Retrospectives : Moving Forward by Looking Back

Key Elements

• Set the Stage• Gather Data• Generate Insights• Decide What to Do• Close the Retrospective

Time Taken

• 2 hours for a 2 week sprint• 4 hours for a 4 week sprint• Add time when there are more people• Add time when there has been a black swan

event (abnormal termination of sprint, failure to release a potentially shippable increment)

Basic Questions

• What worked?• What didn’t work?• What should we continue doing?

Iteration 1

• Constraints– None

• User Story– Correctly perform at least 1 round of pass the cup– Note down how many rounds your team successfully

accomplished

• Conditions of Satisfaction– Cannot pass the cup until you correctly perform the

entire dance– There are no partial completions allowed

The Cup Game

• http://youtu.be/Grb1oa72kmk

Setting the Stage

• Activity : Focus On/Focus Off• Purpose : Help establish a mindset for

productive communication• Materials– Flipchart– Marker– Index cards– Pens

Iteration 2

• Constraints– None

• User Story– Correctly perform at least 1 round of pass the cup– Note down how many rounds your team successfully

accomplished

• Conditions of Satisfaction– Cannot pass the cup until you correctly perform the

entire dance– There are no partial completions allowed

Gather Data

• Activity : Mad Sad Glad• Purpose : Get the feeling facts out on the

table• Materials – Colored Index cards or Sticky Notes– Three flip chart sheets taped to a wall

Iteration 3

• Constraints– Each cup is a 100,000$ Machine. The department that

controls machines will remove machines at random from your use. You have no choice in this matter.

• User Story– Correctly perform at least 1 round of pass the cup– Note down how many rounds your team successfully

accomplished• Conditions of Satisfaction– Cannot pass the cup until you correctly perform the entire

dance– There are no partial completions allowed

Generate Insights

• Activity : Patterns and Shifts• Purpose : Look for links and connections

between facts and feelings• Materials– Markers– Flip chart paper– Post it Notes of 3 different colors

Further Investigation

• Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Great by Esther Darby, Diana Larsen

• Fun Retrospectives http://leanpub.com/funretrospectives

• Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives - A Toolbox of Retrospective Exercises by Luis Gonçalves and Ben Linders