Hans Samios' Personal Lean-Agile Knowledge Base

... absolutely #noabsolutes ...

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace:
what_can_we_do_to_improve_our_retrospectives

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
what_can_we_do_to_improve_our_retrospectives [2019/09/23 08:54] – Added team break hpsamioswhat_can_we_do_to_improve_our_retrospectives [2021/09/10 08:37] (current) – Added ice-breaker advice hans
Line 7: Line 7:
   * There is significant inertia around the way things have always been done, and that it is very easy to slip into acceptance that this is all there is and that it is impossible to change / improve (“learned helplessness”).   * There is significant inertia around the way things have always been done, and that it is very easy to slip into acceptance that this is all there is and that it is impossible to change / improve (“learned helplessness”).
  
-<WRAP box>“Inertia is our enemy” - [[https://popcornflow.com/|Claudio Perrone (developer of POPCORN flow)]]</WRAP>+>“Inertia is our enemy” - [[https://popcornflow.com/|Claudio Perrone (developer of POPCORN flow)]]
  
   * There is a limited understanding of what you need to do to have great, useful, impactful retrospectives. Even if you are doing retrospectives on a regular basis are less productive because some basic ideas which help are not incorporated.   * There is a limited understanding of what you need to do to have great, useful, impactful retrospectives. Even if you are doing retrospectives on a regular basis are less productive because some basic ideas which help are not incorporated.
Line 16: Line 16:
 In my experience there are some simple do’s and don’ts that Scrum Masters can use to improve Retrospectives: In my experience there are some simple do’s and don’ts that Scrum Masters can use to improve Retrospectives:
  
-  * Do understand and use a proper retrospective structure ala agile retrospectives - see below 
   * Do take time to do a retrospective. General rule of thumb is that if you have a 2 week iteration, you might need a 2 hour retrospective. For a retrospective for a whole quarter you might need up to half a day (depends on depth of discussion). Do not short change the retrospective. Remind people that:   * Do take time to do a retrospective. General rule of thumb is that if you have a 2 week iteration, you might need a 2 hour retrospective. For a retrospective for a whole quarter you might need up to half a day (depends on depth of discussion). Do not short change the retrospective. Remind people that:
  
-<WRAP box>“Improving daily work is more important than doing daily work” - Gene Kim, The Phoenix Project</WRAP>+>“Improving daily work is more important than doing daily work” - Gene Kim, The Phoenix Project
  
 +  * Do understand and use a proper retrospective structure ala agile retrospectives - see below
 +  * Do take the time to do an ice-breaker for the team, especially in these times when we are working remotely. Ice-breakers help us learn about our team mates. Pick a subject (it doesn’t have to be a lean agile subject), have people contribute to that subject, and have each person review what they provided, encouraging discussion.
   * Do review results of previous retrospective to close the feedback loop. This reminds people that we are making progress (often we forget how bad things used to be) while establishing the seriousness of the retrospective meeting. Do not sugar coat this - if nothing happened as a result of the previous retrospective (e.g. we identified an improvement area, but didn’t follow up the item with action) then report that.   * Do review results of previous retrospective to close the feedback loop. This reminds people that we are making progress (often we forget how bad things used to be) while establishing the seriousness of the retrospective meeting. Do not sugar coat this - if nothing happened as a result of the previous retrospective (e.g. we identified an improvement area, but didn’t follow up the item with action) then report that.
   * Do spend time on what happened over the period we are reflecting on to reduce impact of [[https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/recency-bias-and-stakeholders|recency bias]]   * Do spend time on what happened over the period we are reflecting on to reduce impact of [[https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/recency-bias-and-stakeholders|recency bias]]
Line 32: Line 33:
   * Do not go straight to “solution mode” in a retrospective. Take the time to develop a good shared understanding of what the real problem is before working to resolution:   * Do not go straight to “solution mode” in a retrospective. Take the time to develop a good shared understanding of what the real problem is before working to resolution:
  
-<WRAP box>“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” - Albert Einstein</WRAP>+>“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” - Albert Einstein
  
-  * Do take time to explore solutions. There are many activities which help with people really understand the problem and help develop solutions. The most common are the tools like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_stream_mapping|Value Stream Mapping, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys|Five Whys]], and “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram|Fishbone Diagrams]]”, but there are many more informal approaches that will yield great results. For example, you could use a version of [[http://www.liberatingstructures.com/1-1-2-4-all/|1, 2, 4, all]] to brainstorm and improve ideas.+  * Do take time to explore solutions. There are many activities which help with people really understand the problem and help develop solutions. The most common are the tools like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_stream_mapping|Value Stream Mapping]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys|Five Whys]], and “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram|Fishbone Diagrams]]”, but there are many more informal approaches that will yield great results. For example, you could use a version of [[http://www.liberatingstructures.com/1-1-2-4-all/|1, 2, 4, all]] to brainstorm and improve ideas.
   * Do make metrics available with trended information showing what is important to the Team. For example, perhaps Team has decided to work Feature cycle time and throughput. Have this available so team can see that they are trending appropriately.   * Do make metrics available with trended information showing what is important to the Team. For example, perhaps Team has decided to work Feature cycle time and throughput. Have this available so team can see that they are trending appropriately.
   * Do let passionate people take responsibility for improvements. The best people to drive improvements to completion are those that are really passionate about a change. Even when that means that, from your perspective, you feel like you are not working the most improvement. You will have more chance of success if people are passionate about driving a change. They have “skin in the game”. Success will lead to other successes and, you never know, you idea might not be the most important thing for the Team to focus on.   * Do let passionate people take responsibility for improvements. The best people to drive improvements to completion are those that are really passionate about a change. Even when that means that, from your perspective, you feel like you are not working the most improvement. You will have more chance of success if people are passionate about driving a change. They have “skin in the game”. Success will lead to other successes and, you never know, you idea might not be the most important thing for the Team to focus on.
Line 45: Line 46:
   * Do make use of the “Retrospective Prime Directive” to kick off the retrospective.Sure, no one believes this really, but it is an important level set for the Team. After all most of the performance of the Team comes from the system the Team is operating in, not the individuals on the Team (Deming):   * Do make use of the “Retrospective Prime Directive” to kick off the retrospective.Sure, no one believes this really, but it is an important level set for the Team. After all most of the performance of the Team comes from the system the Team is operating in, not the individuals on the Team (Deming):
  
-<WRAP box>“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.” - Norm Kerth </WRAP>+>“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.” - Norm Kerth
  
   * Do involve the whole Team. Make sure that all Teams members have opportunity to participate. For example, there is a difference between how introverts and extroverts can participate. Introverts require time to think before speaking and so it can appear that they won’t participate in the meetings especially if you have dominant extrovert in the meeting. Understanding how to work this is critical.    * Do involve the whole Team. Make sure that all Teams members have opportunity to participate. For example, there is a difference between how introverts and extroverts can participate. Introverts require time to think before speaking and so it can appear that they won’t participate in the meetings especially if you have dominant extrovert in the meeting. Understanding how to work this is critical. 
Line 57: Line 58:
      - (N)ext      - (N)ext
  
-{{tag>FAQ retrospective}}+===== Distributed Teams ===== 
 + 
 +A couple of additional ideas for distributed Teams: 
 + 
 +  * Do structure retrospective differently when working with distributed people so that you maximize use of overlapping time to do the things that are best done (synchronized) as a team (vs asynchronous). So for a standard structure retrospective: 
 +    * Set the stage: Can initially be asynchronously done in email or a text backchannel. Once the team actually meets synchronously, consider how you can bring “all the voices into the room.” Watch for safety based on who participates in any synchronous meeting. For example, you might sometimes need a special activity to surface an issue. 
 +    * Gather data: Can start solo and asynchronously. Each team member gathers their data asynchronously in advance and when the team meets, they can review the data together to gain shared understanding and agreement on the data. Sometimes people create a collection point where team members can collect data. 
 +    * Generate insights. Best done synchronously. This is tricky and often requires an experienced facilitator to help the team move through the “Groan Zone”. If you can, use video chat for this part of the meeting, so you can see people’s facial expressions. 
 +    * Decide what to do. Best done synchronously. Many teams have plenty of ideas for solving their issues. The problem is narrowing down those ideas down; to create small experiments. Be careful about running long lived experiments without intermediate check points along the way. It is best to have shorter term experiments to start with. 
 +    * Close the retrospective. Best done synchronously. This is where the facilitator confirms that the retrospective helped the team discover what they should amplify (e.g., doing well) and what they might change. If the participants didn’t feel the retrospective was effective, gather suggestions for improvement synchronously — if time permits — or asynchronously.” 
 +  * Do insist on video when doing a retrospective. This helps improve psychological safety. When we see each other, we learn together. We learn other people’s reactions and how they clarify issues. When team members can’t see each other, they miss the facial expressions and body language. Without video, people often misinterpret other people’s statements. 
 + 
 +===== Management ===== 
 + 
 +  * Do engaged with Teams. Set the expectation that Retrospectives are being done and, more importantly, that you expect that there will be things that you as management need to take on. A good question for the Team is “What happened in the last Retrospective that I can help you with?” 
 +  * Do encourage peer discussions. Sometimes seeing another Team solve a problem that seems to be related to one they are working on will offer a breakthrough for the Team. Sometimes just seeing another Team improve will encourage other Teams to try things as well. Success breeds success. 
 + 
 +{{tag>FAQ retrospective ceremony}}
/home/hpsamios/hanssamios.com/dokuwiki/data/attic/what_can_we_do_to_improve_our_retrospectives.1569254041.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/06/02 14:28 (external edit)