Agile
Retrospectives
Christian Antoine
Cervantes
The journey's better than the end.
What is this about …
Agile Retrospectives
Lessons learned
Framework to Improve
What this is not …
Agile Overview
Scrum 101 – Back to basics
A means to get you to buy my book …
I haven’t written one
Challenge for Software Teams
Building the right product
Building the product right
Owe it to ourselves
Owe it to Clients
What are Retrospectives
• Special meetings taking place after end of
period of work – usually iteration or release
• Teams step back and examine the way they
work, analyze, and identify way they can
approve
• Stoke the engine of team improvement and
growth
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Too many retrospectives ….
• Fail to deliver meaningful (or any) results
• Often boring and painful and waste of time
• Are short-changed by making lists, rather than
help the team think, learn, and decide
together.
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Framework to Improve
• Set the stage
• Gather data
• Generate insights
• Decide what to do
• Close the retrospective
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Greate”
Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books
Set the stage
• Establish focus for this retro
• Share the plan for meeting
• Establish/re-purpose working
agreements
• Get every voice in the room
• Set our concerns aside (for now)
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
Focus On / Focus Off
Inquiry…
rather than Advocacy
Dialogue…
rather than Debate
Conversation…
rather than Argument
Understanding…
rather than Defending
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Great”
Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books
Gather Data
• Create a shared pool of data
• Ground the retro in facts, not
opinion
• Consider objective and
subjective experience
(the focus determines what data is
relevant for a particular retro)
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
Gathering Data Methods
Generate Insight
• Understand systemic influences
and root cause
• Observe patterns
• Move beyond habitual thinking
• Build shared awareness
• See system effects
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
Decide what to do
• Move from discussion to action
• Resolve on one or two actions or
experiments
• Focus on what the team can
accomplish
• Ask what the team has energy
for, not what is ‘most important’
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
Close Retro
• Reiterate actions and follow up
• Appreciate Contributions
• Identify ways to make next
retro better “retro the retro”
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Set the stage
Gather data
Generate insights
Decide what to do
Close the retrospective
Summary
• Every retro should be unique
• Choose a focus reflecting what’s going on with
the team
• Identify what data will help the team sort
through that issue
• Select activities enabling all team members to
participate, think, learn, and decide together
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives – Stock the engine for team improvement.”
Ester Derby http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-retrospectives-
4976896?ref=http://www.estherderby.com/2011/08/solving-symptoms.html
Sample Agenda
Retrospective
• Set Stage – 5 – 10 min
• Gather Data – 15 min
• Generate Insight – 30 min
• Decide What to Do – 5 min [voting]
• Close Retro – 10 min
Reference: “Agile Retrospectives Making Good Teams Great”
Ester Derby & Diane Larson http://www.estherderby.com/books
The journey's better than the end.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra