The Art of the Retrospective: How to run an awesome retrospective meeting
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This document provides a guide on conducting effective sprint retrospectives, emphasizing the importance of preparation, deliberate facilitation, and varied activities to maintain engagement. It outlines a structured framework for retrospectives, including setting the stage, gathering data, generating insights, and deciding actionable steps. The document highlights common pitfalls that make retrospectives unpopular and offers strategies to ensure they lead to continuous improvement and a happier team.
![So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
My team/project is special because [reason], so
we don’t do retrospectives](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/theartoftheretrospective-agilecambridge27thsept2013-130930111830-phpapp01/85/The-Art-of-the-Retrospective-How-to-run-an-awesome-retrospective-meeting-12-320.jpg)
The Art of the Retrospective: How to run an awesome retrospective meeting
- 1. The Art of the Retrospective Chris Smith Project Manager, Red Gate @cj_smithy
- 4. What is a Retrospective Meeting? “Special meeting that takes place at the end of a period of work – usually an iteration or software release. In a retrospective, a team steps back, examines the way they work, analyses and identifies ways they can improve” Esther Derby
- 5. Inspect and adapt We will always know more than we know here Retrospective Retrospective Retrospective Retrospective Retrospective
- 7. Retrospectives can be perfunctory
- 8. Retrospectives can be ineffective Habitual thinking Lack of focus Lack of participation No end product
- 9. So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
- 10. So… Retrospectives can be unpopular My team are literally allergic to the word ‘Retrospective’
- 11. So… Retrospectives can be unpopular My team talk to each other and we fix things when they come up (you idiot)
- 12. So… Retrospectives can be unpopular My team/project is special because [reason], so we don’t do retrospectives
- 13. So… Retrospectives can be unpopular Let’s not bother Or worse Let’s continue ticking the box
- 14. Retrospectives can be awesome Continuously improve Respond to change Think creatively Happier team
- 15. I am not a hero
- 16. How do you run an effective and engaging Sprint Retrospective?
- 17. References Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (Derby and Larsen) Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers (Gray, Brown and Macanufo)
- 18. How do you run an effective and engaging Sprint Retrospective? • Prepare well • Deliberately facilitate • Keep to Retrospective Framework • Vary retrospective activities • Track actions
- 19. Be prepared Invest time • More in = more out • 2x meeting length
- 20. Be prepared Decide • Focus • Duration • Agenda • Plans A & B
- 21. Be prepared Gather • Materials • Snacks • Help • People
- 22. Facilitate Be deliberate… • Clear • Confident • Aware • Don’t contribute (too much)
- 23. Retrospective framework • Set the stage • Gather data • Generate insights • Decide what to do • Close the retrospective
- 25. Activities (or “Games”) • Share information • Encourage participation • Encourage collaboration • Encourage creative thinking • Move things forward
- 26. Set the stage
- 27. Set the stage Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
- 28. Set the stage Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal Agree mind-set
- 29. Set the stage Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal Agree mind-set Hear everyone’s voice
- 30. Set the stage: Check-in Everyone answers a question in one or two words: “How was the sprint for you?” “What is on your mind right now?” “What are your hopes for this retrospective?”
- 31. In one or two words… How has Agile Cambridge 2013 been for you?
- 32. Set the stage: Other activities • Focus On/Focus Off • Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer, Prisoner
- 33. Gather data
- 34. Gather data Generate shared memory Observations not evaluations Open up space to explore later
- 35. Gather data: Team Poll Measure Satisfaction with Teamwork, Quality, Engineering, ???
- 36. Gather data: Pair Interviews • Pose a question like “What were the high and low points of this sprint?” • Pair-up, each person to interview the other • Not a conversation; encourage interviewees to keep to the role • Report back
- 37. Gather data: Other activities • Timeline • Short Subjects – Mad/Sad/Glad – Stop/Start/Continue • Learning Matrix • Like to Like card game
- 39. Generate insights Explore, interpret, analyse the data Look for patterns and themes Think creatively
- 42. Generate insights: Challenge Cards Two Teams • Challenge Team brainstorms potential problems • Solution Team brainstorms features and strengths of the team
- 43. Generate insights: Challenge Cards To Play: • Challenge Team plays a card, solution team picks a card that addresses the challenge • Winner decided and points awarded • If there is no solution, team designs a new solution card together
- 45. • Each person has paper divided into ~4 sections • Idea added in 1st section • Paper passed to next person who builds on idea Generate insights: Brainwriting
- 46. Generate insights: Mission Impossible • Take an existing challenge/goal and change a fundamental aspect that makes it seem impossible – “How do we remove all our technical debt… in a day?” – “How do we add a feature… without writing code?” • Brainstorm • Ask “Which of these ideas would be worth actually trying?”
- 47. Gather data & Generate insights: Mission Impossible
- 48. Generate Insights: Other activities • Five Whys • Force Field Analysis • Flip it • De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats • Anti-problem • Speedboat • Pre-Mortem
- 49. Decide what to do
- 50. Decide what to do Move toward conclusions Focus on improvement Identify 2-5 actions
- 51. Decide what to do: Prioritize Activities to prioritize: • Dot voting • £100 Test • Absolute order
- 52. Decide what to do: Create actions Actions are return on investment Ask: • “Can ‘we’ achieve this?” • “What does success look like?” • “What’s the first step?” • “Who is going to own this?”
- 53. Decide what to do: Create actions Not sure exactly what to tackle? Arrange an experiment
- 54. Decide what to do: Create actions Team seems unsure or noncommittal? Measure with ‘Five-Fingered Consensus’
- 56. Close the retrospective Find out how the meeting went What worked? What didn’t?
- 57. Close the retrospective: Feedback wall
- 59. Tracking actions • Recorded • In your face • Reviewed • Celebrated • Disposable
- 60. How do you run an effective and engaging Sprint Retrospective? • Prepare well • Deliberately facilitate • Keep to Retrospective Framework • Vary retrospective activities • Track actions
- 61. References Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (Derby and Larsen) Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers (Gray, Brown and Macanufo) Agile Retrospective Resource Wiki @cj_smithy