Retrospectives

A View From the Inside

Please save your questions (we’ll have time for them at the end)

What we hope you get out of this

Who Are We?

Maria Kouras

maria.kouras@gmail.com

twitter: @masha_q1

Chris Gow

chris.gow@gmail.com

twitter: @chris_gow

Where We Work

We’re part of the delivery team

• We’re always there

• We know the hot issues

• The team is great

Awesomeness

We’re part of the delivery team

• We’re always there

• We know the hot issues

• The team is great

• We’re always there

• Can’t play the games

• We can’t do it full time

Suckage Awesomeness

Fly By the Seat of Our Pants

Learning on the go

• Retrospectives book

• Websites & blogs

• Conferences

• Community

Smells

Smell: Crickets

• Uninteresting topics

• Large group

• Vocal few

• No warm up

Creating Conversations

• Break up into small groups

• More ideas faster

• Bring back to whole group

Giving People Choices

Open Space Technology

• Team owns the retrospective

• Minimal prep time

http://www.openspaceworld.org/

Getting in the mood

Warm up exercises

• ESVP

• Focus on/Focus off

• Working agreements

Helping the Dialogue Happen

• Ensure everyone has an

opportunity to speak

• Timebox conversations

Smell: When Nothing Gets Done

You hear things like:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jOnRUe-MOuI/SWxyaQX_iCI/AAAAAAAAAu0/U-CQ-

cXQFeU/s400/To+do+pile.jpg

“Its nice to talk, but I

just feel like nothing

ever gets done...”

“Whatever

happened to the

action items from the

last one…?”

Its Not just a Kaffeeklatsch

“Decide what to do”

• Action items

• Follow up sessions (RCA, other

discussions)

• Review action items at next

retro

Smell: Same Ol’ Retrospectives

● Boring

● Lack of excitement

● Same format

Spicy Meatball

• Change it up!

• Play games

http://tastycupcakes.org

• How spicy was the retrospective?

Tips

Be Prepared

Have a plan

• Activities

• Time

• Materials

Managing Time

• Time = activities +

breaks + buffer

• Give people heads up

when they have X min

left before activity end

Distractions

Ask people not to bring

• food

• phones

• laptops

… i.e. ask them to BE

there

The 5 Stages

● Set the Stage

● Gather Data

● Generate Insights

● Decide What To Do

● Close

Esther Derby’s Slide show on how to have awesome retrospectives:

http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-4976896

What We Talked About

Smells

Crickets

When Nothing Gets Done

Same Ol’ Retrospective

Tips

Be Prepared

Manage Time

Avoid Distractions

Your Questions

Retrospective

What is one thing I can apply to my

retrospectives after attending this session?

Speedboat Exercise

Time: 8 mins

Sails: Things I learned/I could apply

Anchors: Things I knew/Could be

clearer

Generate Ideas

Time: 5 min

In your group of 4, using the

sails from your sailboat

think about things you can

apply

Apply

Decide What To Do

Time: 2 min

Pick one thing that you think you can apply

Thank You!