Focusing on your agile retrospective ceremony will generate immediate improvement in team outcomes.
Recently a friend was exited without cause from a company that claims to be an agile enterprise. This person had been rated a high performer and given a raise a few months before the firing by the head of the department. In the end the employee, who had made good progress in delivering the company’s top strategy for the year, was frozen out by their performance leader with only vague reference to their “How”; that there were people in the organization who didn’t like how this person was running the project. There was no effort to engage the stakeholders directly in conversation, to clearly diagnose potential issues, and to make a plan to move forward cooperatively. This company made no attempt to engage the agile practice of retrospectives in this situation, instead, defaulted to the old style of hierarchical management decisioning that wreaks havoc with a person’s career and the success of strategy outcomes. This old-school corporate mis-behaviour has always been around but it seems to be growing. CBC has just written about it: “Here’s how to tell if you’re being quietly fired.”
Retrospectives are a key part of agile behaviour because it is a discipline of reflection on how the sprint was run. However it’s not an analysis of the work outcomes (that’s the sprint review), it’s a focus on the “How”. It boils down to 3 steps:
1. Reflect on the process
2. What went well and how can we get better together
3. Make tangible plans to improve our processes, tools and relationships
A retrospective has a simple agenda, but can take a long time for agile enterprises to mature in the practice. This is largely because it requires the team to be vulnerable, and adept at both giving and receiving constructive feedback. Other agile ceremonies like daily stand ups and sprint reviews are more innate to work progress. Retrospectives however can feel ‘soft and squishy’; uncomfortable for some to express feelings and opinions. This is particularly difficult in organizations that have a culture of hierarchy, with leaders who do not accept that people make mistakes but can grow from them.
There are 3 guidelines that help make retrospectives a powerful advantage for the team:
1. Focus on psychological safety. This is a squad member activity only—no leaders, no stakeholders (although coaches can be valuable here.) It stays in the retro. Every squad member has the privilege, no, the obligation, to speak directly to other team members about challenges they’ve experienced.
2. Improve facilitation skills. Retrospectives can become stale; try injecting new energy by rotating the leadership, changing the questions, changing the focus, or analyzing recurrent themes. There are even software tools that provide formats and topics that spice up retrospectives.
3. Document action items. A needed practice is to note the agreed to improvements. This should be carried into the next retrospectives to ensure progress ‘sticks’. Squad members should also document privately any interpersonal improvements they want to commit to, for the betterment of the team.
The work is important, but the people doing the work are more important. Agile retrospectives ensure that improvement opportunities are constantly examined, and team behaviours are enhanced. If your retrospectives are not accelerating your agile practice, let’s talk!
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