Techniques for an Effective Retrospective

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Techniques for an Effective Retrospective by Mind Map: Techniques for an Effective Retrospective

1. Retrospective Definition

1.1. Meeting held by the team to reflect on their process, both the positives and the room for improvement, to make actionable commitments toward improvement

1.2. "Without pursuing improvement as retrospectives require, true agility is simply not achievable."

1.3. "Most important part of agile."

1.3.1. It's the key that makes "agile" different and work in so many environments

1.3.2. Continuous improvement.

1.3.2.1. Kaizen

1.4. Entire Team

1.4.1. Development Team, Scrum Master, Product Owner

2. Set the Stage

2.1. get the team ready to engage

2.1.1. This last sprint we accomplished 'X' over 2 weeks. We had 3 story peer reviews all at the end. You guys dealt with some big pager calls and helped add stories to prevent future calls

2.1.2. Now we want to reflect on our successes and what we want to work on moving forward.

2.1.3. Prime Directive

2.1.3.1. ‘Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job he or she could, given what was known at the time, his or her skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.’

2.1.3.2. - Norm Kerth

2.1.4. But first....

2.2. warm up activity(ies)

2.2.1. energizers

2.2.1.1. invigorate participants and make them feel more engaged

2.2.2. Untangle yourselves

2.2.2.1. everyone grabs each others hands and untangles

2.2.3. Visual Telephone

2.2.3.1. Write a sentence, pass to right, draw picture, pass to right, write sentence of the picture

2.2.4. Move around the room

2.2.5. This is the time for team building activities

3. Gather Data

3.1. create a shared picture of

3.1.1. what happened during the sprint

3.1.2. where the team feels they are on overall goals and success

3.2. Happiness radar

3.2.1. given context have each member rate their happiness level

3.3. Peaks and Valleys Timeline

3.3.1. Each team member draws happy/unhappy timeline over the last itteration

3.4. Feelings Gifs

3.4.1. Pick a gif that represents how they felt about the sprint

3.4.2. Explain why

3.5. Pillars of Agile Spiderweb

3.6. Big Hitter Moments

3.6.1. Acknowledge and reflect the good parts

4. This Mind Map

4.1. http://thesoftwaregardener.com/links/retrospectiveTechniques

4.2. Back Side of Handout

4.2.1. http://thesoftwaregardener.com/links/retrospectiveTechniques2

5. Close the Retrospective

5.1. Reflect on the retrospective and how to improve it

5.2. Appreciate accomplishments

5.2.1. The team

5.2.2. Individual interactions

5.2.3. Creative ideas

5.3. Stop leaving the retro with a bad taste in everyone's mouth!

6. Generate Insights

6.1. Brainstorming to identify areas of improvement for the team

6.1.1. Continuing to do what is successful

6.1.2. Changing current processes for more valuable outcomes

6.1.3. Add processes or techniques to lead to effective change accomplishing team and project goals

6.2. Tell and Cluster

6.3. Starfish

6.3.1. Start, Stop, Do More, Do Less, and Keep

6.4. Lots of Variations

6.4.1. Small Starfish

6.4.1.1. Keep, More Of, Less Of / Stop

6.4.2. 4Ls - liked, learned, lacked, longed for

6.4.3. KALM - Keep, Add, More, Less

6.4.4. PMI - Plus, Minus, Interesting

6.4.5. Open The Box

6.4.5.1. Remove from box, add to box, recycle in box

6.4.6. Thumbs up, down, new ideas and recognition

6.5. Speed Car - Abyss

6.5.1. 4 categories to writes notes about

6.5.1.1. Car Engine

6.5.1.1.1. What has been pushing us forward, making us fast

6.5.1.2. Car Parachute

6.5.1.2.1. What has been slowing us down

6.5.1.3. Abyss

6.5.1.3.1. What are the dangers ahead

6.5.1.4. Bridge

6.5.1.4.1. What could we build to overcome the abyss

6.5.2. Car engine, Car Parachute, Abyss, Bridge

6.6. 6 thinking hats

7. Decide what to do

7.1. identify highest priority items to work on

7.1.1. identify actionable items the team will accomplish

7.2. Dot Voting

7.2.1. Everyone gets (X) votes and puts a dot on each item

7.2.1.1. top 1 or 2 items will be the focus of the action items

7.3. Brainwriting

7.3.1. 5 min writing ideas

7.3.1.1. pass ideas to the left

7.3.1.1.1. 5 minutes adding to those ideas

7.4. Speed Dating

7.5. Put measurable goals on those items so they can be completed

7.5.1. How do we know we are doing it right, or successfully?

7.6. Actionable!

7.6.1. Never accept "just do it from now on"

7.6.1.1. Nor "we'll do it better"

8. Tips

8.1. Plan out how much time you'll spend in each step (1-5)

8.2. Find ways to follow up on action items

8.2.1. Achievable actions and owners for each action

8.2.2. The Top 4 Ways To Followup On Agile Retrospectives

8.3. Rotate facilitator role

8.3.1. Get someone outside the team to facilitate

8.4. Start each retro by reviewing the actions from previous retro

8.5. Mix up locations

8.5.1. Use a room without a table

8.6. Throw away everything from retro except actions

8.6.1. focus on outcomes, not problems

8.7. How will you remind yourselves to do this throughout the next sprint?