
concrete action plan of
how the team will
address them
4. DECIDE WHAT TO DO

Clarify follow-up;
Appreciations; Clear
end; How could the
retrospective be
improved?
5. CLOSE RETROSPECTIVE

DOCUMENTING
+
SHARING

Goal
- Help the organization understanding value of agile
retrospective by setting what is expected from the team in
terms of continuous improvement (Remember this time is
an investment, so it should bring some benefits to the
company)
- Help the team identify how continuous improvement
actions will be shared with the organization
DOCUMENTING AND SHARING

Tools
- Use the Phases 4 & 5 of an agile retrospective outcome,
as input to document and share info
- Decide what to do
- Close retrospective
- Iteration report
- Get by downloading/buying my workbook – Forming Agile
Teams
- Check assumptions with team’s supporting roles
(Supervisors, Stakeholders, Other Team members, etc)
- Could be using one on ones or group interviews
DOCUMENTING AND SHARING

INSPECTING
+
ADAPTING

Goal
- Get feedback from participants, other collegues to
help us improve our effectiveness and impact on
team performance and continuous improvement
INSPECTING AND ADAPTING

Tools
- One on one interviews with team members (Fav)
- Group interviews at the closing phase of the
retrospective
- Surveys (Online and anounymous are my fav ones)
- Pairing with another facilitator, to get direct
feedback about your performance during
retrospectives. (Fav)
INSPECTING AND ADAPTING

FOLLOWING
UP

Goal
- Help teams to make their decisions stick
(organization), further than the
retrospective meeting or the team.
FOLLOWING UP

Tools
- Make actions visible during the upcoming iteration
(Iteration physical board) (Fav)
- Use the Phases 4 & 5 of an agile retrospective
- Decide what to do (Input list of actions)
- Close retrospective (Input and participant responsible)
- Being the process shepard and helping the team with
removing impediments at organizational level
- Be Courageous
- Use your Leadership
- Look/Ask for organizational support
FOLLOWING UP

References
- Mendez, Jesus. Forming Agile Teams
http://www.jesusmendez.ca/books/forming_agile_teams
- What’s a retrospective? http://www.retrospectives.com
- Linders, Ben. What’s an Agile Retrospective and Why would you do it?,
http://www.benlinders.com/2013/whats-an-agile-retrospective-and-why-
would-you-do-it
- Bens Ingrid. Facilitating with Ease, Core Skills for facilitators, team leaders
and Members, Managers, Consultants and Trainers 3rd. Edition.
- Linders, Ben & Goncalves Luis. Getting Value out of agile retrospectives.
- Cashman, Kevin. The Pause Principle: Step back to lead forward.
- Baldauf, Corinna. Retromat, Plan for Retrospectives. http://plans-for-
retrospectives.com
- Apello, Jürgen, Management 3.0. Improvisation cards,
https://management30.com/product/improv-cards/

www.jesusmendez.ca/books/forming_agile_teams
By all means, you can reach me out at:
Twitter: @chuzzete
Website: www.jesusmendez.ca
Email: transformingteams@jesusmendez.ca
Sign up to my mailing list and get a Free copy of my
workbook + more techniques, tools and tips to help
you improve your teams or contribute by buying your
copy of the book at

Behind scenes of retrospectives - #GOAT2016

Behind the scenes of retrospective workshop-goat16-november 21th-2016-hand-out

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