Agile Interventions for the Retrospective

Self reflection(1) is an important tool for success. Constructive reflection on the past can help us improve the future. The retrospective meeting is where this kind of reflection happens for a team.?Too often teams skip this meeting or just go thru the motions.?And as many times as they answer the questions what went well, what didn’t and what should change things just don’t seem to improve and they resign to the status quo. But the retrospective is much more sophisticated than just repeatedly answering the same questions. Retrospective meetings need data, accountability, purpose and time-saving meeting tools to be efficient and drive results.

In “Teamwork Is An Individual Skill”, (Avery et. al., 2001) the authors make the case that a team’s performance depends on the individual responsibility of its members. They write: “Raise your standards for good team performance, and start being responsible for your own team experience.” (p. 27).?The retrospective meeting is the ideal time and place to do this.

To help your team make the most of the retrospective meetings consider these interventions:

• Don’t let your team skip the retrospective meetings.
• Set a meeting goal and specify an agenda that supports the goal.
• Be proactive and volunteer where you are able.
• Participate and give thoughtful feedback.

A good Agile intervention is to encourage your team to do this important work. Skipping these meetings certainly does not increase the chances of improving. On the other hand, the retrospective meetings can help a team build camaraderie and increase team work. To get started, ask your teammates what matters most to them about their team experience. Then find a way to focus the retrospective meetings on these things.

If nothing else, the team should document what happened during the sprint, especially any problems the team encountered and any solutions that they tried. Be sure to publish these meeting notes. Other teams can learn from this experience and the larger organization can recognize patterns and prioritize resources accordingly.

A good Agile intervention is to ensure the retrospective meeting has a clear meeting goal and effective meeting tools to accomplish the goal. Each retrospective meeting will be different and so the meeting goal should state what needs to get done and the agenda should provide a guide to achieve the goal.?

The meeting goal and agenda should be updated regularly to reflect the team’s priorities and ensure accountability and follow through. When teams come up with a long list of things to change or identify things outside of its control, the agenda can focus the team and ensure they prioritize, track and review action items for their results.

During the retrospective meetings the team may be deciding which metrics to track, reviewing performance against those metrics, documenting what happened in the sprint, reflecting on how the team members feel(2), identifying changes for the next sprint, tracking whether these changes have made a difference or not, and identifying and planning how to eliminate unnecessary work, among other things. These activities require time and effort and must be thoughtfully planned and addressed in the agenda each meeting. Managing these meetings will help your team get organized and focused on constructive reflection.

A good Agile intervention is to volunteer where you think you can help. For example, volunteer to run the next retrospective meeting. Mixing things up can help you and your teammates to feel more engaged(3). Participation is key. Research how to make your meeting engaging and fun. You might start by asking your teammates to describe the ultimate team. Then ask them what we need to do to become that team.

Teams need a lot of different skills to succeed. And we may not realize that we can fill a skill gap or intervene in a situation that we might otherwise think is not our place. If your team does not have a scrum master or enough QA engineers or maybe there is no facilitator for the retrospective meeting, whatever the case may be, you can offer to fill that role. In these moments you can make a difference and develop skills that advance your career. To quote the famous actress and studio executive, Lucille Ball, "The more things you do the more you can do.”

A good Agile intervention is to give thoughtful feedback. Your team cannot improve if they don’t hear from you. When something happens that you think would be good to mention in the retrospective meeting write it down in the moment so you don’t forget. A shared team journal is a great tool for everyone to share things that happen and reflect on them in the retrospective meeting. Giving and receiving feedback are essential soft skills worth investing in for your team and for yourself.?

Retrospective meetings are a powerful tool for change. They require ongoing planning, engagement, commitment and individual responsibility. You can make a difference, whatever your role, by finding ways to contribute. The retrospective meeting is a good place to start.

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Special Thanks to Greg Perlman for encouraging me to make this article shorter.

References

(1) https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-you-should-make-time-for-self-reflection-even-if-you-hate-doing-it

(2) https://scrumbook.org/retrospective-pattern-language/happiness-metric.html

(3) https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/overcoming-four-common-problems-with-retrospectives