Agile

Retrospectives

Christian Antoine

Cervantes

The journey's better than the end.

What is this about …

Agile Retrospectives

Lessons learned

Framework to Improve

What this is not …

Agile Overview

Scrum 101 – Back to basics

A means to get you to buy my book …

I haven’t written one

Challenge for Software Teams

Building the right product

Building the product right

Owe it to ourselves

Owe it to Clients

What are Retrospectives

• Special meetings taking place after end of

period of work – usually iteration or release

• Teams step back and examine the way they

work, analyze, and identify way they can

approve

• Stoke the engine of team improvement and

growth

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Too many retrospectives ….

• Fail to deliver meaningful (or any) results

• Often boring and painful and waste of time

• Are short-changed by making lists, rather than

help the team think, learn, and decide

together.

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Framework to Improve

• Set the stage

• Gather data

• Generate insights

• Decide what to do

• Close the retrospective

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Greate”

Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books

Set the stage

• Establish focus for this retro

• Share the plan for meeting

• Establish/re-purpose working

agreements

• Get every voice in the room

• Set our concerns aside (for now)

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Set the stage

Gather data

Generate insights

Decide what to do

Close the retrospective

Focus On / Focus Off

Inquiry…

rather than Advocacy

Dialogue…

rather than Debate

Conversation…

rather than Argument

Understanding…

rather than Defending

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Great”

Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books

Gather Data

• Create a shared pool of data

• Ground the retro in facts, not

opinion

• Consider objective and

subjective experience

(the focus determines what data is

relevant for a particular retro)

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Set the stage

Gather data

Generate insights

Decide what to do

Close the retrospective

Gathering Data Methods

Generate Insight

• Understand systemic influences

and root cause

• Observe patterns

• Move beyond habitual thinking

• Build shared awareness

• See system effects

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Set the stage

Gather data

Generate insights

Decide what to do

Close the retrospective

Decide what to do

• Move from discussion to action

• Resolve on one or two actions or

experiments

• Focus on what the team can

accomplish

• Ask what the team has energy

for, not what is ‘most important’

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Set the stage

Gather data

Generate insights

Decide what to do

Close the retrospective

Close Retro

• Reiterate actions and follow up

• Appreciate Contributions

• Identify ways to make next

retro better “retro the retro”

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Set the stage

Gather data

Generate insights

Decide what to do

Close the retrospective

Summary

• Every retro should be unique

• Choose a focus reflecting what’s going on with

the team

• Identify what data will help the team sort

through that issue

• Select activities enabling all team members to

participate, think, learn, and decide together

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”

Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-

4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html

Sample Agenda

Retrospective

• Set Stage – 5 – 10 min

• Gather Data – 15 min

• Generate Insight – 30 min

• Decide What to Do – 5 min [voting]

• Close Retro – 10 min

Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Great”

Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books

The journey's better than the end.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra