PMI-ACP® STUDY NOTE SERIES:
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby & Diana Larsen
What's On the Exam
First, review my favorite ideas from the book, published previously. The following is what's important for the exam.Know the phases of a retrospective, and what a retrospective facilitator does in each phase
- Set the Stage (sets scope & timebox of meeting; helps people warm up to the space & get present)
- Gather Data (collects multiple perspectives in a way that no one dominates)
- Generate Insights (asks the team to interpret what they see)
- Decide What to Do (asks the team if they'd like to propose any changes based on what they've just discussed; limit this to 3 changes or less until the next retro!)
SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely
May be on the Exam, in a General Sense
Facilitation Tipsbegin by asking everyone to speak
notice who didn't chime in, and ask for their opinion
"if we had that, what would we gain?"
observe: "I'm hearing labels and 'you' language"
observe: "I'm hearing side conversations"
steer: "can you say that using 'I' language?"
"What just happened?"
at the board: write down the exact words of the speaker
once it's written down, some people drop an issue; remind them to own it
if the leader speaks, it "quashes group discussion"
set up deliberately, simple instructions, ask for questions
debrief every activity
ask the team to monitor their own working agreements
point to a working agreement posted on the wall rather than interrupt verbally
your primary responsibility is to the needs of the team, not to individuals
examine both facts and feelings
Retrospective Tips
avoid the F word ("feelings")-- ask about high points & low points, excitement & dread
do your homework before a retro -- check your assumptions, find out what to focus on
plan for shuffle time (unusable time between activities as people move to another seat or stand up)
change rooms for a fresh perspective
change seating arrangements -- semicircle to open, small circles for working groups
do pair interviews
we want to break habitual thinking, so change the format
take time to develop concrete plans for achieving any retrospective actions--plan together!
pick only 1 or 2 experiments for the next iteration
Change pattern: loss, chaos & disorientation, idea clicks, practice & integration
Not on the Exam
The following isn't likely to show up on the exam, but I've included it as a guide to remember what's in the book. Brief game descriptions follow this next block quote; refer to the book for more detail.Set the Stage: (check in; focus-on, focus-off; ESVP [explorers, shoppers, vacationers, prisoners]; working agreements)
Gather Data (timeline; triple nickels; color code dots; mad sad glad; locate strengths; satisfaction histogram; team radar; like to like)
Generate Insights: (brainstorming-filtering; force field analysis; five whys; fish bone; patterns & shifts; prioritize with dots; report out with synthesis; identify themes; learning matrix)
Decide What to Do: (retrospective planning game; SMART goals; circle of questions; short subjects)
Close the Retrospective: (+/delta; appreciations; temperature reading; helped, hindered, hypothesis; return on time invested)
Focus On / Focus Off
Inquiry… rather than Advocacy
Dialogue… rather than Debate
Conversation…. rather than Argument
Understanding… rather than Defending
Triple Nickels
(break out into groups of 3-5 people)
5-min: Silently, on a sheet of paper, brainstorm on what to do.
5-min: pass it on, build upon the ideas on your neighbor's sheet
5-min: repeat up to 5 times
Color Code Dots
do a Timeline, then use color to indicate how you felt about those events
Mad Sad Glad
write on color coded index cards, add to wall
Identify Strengths
pair up; interview the other party
ask about the high point(s) of something big--the release, a person's career
Satisfaction Histogram
on a scale of 1-5, dot how you feel our team is doing
Team Radar
similar to a Blond ROTI
scale of 0-10, name several axes
dot-vote
Like to Like
everyone writes 3 cards each (9 total): keep doing; stop doing; start doing
take turns; do apples to apples judging; give winner the cards
Force Field Analysis
list enablers and detractors to this change
draw arrows towards the center line, thickness indicates strength
Fishbone
Problem, who, what, when, where, why
Patterns and Shifts
(after a timeline or mad sad glad)
ask: where do you see patterns?
where did things shift?
do you see connections between events?
how do these patterns or shifts connect to our current problems?
Dot Voting
quantity of dots should be about 1/3 or 1/2 total choices available
(greatly influenced by the question):
What is most important?
What will have the greatest impact?
What do you want to work on most?
Circle of Questions
use it to decide what to do.
clockwise talking stick; first person asks 1 question, next person answers
after answering, become the questioner, on a follow-up question or new topic
Plus/Delta Variants
keep/drop/add
mad/sad/glad
proud/sorry
plus/minus
Temperature Reading
Explain each of the following sections; pause for people to respond.
Appreciations
Puzzles
Complaints with Recommendations
New Information
Hopes & Wishes
