Agile RetrospectivesAnthony Boobier
Email: [email protected]
“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump,
bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there
really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it”
A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh. London: Puffin Books, 1926
Quote used by Norm Kerth
What is it?
• Inspect and Adapt are critical parts of Agile Process but…
• They are methods focussed on Product• Retrospective is team-focussed• Way of ensuring we Inspect and Adapt the following
• Methods• Engineering Practices• Teamwork
Preparation
• Team Working Agreements• Keep focus• Needs to be a safe environment• Attendees: Team, Scrumaster
• Should the customer attend? That depends…
Ensure it has Structure
1. Set the Stage2. Gather Data3. Generate Insights4. Decide what to do5. Close the Retrospective
Set The Stage !
• Set a theme for the Retrospective• A word for the iteration
• EPIC, OK, TRUCKING-ON, MOMENTUM, RUNNING, INTERRUPTED, MARVELLOUS, RUSHED, PROMISING, PAINFUL, PROGRESS, BOGGY, EXCELLENT, ZOOM, FRUSTRATING, SLOW
• Assess Actions from previous retrospective• Reminders and Re-enforcers
Gather Data
• Things that happened and how we responded• People see things very differently• Key events timeline
• What did we commit to delivering?• Stories delivered• Test cases passed• Defects raised
Generate Insights !
What was Good? What was Bad?
Any Bright Ideas? Who/What we Appreciate?
What were the patterns? Why were things the way they were?
Decide what to do
• What do we want to do in our next iteration to meet our goal?
• Be realistic• Pick no more than 3 things• Use Dot voting
• Sprint plan• Implementation backlog
Benefits: Building Winning Teams
Further Reading1. Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Esther Derby & Diana Larsen
2. Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews. Norman L. Kerth
3. Collaboration Explained. Jean Tabaka