A Guide for Preparing and Facilitating Retrospectives

Jason Yipjcyip@thoughtworks.com@jchyiphttp://jchyip.blogspot.com

Why retrospectives?

How do we learn together?

How do we learn while we still have enough time to intervene?

Basic retrospective structure

Simple retrospective framework1. Set the Stage: What is the purpose of the

retrospective (e.g., improve delivery process)? What is the scope of exploration (e.g., last week)?

2. Gather Data: Collect facts and key memories3. Generate Insights: Interpret data, root cause

analysis; identify solutions or improvements4. Decide What to Do: Prioritise which actions to

take5. Close the Retrospective: Summarise and

review plan of action

From Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen

Establish safety first

Prime directiveAt the start of the retrospective, read out aloud and display the following:

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.

At the end of a project everyone knows so much more. Naturally we will discover decisions and actions we wish we could do over. This is wisdom to be celebrated, not judgement used to embarrass.

http://www.retrospectives.com/pages/retroPrimeDirective.html

Safety check: 1 - 5Each person anonymously (e.g., fold up answers, same colour sticky notes and markers) writes down a number representing their sense of personal safety:

1. I’ll smile, claim everything is great and agree with managers

2. I’m not going to say much, I’ll let others bring up issues

3. I’ll talk about some things, but others will be hard to say

4. I’ll talk about almost anything; a few things might be hard

5. No problem, I’ll talk about anything

If there are a significant number of people that are 3 or below, redirect the retrospective to work out how to improve safety.

http://agileretroactivities.blogspot.com.br/2012/11/safety-check.html

Safety check: ESVPEach person anonymously (e.g., fold up answers, same colour sticky notes and markers) writes down a letter representing how they intend to participate:

- Explorer. You are eager to discover new ideas and insights. You want to learn everything you can about the the iteration/release/project.

- Shopper. You will look over all the available information and will be happy to go home with one useful new idea.

- Vacationer. You aren’t interested in the work of the retrospective, but are happy to be away from the daily grind. You may pay attention some of the time, but are mostly glad to be out of the office.

- Prisoner. You feel that you’ve been forced to attend and would rather be doing something else.

If there are a significant number of Vacationers and/or Prisoners, redirect the retrospective to work out how to address this which may mean cancelling.

http://www.markhneedham.com/blog/2012/10/27/retrospectives-an-alternative-safety-check/

A few retrospective styles

Four questions-What did we do well, that if we don’t discuss we

might forget?-What did we learn?-What should we do differently next time?-What still puzzles us?

http://www.retrospectives.com/pages/RetrospectiveKeyQuestions.html

SAMOLO-Same As-More Of-Less Of

I Like, I wish, What IF?-I Like how we ….-I Wish that we would have …-What If we … ? OR I Wonder if we could … ?

http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/themes/dschool/method-cards/i-like-i-wish-what- if.pdf

Starfish

http://www.thekua.com/rant/2006/03/the-retrospective-starfish/

Retrospective timeline

http://www.thekua.com/rant/2006/03/a-retrospective-timeline/

Goal-driven

http://fabiopereira.me/blog/2008/11/23/goal-driven-retrospective/

Solution-focused goal-driven1. Identify the Ideal State / True North / Future Perfect

using the Miracle Question. "Imagine that a miracle occurred and all our problems have been solved.  How could you tell? What would be different?”

2. Identify where we are now using the Scaling Question. "If 10 is the ideal and 0 is where nothing is working, where are we now?”

3. Identify what we are already doing that works. "What are we already doing that works? That is, why are we [for example] 5 rather than 0?”

4. Identify how to move toward the ideal. "Using the resources we have, what can we do to move one step closer to 10?”

http://jchyip.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/solution-focused-goal-driven.html

Retrospective Dialogue sheets

http://www.softwarestrategy.co.uk/dlgsheets/available.html

Practical tips and tricks

Make sure you close

One concept per sticky note

Fine tip markers for legibility

Vote for what we need to talk about, not for what we want to talk about-Encourage people to vote based on on relevance to

target outcomes / goals, not based on what they happen to feel at the moment.

Distributed tips and tricks

Video on all ends

Post comments through instant message

Retrospective checklist

Retrospective checklist1. What is the purpose of your retrospective?2. What kind of outcome are you looking for?3. Who will be invited to the retrospective?4. Do you anticipate any problems in terms of

personal safety and willingness or ability to contribute?

5. What kind of retrospective process will you use?a) How will you set the stage?b) How will you gather data?c) How will you generate insights?d) How will you decide what to do?e) How will you close the retrospective?

Further references

Further references-Project Retrospectives, Norman Kerth

• See also http://retrospectives.com-Agile Retrospectives, Esther Derby and Diana

Larsen-The Retrospective Handbook, Patrick Kua,

https://leanpub.com/the-retrospective-handbook-Agile Retrospective Resource Wiki,

http://retrospectivewiki.org/index.php?title=Main_Page