The Art of the

Retrospective
Chris Smith
Project Manager, Red Gate

@cj_smithy
Introductions
Introductions
 What is a Retrospective Meeting?
“Special meeting that takes place at the end of a
period of work – usually an iteration or software
release.
In a retrospective, a team steps back, examines
the way they work, analyses and identifies ways
they can improve”
Esther Derby
 Inspect and adapt
Retrospective

Retrospective
Retrospective

Retrospective
Retrospective

We will always
know more
than we know
here
 Sprint Retrospectives
Retrospective

Retrospective
Retrospective

Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospectives can be perfunctory
Retrospectives can be ineffective

Habitual thinking
Lack of focus
Lack of participation
No end product
So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
So… Retrospectives can be unpopular

My team are literally allergic to the word

‘Retrospective’
So… Retrospectives can be unpopular

My team talk to each other and we fix things

when they come up (you idiot)
So… Retrospectives can be unpopular

My team/project is special because [reason], so

we don’t do retrospectives
So… Retrospectives can be unpopular
Let’s not bother
Or worse
Let’s continue ticking the box
Retrospectives can be awesome
Continuously improve
Respond to change
Think creatively
Happier team
I am not a hero
How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?
 References
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good
Teams Great (Derby and Larsen)

Gamestorming: A Playbook for

Innovators, Rulebreakers, and
Changemakers (Gray, Brown and
Macanufo)
 How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?

• Prepare well
• Deliberately facilitate
• Keep to Retrospective Framework
• Vary retrospective activities
• Track actions
Be prepared

Invest time
• More in = more out
• 2x meeting length
Be prepared

Decide
• Focus
• Duration
• Agenda
• Plans A & B
Be prepared

Gather
• Materials
• Snacks
• Help
• People
 Facilitate
Be deliberate…
• Clear
• Confident
• Aware
• Don’t contribute (too much)
Retrospective
framework

• Set the stage

• Gather data
• Generate insights
• Decide what to do
• Close the
retrospective
Structuring a retrospective
Activities
(or “Games”)

• Share information
• Encourage
participation
• Encourage
collaboration
• Encourage creative
thinking
• Move things forward
Set the stage
 Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
 Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
Agree mind-set
 Set the stage
Agree a ‘Goldilocks’ goal
Agree mind-set
Hear everyone’s voice
 Set the stage: Check-in
Everyone answers a question
in one or two words:
“How was the sprint for you?”
“What is on your mind right now?”
“What are your hopes for
this retrospective?”
 In one or two words…

How has Agile Cambridge 2013 been

for you?
 Set the stage: Other activities
• Focus On/Focus Off
• Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer,
Prisoner
Gather data
 Gather data
Generate shared memory
Observations not evaluations
Open up space to explore later
 Gather data: Team Poll
Measure Satisfaction with Teamwork, Quality,
Engineering, ???
 Gather data: Pair Interviews
• Pose a question like “What were the high and
low points of this sprint?”
• Pair-up, each person to interview the other
• Not a conversation; encourage interviewees to
keep to the role
• Report back
 Gather data: Other activities
• Timeline
• Short Subjects
– Mad/Sad/Glad
– Stop/Start/Continue
• Learning Matrix
• Like to Like card game
Generate insights
 Generate insights

Explore, interpret, analyse the data

Look for patterns and themes
Think creatively
Generate insights:
Fishbone Diagram
Generate insights:
Fishbone Diagram
 Generate insights:
Challenge Cards
Two Teams
• Challenge Team brainstorms
potential problems

• Solution Team brainstorms

features and strengths of the
team
 Generate insights:
Challenge Cards
To Play:
• Challenge Team plays a card, solution team
picks a card that addresses the challenge
• Winner decided and points awarded
• If there is no solution, team designs a new
solution card together
Generate insights:
Challenge Cards
 Generate insights: Brainwriting

• Each person has paper divided into ~4 sections

• Idea added in 1st section
• Paper passed to next person who builds on idea
 Generate insights:
Mission Impossible
• Take an existing challenge/goal and change a
fundamental aspect that makes it seem
impossible
– “How do we remove all our technical debt… in a day?”
– “How do we add a feature… without writing code?”
• Brainstorm
• Ask “Which of these ideas would be worth
actually trying?”
Gather data & Generate insights:
Mission Impossible
 Generate Insights: Other activities
• Five Whys
• Force Field Analysis
• Flip it
• De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats
• Anti-problem
• Speedboat
• Pre-Mortem
Decide what to do
Decide what to do

Move toward conclusions

Focus on improvement
Identify 2-5 actions
 Decide what to do: Prioritize

Activities to prioritize:
• Dot voting
• £100 Test
• Absolute order
 Decide what to do: Create actions
Actions are return on investment

Ask:
• “Can ‘we’ achieve this?”
• “What does success look like?”
• “What’s the first step?”
• “Who is going to own this?”
 Decide what to do: Create actions
Not sure exactly what to tackle?
Arrange an experiment
 Decide what to do: Create actions
Team seems unsure or noncommittal?
Measure with ‘Five-Fingered Consensus’
Close the retrospective
Close the retrospective

Find out how the meeting went

What worked?
What didn’t?
Close the retrospective:
Feedback wall
Structuring a retrospective
 Tracking actions

• Recorded
• In your face
• Reviewed
• Celebrated
• Disposable
 How do you run an effective and
engaging Sprint Retrospective?

• Prepare well
• Deliberately facilitate
• Keep to Retrospective Framework
• Vary retrospective activities
• Track actions
 References
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good
Teams Great (Derby and Larsen)

Gamestorming: A Playbook for

Innovators, Rulebreakers, and
Changemakers (Gray, Brown and
Macanufo)

Agile Retrospective Resource Wiki

@cj_smithy
 Questions?

?
@cj_smithy