TGIF
Or in my world: that moment of panic when you have to quickly Think of a Good Idea for the Friday retro.
Or in my world: that moment of panic when you have to quickly Think of a Good Idea for the Friday retro.
I have a love/hate relationship with looking back.
It’s a constant thing in IT: you hold a retrospective every sprint.
But so many teams use it as a moaning shop, whinging but doing nowt about it.
I organise around 75% of the retros for my teams.
And I make a point of creating spaces to be realistic, but optimistic.
Crap happens, but we don’t have to wallow in it.
Observe.
Mitigate.
Vow to do better.
And move on.
Used well, a retro of a poor sprint has the power to help a team be closer.
Everyone pulling together to do better next time.
Miss that opportunity and only the negativity remains.
Like a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
Here’re a few retro ideas that have worked well for me in the past:
1) what gifts would you like to give yourself; your team; your company?
Why? It helps your team ask for things they need, but also connects them to the bigger picture
2) Just one thing: use any format you like, but each participant can only add one thought to each topic
Why? It helps us focus on quality over quantity, and refine our thinking to find the one thing that really matters
Why? It helps us focus on quality over quantity, and refine our thinking to find the one thing that really matters
3) High five: alongside a retro of your choice, finish with giving kudos and thanks to your colleagues
Why? Partly to end the retro on a high note, partly because we all like to feel appreciated.
Why? Partly to end the retro on a high note, partly because we all like to feel appreciated.
Hopefully, that’ll have saved someone from their TGIF moment today.
taking action to make things better. Even if that difference is only to the mood of the team.
I think that puts me in the camp or “look back. But use it to see how far you’ve come, or where you have to go next’.