THE ART of Retrospectives
I don’t always use conventional formats for retrospectives. Sometimes I use this…
Brene Brown on Empathy
Julian Treasure on 5 Ways to listen better
Or even this…
Austin Kleon ideas from his books Steal like An Artist.
And this…
GapingVoid daily inspiration.
I’ll use a video as a check-in. Or a snippet from a book I’m reading. Then we discuss thoughts and ideas. Or the video sets the theme for the rest of retro. Or — depending on the theme for the retro — it can serve as a last thought at the end of retro.
Why do I do this?
It’s a different approach to the way retrospectives are normally run. Secondly, it connects to what I’m coaching through a different medium; to focus mindsets. To create something memorable. To solve a potential problem. To open conversations.
When do I do this?
If you know the team well enough you can play with creative ways to capture lessons. Quite frankly I get bored with the usual agile formats. Even the different games used to expose feelings about the last sprint can become overused.
Sometimes opening up their world to the rest of the world, can be refreshing for most software engineers. To see what other people like them they are doing in the world.
I decide on a different approach when:
- I get to the stage of “what the hell am I going to do for retro?”
- my Scrum Master kit has nothing that sparks excitement or meaning
- I feel uninspired for retro myself
How does my past experience as a designer influence my decisions as a Scrum Master?
A great deal actually.
I love retro’s. The visual aspect. The psychological aspect. Its one of the most interesting (and also challenging) sessions to facilitate. Its about human behaviour. Pattern recognition. How we think and how we approach our work. Learning to understand how emotional intelligence can help navigate us through these sessions.
When I get to the stage of ‘I don’t know what to do anymore’ I look everywhere for ideas. Everywhere except software development.
Not every retrospective needs to have fireworks. Sometimes a simple discussion works just as well. Or the usual ‘what worked’ and ‘what didn’t’. If you know your teams’ well, you will know which format is best to use and when to use them. It takes time to get to this stage. Be patient.
“The point of a retrospective is to change and improve things. It is also reserved time to look at how we work as a team, and how to tweak that. Retro’s deal with the “mushy”, human side of work and how we can collaborate better.”
Retro’s enable 4 major things
- self-reflection
- shared understanding
- chance to experiment!
- help catch issues early
Timing is important when using a different approach. Make sure to ask your team permission if you doing something out of the ordinary. The impact of a retro depends on the team’s input and participation. They need to be open and comfortable, but not too comfortable!
After all, retro’s are built for the team — not the facilitator. Last thing you want is a team closed off and not listening. That’s valuable time wasted and an opportunity lost at building trust and collaboration.
