Remote Retro Preparation
This is roughly how I prepare for a remote team retro:
- Reflect on my observations in the sprint and write down what happened in the work, people and things in general in the team.
- Gather my resources from looking at different retro games/check-in exercises and retro themes.
- Write down “what do they need”. Think about where the team is at right now. Think about ideas around and the outcome I’d like to see.
4. Think about how I will facilitate the session remotely, bearing in mind creating an interactive session that fuels engagement.
5. Decide if I should use a team online app or PPT slide. Engagement is key. You can to get people to actively participate in the session vs sitting and listening [or not listening].
6. Always, always use Esther Derby and Diana Larsen Agile Retrospectives format. This format sets the Thinking for retro and allows for participants to gather, process information and work together to find different ways of tweaking how they work. To understand — not blame so that we learn from the past and do better going forward.
7. Sometimes I will theme a retro e.g. I will theme it around one topic e.g. Focus — one of the scrum values — the benefits of focus and less context switching and what happened in the sprint that caused us to lose focus, etc. and what are the things we can do to encourage focus.
8. Sometimes I use retro to do a refresh of Team Agreements or a workshop on story points / estimation or “what is Agile”. Speak to your team first. In a fast-paced organisation, its important to use meeting time effectively. Retro’s can be used for a learning session. Remember retro’s are about reflection and improvement. Even better — is to create a separate space for learning at end of each sprint.
9. Write out the structure of the retro. Sometimes this will change 3 times before I settle on one. Sometimes this changes in retro!
tip: you have to be prepared to throw it away if thats not what the team needs.
Once during the retro I observed a different need. So I asked the team what they need… turns out they wanted to do brainstorming for the upcoming work and not the usual retro. I let go of the retro and we ran a different kind of session. A session they needed at the time. Its okay for this to happen — now and again.
10. Then I time box the structure I wrote and remove anything that will take too much time
11. Prep slides or setup Retro App format [either in PPT/Google Slides or in a team retro app]
12. Always include the Agile Retrospective Prime Directive
Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. — Norm Kerth
13. Once I have the data, the structure and timebox — its easier for me to think through the session. What it looks like and how I will facilitate it.
Prepare some Powerful Questions in advance — this helps facilitate conversations and encourage new ideas. Especially remotely when you not all in the same room. Its hard to feel the room.
14. Last but not least — practice practice practice — in my head, in my sleep! Share the agenda with the team the day before so they know whats expected of them beforehand and can come prepared before the retro.
Remember, the steps after retro are just as important. Follow up on the actions because if we do nothing, nothing will change, and retrospectives will lose its value. This is the responsibility of the facilitator as well as the participants… Input determines output. Come prepared.
