Another Appreciative Retrospective
Ola Ellnestam writes about “An AI Retrospective” that ended with the group “steaming with positive energy and really going.”
Ola Ellnestam writes about “An AI Retrospective” that ended with the group “steaming with positive energy and really going.”
Nick Oostvogel describes a creative activity to revive boring retrospectives and tell the shared story of the project (Gather Data). He calls it Mr. Squiggle.
Deborah Hartmann posted a description of an interesting “Gathering Data” activity. She calls it “Draw Me a Picture”. It sounds like it would be fun and potentially quite insightful. I’m looking forward to trying it out soon. Thanks for sharing it, Deb!
In a recent Sticky Minds column, Naomi Karten writes about PMI (Plus/Minus/Interesting), a technique for helping groups think together about many aspects of an issue.
Jack Milunsky wrote about the Top Ten Activities of a Product Owner. In reply, a number of folks commented that they didn’t like the idea of a Product Owner attending Sprint Retrospectives.
Doc List writes about one of my favorite activities on his blog, Circle of Questions. I added a few comments there as well.
Jim Shore posted on his blog about two courses, The Art of Agile Planning and The Art of Agile Development, that he and I will take to Europe this spring. He's put in photos and and comments from evaluations when we held the class last October. Participants said nice things, like "The facilitators were excellent! I really enjoyed the 'jump in and swim' approach to applying what we learned as we went."
Since Jim did such a great job, I'm not going to try to duplicate it. I'll just send you here to read about it.
In this video from the ÖreDev conference, I present some ideas about the changing role of managers in organizations that have adopted Agile methods.
I've been on the road a lot and away from my blog lately. I'm glad to be back and happy to announce the latest iteration of:
Secrets of Agile Teamwork: Beyond Technical Skills
February 24-26, 2009, at the Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon.
Invest in three days with Esther Derby and me learning the interpersonal tools and skills that support highly collaborative software development.
Improve team communications, learn how to give and get feedback in a way that builds strong working relationships, identify and navigate conflict, and help grow your team.
We'll be back at the Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon...complete...
As the chair of the Agile Alliance board over the last year, I’ve had lots of occasion to think about the effect of group values and principles on work. This pondering led me to invent a new activity for the the “Gather Data” phase of retrospectives.
Instructions for Values Activity:
Have plenty of sticky-notes available. I like the 4”x4” super-sticky kind. Accompany the sticky notes with black, broad-line felt tip marking pens. I like the water-based kind that don’t bleed through the paper, but permanent ones will work too.
Ask team members to pair up or get in...
Over the years, I’ve noticed when I have a stronger response to particular phrases, sentences, doggerel, koans, and so forth. I get a thrill when someone can frame an idea simply and powerfully into a pithy statement. I collect those inspiring or clarifying quotes. I find them in many sources and sometimes in unlikely places, though usually not from compilations.
Today I’ve decided to share five of my favorites:
An Ethiopian proverb:
When spiderwebs unite, they can tie up a lion.
Rudyard Kipling, poet:
All good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like Us, are...
Last month, Cory Foy sent me an email about a project retrospective that gave his team new insights and direction. He used the subject line, “They got it!” You can find the story of Cory’s recent retrospective experience, along with the thread of additional comments, on the XP list digest archive.
Just because your team members feel shy about expressing (or receiving) appreciations in public, doesn’t mean you should stop doing them. Tami Flowers told me about her solution to making sure team members know what they’ve done that helps their co-workers and to encourage them to keep doing those things. She called it “Card Pass with Appreciations.”
Here’s how it goes:
Arrange chairs so that team members sit in a circle of chairs or around a table. Make sure that every person has a pen. Pass out large index cards, one per team member, and ask each person to write...
I was at a party much too late last night (after the Agile2008 banquet), and it's good I was there. Just as I was getting ready to leave, two people walked over to me and told me a story about their retrospectives.
One of them thanked me for the book and said that it had helped in their retrospectives. Then he told me that the activities in the book had inspired him to create activities on his own. I asked if he would share an example with me.
He described how interpersonal conflicts and friction had plagued his team....