Improving Agile Retrospectives: Helping Teams Become More Efficient

Agile retrospectives help you get to the root of your real problems, so you can solve them quickly and effectively. They re the cornerstone of a successful continuous improvement process, and one of your best tools for triggering positive cultural change.

In Improving Agile Retrospectives, leading agile coach/trainer Marc Loeffler combines practical guidance, proven practices, and innovative approaches for maximizing the value of retrospectives for your team and your entire organization. You can apply his powerful techniques in any project, agile or otherwise. These techniques offer exceptional value wherever continuous improvement is needed: from lessons-learned workshops in traditional project management to enterprise-wide change management.

Loeffler s detailed, results-focused examples help you recognize and overcome common pitfalls, adapt retrospectives to your unique needs, and consistently achieve tangible results. Throughout, he integrates breakthrough concepts, such as using experimentation and learning from system thinking. He presents small ideas that make a big difference because they re deeply grounded in real experience.

Learn from failures and successes, and make good things even better
Master facilitation techniques that help you achieve your goals (and have fun doing it)
Prepare your retrospective so it runs smoothly
Practice techniques for generating actionable insights
Keep your retrospectives fresh and interesting
Perform retrospectives that address the entire system, not just your team
Focus on your better future with solution-focused retrospectives
Learn how to avoid typical pitfalls when facilitating retrospectives
Lead retrospectives across multiple distributed teams
Use retrospectives to support large-scale change

Sommario

Foreword by Jutta Eckstein     xv
Preface     xix
Chapter 1  Retrospectives 101     1
1.1 What Is a Retrospective?     1
1.2 New Year s Eve Retrospective     6
1.3 The Retrospective Phase Model     8
    1.3.1 Phase 1: Set the Stage     9
    1.3.2 Phase 2: Check Hypothesis     12
    1.3.3 Phase 3: Gather Data     13
    1.3.4 Phase 4: Generate Insights     16
    1.3.5 Phase 5: Define Experiments     17
    1.3.6 Phase 6: Closing     19
1.4 Finding Activities for Each of the Phases     22
    1.4.1 Agile Retrospectives Book     23
    1.4.2 Retromat     23
    1.4.3 Retrospective Wiki     24
    1.4.4 Tasty Cupcakes     24
    1.4.5 Gamestorming    25
1.5 The Prime Directive     26
Chapter 2  Preparing Retrospectives     31
2.1 Preparation     31
    2.1.1 What Period of Time Should Be Discussed?     31
    2.1.2 Who Should Take Part?     32
    2.1.3 Is There a Topic?     33
2.2 The Right Time, the Right Place     34
2.3 The Right Material    36
    2.3.1 The Right Markers     36
    2.3.2 The Right Sticky notes     37
    2.3.3 The Right Flipchart Paper     38
2.4 Food     39
2.5 The Agenda     40
Chapter 3  The First Retrospective     43
3.1 Preparation     43
3.2 Set the Stage: Car Comparison     45
3.3 Gather Data    46
3.4 Generate Insights: 5 Whys     49
3.5 Define Next Experiments: Brainstorming     50
3.6 Closing: ROTI     53
Chapter 4  The Retrospective Facilitator     55
4.1 How Do I Become a Good Facilitator?     55
    4.1.1 Respect Different Communication Styles     58
    4.1.2 Paraphrasing     59
    4.1.3 Support Participants     59
    4.1.4 Stacking     60
    4.1.5 Encourage     61
    4.1.6 Feedback Emotion     61
    4.1.7 Intended Silence     62
    4.1.8 Listen for Common Ground     63
    4.2 Visual Facilitation     63
    4.2.1 The 1×1 of Visual Structure     64
4.3 Visual Retrospectives     71
    4.3.1 The Speedboat Retrospective     71
    4.3.2 Trading Cards     74
    4.3.3 Perfection Game     76
    4.3.4 Force Field Analysis     78
    4.3.5 Sources of Inspiration for Visual Facilitation ...80
4.4 Internal or External     81
    4.4.1 Tips for Internal Facilitators    83
 

Info autore

Marc Loeffler is a keynote speaker, author, and agile coach. Before encountering agile methods and principles in 2006, he was working as a traditional project manager for companies like Volkswagen AG and Siemens AG. His passion is to help teams implement agile frameworks like Scrum and XP and to transform our world of work. Marc has a passion for helping teams that are struggling with agile transitions and overcoming dysfunctional behavior. He loves to generate new insights by approaching common problems from the other side and trying to wreak havoc on the process deliberately.

Riassunto

Agile retrospectives help you get to the root of your real problems, so you can solve them quickly and effectively. They’re the cornerstone of a successful continuous improvement process, and one of your best tools for triggering positive cultural change.

In Improving Agile Retrospectives, leading agile coach/trainer Marc Loeffler combines practical guidance, proven practices, and innovative approaches for maximizing the value of retrospectives for your team—and your entire organization. You can apply his powerful techniques in any project, agile or otherwise. These techniques offer exceptional value wherever continuous improvement is needed: from “lessons-learned” workshops in traditional project management to enterprise-wide change management.

Loeffler’s detailed, results-focused examples help you recognize and overcome common pitfalls, adapt retrospectives to your unique needs, and consistently achieve tangible results. Throughout, he integrates breakthrough concepts, such as using experimentation and learning from system thinking. He presents small ideas that make a big difference—because they’re deeply grounded in real experience.

• Learn from failures and successes, and make good things even better
• Master facilitation techniques that help you achieve your goals (and have fun doing it)
• Prepare your retrospective so it runs smoothly
• Practice techniques for generating actionable insights
• Keep your retrospectives fresh and interesting
• Perform retrospectives that address the entire system, not just your team
• Focus on your “better future” with solution-focused retrospectives
• Learn how to avoid typical pitfalls when facilitating retrospectives
• Lead retrospectives across multiple distributed teams
• Use retrospectives to support large-scale change

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Marc Loeffler
• Editore: Addison-Wesley
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 31.12.2019
• EAN: 9780134678344
• ISBN: 978-0-13-467834-4
• Pagine: 272
• Dimensioni: 153 mm x 229 mm x 15 mm
• Peso: 360 g
• Serie: Signature; Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)
• Categorie: Scienze naturali, medicina, informatica, tecnica > Informatica, EDP; Scienze sociali, diritto, economia > Economia > Management