Return of the Retrospectives - SEEK Brown Bag - 21-10-14
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Retrospectives are one of the most important and common Agile ceremonies, but are you and your team bored with them? Do you always use the same, old format, or are they just proving to be ineffective? The aim of this session is to empower you to change things up within your team and really value the Iteration Retrospective. You will learn about a number of new and different Retrospective techniques that you can start using immediately at your next Retro. I will also include real life experience what it was like to use each format and provide advice on when to use each format. Let's bring life back to the Retrospective. It's time for the Return of the Retrospective!
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Return of the Retrospectives - SEEK Brown Bag - 21-10-14
- 1. 1
- 2. 2 Overview What’s the point of Retros? Steps toward better Retros New Retro formats to try out!
- 3. 3 What’s the point of Retros?
- 4. 4 “Agile Retrospectives are special meetings where a team steps back, examines the way they work, and identifies ways they can improve.” Ester Derby
- 5. 5 Questions for you… Why are Retrospectives important?
- 7. 7 The most important practice!
- 8. 8 Steps towards better Retros
- 11. 11 Enforce Appropriate Behaviour
- 12. 12 Clear actions that get followed up
- 13. 13 New and different Retrospective formats!
- 14. 14 Jeopardy
- 15. 15 Hot Air Balloon – Ropes and Fuels
- 16. 16 The 4 L’s Retro Loved Learned Lacked Longed for
- 17. 17 Lean Coffee
- 19. 19 Appreciative Retrospective past iteration the future strengths successes events
- 20. 20 Race car!
- 21. 21 Recap What’s the point of Retros? Steps toward better Retros New Retro formats to try out!
- 22. 22 Questions
- 23. 23 Thank you!
Editor's Notes
- Welcome // Ryan McKergow // Senior Business Analyst at Elabor8 // Consulting @ UniSuper – Previously REA and SEEK Talk about Retrospectives // How I want Retrospectives to return to it’s place as a very important Agile ceremony Story // 18 months ago // Team together 12 months // Same format! // Same themes discussed // Minimal continuous improvement There has to be a better way!
- Reminder – What’s the point of Retros – Looking at why we do them Steps towards better Retros regardless of the format Introduce lots of new and fun Retro formats
- Let’s get straight into it
- Great quote that summarises Retros // Ester Derby – wrote a book with Diana Larsen READ QUOTE It’s about meeting regularly (every fortnight / week / whenver) // reflecting // improving
- I want to ask you a question Why are Retrospectives important? <Take a few questions> Great points // All explain the importance of Retros
- It’s all about Continuous Improvement. I think we’ve lost sight of this and it has just become a habit. We got told about this Agile practice that we’re meant to do and so we started doing it…
- I think that Retros are the most important Agile practice and it deserves justice! It deserves purpose, energy, excitement, which all lead to continuous improvement.
- I want to now spend some time focusing on how we give Retros their justice. How we make Retros the most important practice.
- Being prepared is a way to go from unproductive Retros to Retros that have a plan / focus Invest time in preparing – For every hour your workshop is, spend at least half the time planning Plan how the Retro will work (i.e. agenda, plan A/B) Have all materials ready (cards, post it notes, market pens)
- Facilitating a Retro well can mean that your Retros are no longer unproductive. How do you do this… Designated facilitator (preferably not a participator) Be clear and confident with instruction of how to run the technique – State your expectations of people Have enthusiasm! It’s important to bring energy to the room – Think about how you would normally facilitate or lead a meeting – Now take the energy up a level or two! Explain and enforce the chosen format
- Enforcing the appropriate behaviour within Retros is important to ensures two things: 1. It ensures the Retro is respectful. 2. It does not turn into a blaming session that will not help anyone. Respectful Turning up on time – avoid distractions later Not talking over the top of eachother (VERY important in Distributed Retros) Including everyone – people in distributed teams & quiet people Avoid a blaming session Focus on the positivity – Remember we assume that we all tried our best in the given circumstances. Let’s work out how to improve together. Focus on the facts. Not personal judgements.
- In order to avoid Retro Actions constantly being ignore it’s important to have clear actions: Should be achievable / have a clear outcome Needs someone to champion the action Don’t commit to too much! It is also important to follow them up Put them on your Story Wall During the Iteration/Sprint – Follow up Retro actions Review actions at the next Retros Ask whether they lead to a better outcome?
- Let’s learn about some new ones!
- Jeopardy Retro – A new and completely different way of running a Retro that was introduced to me // Reverse engineering what people are thinking Provide instructions Personal Experience: Another example from my team @ REA (have you worked out they’re my guinea pigs?) // Changes to story cards after kickoff // Only a few knew & they were fine // Rest of team out of loop // Agreed to improve comms – grab the team, email, standup Why is it better than old format? Identifies differences in opinion
- Ropes and Fuels – A fun and creative way to look @ what’s pushing us forward (fuels) // what’s holding us back (ropes) Provide instructions – Don’t draw balloon too big Personal Experience – Ran this 2 weeks ago w/ my team @ REA // Lack of short term planning – caught up in our own success / org. politics // Focused on team // Planning meetings (structure) / highlighted very strongly to Product Manager – zealously worked on backlog Why is it better than old format? It’s fun! // Focuses on what gives us momentum & holds us back
- Presentation Notes: The 4 L’s (Loved, Lacked, Longed for, Learned) Retro - A variation on the traditional Retro by asking different questions Good for something different! Also somewhat forces participation by involving the team in running the session. Provide instructions. Remember to explain how it starts and how the team is involved – Present back to the group Personal Experience: I’ve used this both for an iteration and end of a project. Both times it worked well. Instructions: Reflect on 4 different categories: Liked Learned Lacked Longed for Write notes against each category Split into 4 even teams Each team goes through findings and presents to everyone Discuss important topics with team Agree on action items
- Presentation Notes: Lean Coffee is a great way for people to get their burning topics off their chest. They bring a topic to the Retro to discuss. Provide instructions. Remember to explain how it starts and how the team is involved The 5 minute rule is a concept you can use in any situation… not just Lean Coffee! Personal Experience: I’ve used Lean Coffee for an iteration Retro. It worked OK. Sometimes people will tune out when the issue doesn’t directly impact them. Next time I’ll try something different – different time (not afternoon), not as many warm up exercises. Instructions: Ask everyone to raise 1-2 topics for discussion. Vote on the topic discussion items. Start discussion about the topic for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, vote on whether to continue discussions. Throughout the discussions, identify actions to take away. Feedback Notes: - The 5 minute rule could be a take away that could be used in isolation of Retros. Look for other opportunities for this. Image source: http://www.agileopenspace.org/wp-content/uploads/lean-coffee-featured-628x250.jpg
- Emotional Timeline – To reflect on a period time // Look at both factual & emotional Provide instructions Personal Experience – I just joined my team @ REA who had never done a Retro - Mar ‘14 // Had been together for months team of 3 // Emotional pointed out pain point from months ago – CartoDb on Macs Why is it better than old format? Reflecting over time period (remember that thing?) // engaging factual & emotional
- Appreciative Retro – To focus on the positive side of things and realise that the world is not coming to an end! Provide instructions Personal Experience – Just delivered project @ SEEK in Sep ‘13 // Staying together next project // Wanted to appreciate our hard work // Future state – Git – Championed by 1 Dev Why is it better than old format? Only positive // Looks for opportunities to further improve
- Race car! A new Retro format I haven’t tried, but very similar to a favourite of mine – Speedboat (learnt at LAST Conference last year) It’s fun! // Great insight into what is and could happen. Provide instructions Let’s go back to work and try it out on Monday. I will be!
- <Re-iterate each point in 1 sentence>
- <Determine time for questions>
- Thank you! Special shout out to Ilya from Ilya Creative who did a great job on the slides. Does all of Elabor8’s design work http://ilyacreative.com/ Tweet my any questions // Connect on LinkedIn // Grab me now or at lunch!