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The purpose of this step is to create a shared and more detailed view of what happened during a work cycle, or a sprint (for those using Scrum).

Not everyone has the same view on the same fact. Looking from different angles, that is, looking through the eyes of several team members, helps to better understand the scenario and better analyze the facts to build better solutions for improving the work process.

When people look only at their own data, the team is less likely to commit to changes and experiments. (Esther Derby and Diana Larsen – Agile Retrospectives)

This is a very important step in the retrospective, as it will provide material for the following steps: “generating ideas” and “deciding what to do”. So it is important to reserve between 20% and 50% of the total duration of the retrospective meeting for this stage. In other words, for a 2-hour retrospective, set aside 25 to 60 minutes to collect data about what happened during the sprint.

The data to be collected can be: metrics, problems, difficulties, joys, work progress, absences of team members, important decisions taken during the sprint, adoption of new technologies, impediments, speed, bugs found during the work, dynamics of work among team members, changes in the team or project, etc.

The traditional method that is used to collect data is that in which team members write positive points in post-its in one color (yellow, for example) and negative points in post-its in another color (blue, for example) . However, there are several techniques that can be used and interspersed with this traditional technique to support the team in this process and to diversify and not make this work monotonous, repetitive and with time spent and worthless.

Other techniques can help to work out facts and feelings separately. When we use the traditional method, the person already classifies the data according to his feeling, informing if the data was something positive or negative.

Separating fact from feeling is also important to increase the power of analysis. However, both are important to lead to better thinking and acting on the solution.

Without feelings data, the team may not address the topics that are most important to them. (Esther Derby and Diana Larsen – Agile Retrospectives)

To finalize the list below other posts in the series:

1. Agile Retrospective

2. Agile Continuous Learning

3. Preparing the Stage for the Retrospective – 1st stage

References

[1] – Agile Retrospectives. Making Good Teams Great, Esther Derby & Diana Larsen, The Pragmatic Programmers

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PREPARAR O PALCO (SET THE STAGE). Essa é a 1a etapa de uma reunião de retrospectiva, conforme apresentado no primeiro post da série Retrospectiva Ágil.

Já ouvimos falar que tudo na vida tem início, meio e fim. Na retrospectiva não seria diferente. Preparar o palco é dar início a essa reunião. É introduzir, contextualizar para o principal que vem logo a seguir.

Nesse post veremos como preparar o palco, a importância e os benefícios dessa etapa no todo.

"Preparar o palco ajuda as pessoas a focarem no trabalho a ser realizado" (Esther Derby e Diana Larsen). 

Nessa etapa o facilitador reitera com o time os objetivos a serem alcançados com a reunião de retrospectiva. Esse procedimento contribui para criar um ambiente apropriado para a participação de todos, onde as pessoas se sintam seguras e confiantes para contribuirem e discutirem os assuntos pertinentes a reunião.

É importante que nesse momento todos falem e sejam ouvidos, mesmo sendo em um intervalo curto de tempo. O importante é que todos participem logo de início. Segundo Esther Derby e Diana Larsen:

Quando alguém não fala logo no início da retrospectiva, essa pessoa tem permissão tácita para permanecer calada pelo resto da sessão.

Ao contrário, o esperado na retrospectiva é a contribuição de todos atuando no processo de melhoria. São as contribuições individuais que irão enriquecer a reunião por isso a importância de que todos falem na reunião.

Isso me fez lembrar da cena do filme Jerry Maguire, e uma de suas frases que ficaram famosas:

Help me, Help you

O facilitador não tem como ajudar o time, no processo de melhoria, se os membros do time não o ajudam dando suas contribuições, impressões e opiniões. 

Então para essa etapa da retrospectiva como prodecer? 

Preparando o palco

1. Agradecimento

Primeiramente agradeça pela presença de todos e o tempo que irão dispensar a essa reunião. Assim você já valoriza o empenho de todos, com o tempo que irão dispensar a reunião. Essa valorização é reconhecida por todos e é um canal para fazerem as pessoas se sentirem também na vontade de contribuirem. 

2. Mobilização

Depois, peça uma ou duas palavras de cada membro do time que descreva as expectativas com a retrospectiva, ou uma ou duas palavras que represente os sentimentos dominantes durante a sprint, ou peça que expressem em forma de um desenho o que achou da sprint.

Com isso, todos participam e já é possível sentir o estado de ânimo do time para melhor apoiar o trabalho de facilitação.

3. Ambientação

Nessa terceira etapa, pontue o trabalho que será realizado na reunião. É uma forma das pessoas saberem no que estarão empregando seu tempo, além de fazer as pessoas focarem nos objetivos da reunião.

Preparar o palco ajuda-nos a quebrar nossos pensamentos recorrentes e focar nossas energias no propósito de se fazer uma retrospectiva. [2]

Esse é o momento de informar: (1) o timebox da reunião; (2) os objetivos a serem alcançados; (3) e a atividade que será realizada.

Também nesse momento, é importante (4) relembrar os valores e os combinados (working agreements) do time. Ambos são um tipo de contrato social que descrevem atitudes e comportamentos aceitáveis. 

Quanto aos valores, no caso do Scrum, pode-se trabalhar com os valores inerentes ao Scrum, no entanto o time pode também montar o seu conjunto de valores. Tais valores serão relembrados nessa etapa da reunião com o objetivo de nortearem todo o trabalho de retrospectiva. É preciso buscá-los, ao se analisar o resultado de uma sprint. Ou seja, estamos seguindo tais valores combinados? O que foi positivo em termos de ações e comportamentos que fortalecem esses valores e o que foi negativo por ter ferido tais valores?

Quanto aos combinados do time, estes existem para definir comportamentos que os participantes devem ter ao longo da reunião para torná-la efetiva. Exemplos:

• Celulares no silencioso durante a reunião
• Quem chegar após essa 1a etapa da reunião, não entra mais na sala
• Não é permitido usar notebook ou smartphone ao longo da reunião para não haver desvio da atenção e redução do foco e consequentemente da participação
• Bebidas e comidas não são permitidas
• etc

Ter esses combinados de antemão é interessante para que o facilitador não pareça um chato ao chamar a atenção de alguém que esteja agindo de forma a desconcentrar a reunião, reduzindo sua eficiência. Claro que nem sempre é possível prever todas as situações, mas esses combinados podem ser reacertados na medida do requisitado.

Para finalizar listo abaixo outros posts da série:

1. Retrospectiva Ágil

2. Aprendizagem Continúa Ágil

Referências:

[1] – Agile Retrospectives. Making Good Teams Great, Esther Derby & Diana Larsen, The Pragmatic Programmers

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Iteration and retrospective is so natural that we do it every year.

The end of the year is an expected moment for all of us. We expect it so eager as an opportunity to leave the old year behind: leave the frustrations, doubts, complaints, failures... everything behind and Start a brand new year with more days, months, more opportunities for us to do something different in ours lives.

The New Year is so expect that we celebrate it! We party and toast of joy and relief! And so we proceed each year because inwardly what we do, at the end of that 12-month cycle, is to evaluate the result of the promises, goals and desires that we did in the beginning of the year. We evaluate if we keep our promises, if we reach our goals and realize our desires. The balance was positive or negative? Where we failed and where we succed?

Actually we are doing is a retrospective of the year. A retrospective that brings us to chart a new plan of action, with improvements to be implemented, new promises, new goals, new desires. And for all these it´s necessary to begin again. Close a cycle and start a new.

But… Which comes first? The Iteration or the Retrospective?

Because we work in cylces we do retrospective? Or because as we do retrospective we need to work in an iteration way?

“Retrospectives enable whole-team learning, act as catalysts for change, and generate action.” [1].

As we do retrospective we need to work in an iteration way?

To generate new actions and attitudes we need a new opportunity to put them into practice, right?

As presented in the previous post (Agile Retrospective) a retrospective can happen at the end of a project, where the lessons learned can be used in another project.

Therefore, it is not because a team wants to do retrospectives that he must work iteratively. A project that uses methodologies other than agile can (and should) do, at the end of the project, a retrospective meeting to formalize the lessons learned and generate new shares for an upcoming project.

The important thing is the desire of the team to do a retrospective to foster continuous learning.

Because we work in cylces we do retrospective?

Working iteratively means having several short cycles (usually 2-4 weeks) into something bigger, a project, for example.

One of the gains in working iteratively is the opportunity the team have to look back, at the end of each cycle, analyse what happen and generate actions for the next cycle.

In this case, the concept of continuous learning is maximized! For surely some might say: “If I don´t work iteratively I’m also learning”. Not a doubt! We always learn one way or another. However, with several retrospectives at the end of each cycle over a project, you can gradually learn more about the project, its requirements, the customer, the people who make up the team, the process… and be able to adapt immediately.

That’s Agile Continuous Learning! 🙂

Agile Continuous Learning!

But the above question is still not answered : )

Iterative work attracts retrospectives, but the team needs to want to do it.

The team must understand the benefits of a retrospective to better take advantage of it, they have to want to learn, want to change, want to continuously improve. And it is not the issue of wanting to change just for change,considering the complexity of the relationships, the unpredictability of what will happen later in the project, that everything is changing all the time that requires from all of us adaptation to continue being productive and agile to react to these changes (Agile Manifesto: “respond to changes over following plan”).

Following this post I will discuss further steps that make up the basic structure of a retrospective meeting. I will presente practical techniques that can be used in each of these steps.

And while, if you have any questions, be sure to post them as a comment in this post. I will answer in each post of this series.

Referencies:

[1] – Agile Retrospectives. Making Good Teams Great, Esther Derby & Diana Larsen, The Pragmatic Programmers

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Retrospective is to look back while keep walking.

Is to allowed you to assess past events and recognize the state of what happened: Was it goog? Was it bad? Can we improve?

Retrospective is an opportunity to change, seeking new actions, new ways of doing better.

Retrospective is inspect and adapt. Retrospective is learning.

Retrospective is an act of courage!

"Retrospectives Help teams – even great ones – keep improving" [1].

At the end of projects, processes or iterations is common practice staff meet to discuss the successes and failures that have happened and also discuss what can be done, so that what was a success can be incorporated into the work process in the future and what was a failure that can be construct other forms of action to trial. This is called retrospective meetings.

Agile Retrospectives are those that are carried out in a context of agility, which projects work with short iterations and at the end of each iteration the team meets for a retrospective, seeking to inspect what happened in the duty cycle and adapt their actions to the next iteration.

"Retrospectives allow the learning of the whole team, acting as a catalyst for change and generate new actions."[1].

Retrospectives meeting are always important for learning construction, but agile retrospectives, allow adjustments to be made during the project development increasing the chances of getting better results at the end of the project and providing continuous learning not only as well as continuous improvement on all matters related to the project (eg, design, people, relationships, etc).

Agile Retrospectives are special good with self-organized teams, 7 to 9 members, as it is more easy "during retrospectives, the team discover solutions they can implement without waiting for permission from management" [1].

In Scrum, retrospective is part of the Scrum Process. It is performed at the end of each sprint. The purpose of the retrospective as Scrum Guide [2] is:

• Inspect how the last sprint went with regards to people, relationships, process and tools;
• Identify and order the major items that went well and potential improvements; and
• Create a plan for implementing improvements to the way the Scrum Team does its work.

Analyzing the purpose of Scrum Retrospective, we can see that there is a basic structure to conduct the meeting: collect data (identify and sort the main items), generate ideas (list potential improvements) and decide what to do (create a plan for implement improvements). These are the main steps of a retrospective, but a meeting always has one opening and one closing. And according to the image below, we can add these two steps over to a retrospective meeting.

So, we have:

• Openning
• Collect data
• Generate ideas
• Decide what to do
• Clossing

These are the steps in the structure that Esther Derby and Diana Larsen presented in their book Agile Retrospective. In subsequent posts I will present each of these steps so that we can discuss better, with more content to better learning.

For more informations on how is the Retrospective meeting in Scrum, take a look at "FAQ Scrum – O que é Retrospectiva"

Credentials:

[1] – Agile Retrospectives. Making Good Teams Great, Esther Derby & Diana Larsen, The Pragmatic Programmers

[2] –  Scrum Guide 2013

[3] – FAQ Scrum – What is Retrospective?

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