AT7 Session 6/6/2013 2:15 PM 

       

"Building a Team Backlog: The Power of Retrospectives"

   

Presented by:

Kanchan Khera & Bhuwan Lodha McKinsey & Co.

         

Brought to you by:  

  

340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

Kanchan Khera McKinsey & Company

A portfolio manager at McKinsey & Company and an avid agile enthusiast, Kanchan Khera believes that agile is a way of life and a very powerful concept with the pure intent of making successful products and happy people. She sees huge untapped potential in agile that could change the way we think and work. Kanchan has extensive experience with agile teams in varied roles, has spoken at conferences worldwide, and is considering writing a book about her journey building high performing teams. Kanchan enjoys painting, listening to music, traveling, and problem solving. She hates doing daily chores or following routines. Contact her at @k_khera.

Bhuwan Lodha McKinsey & Company

A product manager at McKinsey & Company, Bhuwan Lodha is a certified Scrum Product Owner and Pragmatic Marketing certified product manager. Bhuwan has extensive experience working with agile teams and projects of various sizes at companies like SAP and Nokia. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to build great teams and market winning products. Bhuwan says that “Being agile is similar to having common sense in the modern world—it's essential but often underrated.” A speaker at agile conferences worldwide, he is working on a book about high performing teams and agility. Bhuwan enjoys reading, traveling, and following trends in the hi-tech industry. Contact him at @bhuwan.

 

Building a Team Backlog: The power of

Bhuwan Lodha | Kanchan Khera

retrospectives

@bhuwan | @k_khera

We are here to share our experiences on buildingteam backlogs And making retrospective sessions enjoyable and effective

And would love to learn from your experiences as well…

1

RetrospectiveLooking back on, or dealing with past events or situations

<another contextual statement here><may be another slide on pre-spectivesy p pcomes here>

2

ONE WORDONE WORD

3

Give us the ONE WORD that comes to your mind about retrospectives (in your teams)

4Watch video at https://vimeo.com/49589446

Most of us understand the IMPORTANCE of retrospectives…

So what’s missing?5

So here is our take on the key challenges..

1. Recipe is unclear2. Spice is missing3 I th Kit h i ht?

7

3. Is the Kitchen right?

Challenge #1 – Unclear Recipe

8No clear framework for retrospectives

Choose your style

Introducing a new framework

Team Backlog Great

Team

9

Action items Continuous Improvement

Build a team backlog for a great teamRetro # Priority

#Action Item Owner Status Effort Impact Impact

sprint

1 1 Setup build monitor Rahul Impediment Large Medium (8 pts)

1 2 Block weekly standing time with sponsor team

Veena Pending Small Large(12 pts)

1 3 Complete first 4hr training session on Selenium

Rahul,Pete

Done Large Large(12 pts)

Sprint 3

2 4 Get better headset for Veena

Biju Done Medium Medium(5 pts)

Sprint 3

1 5 Set up leave calendar for Abhishek Done Small Medium Sprint 4

10

the team (5pts)

2 6 Have team lunch Rahul Pending Small Medium(5 pts)

Average velocity of impact : (12+5+5)/2=11

Measuring impact:Great

Team’s journey from Good to Great

5

10

15

20

25

Impact

Good

Team s journey from Good to Great

11

0

5

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6

Good

Working with a team backlogWho owns the backlogTeam backlog is owned by somebody on the team or a scrum master

- keeps track of progress- helps team steer action items to closure- helps team prioritize

Leveraging Retrospectives- Every retro has first 5 min dedicated to talk about the action

it

12

items- And last 5 min to plan and prioritize on next action items

identified

Working with the team backlogPlay it like a game

Start early and set a rhythm

Have clear roles, who is doing what

Make rules(sample)

13

(sample)- No Laptops- No two retrospectives sound the same- Only on Fridays- On Time or Ice Cream

Working with the team backlogThe 5 Whys technique to get clear action items

Fl f l k d b Technical issueFlurry of leaked bugs

Very little automation testing

Lack of skills (selenium)

Technical issue

14

Lack of training for Selenium

Manager does not believe in trainings

No one talks about trainings

People issue

Challenge #2

We do it the same way.. over and over again

SPICE is missing…15

y g

Here are a few reference spicesI hate.. I love..

Rate yourself

Happiness meter

Hey, Stranger!

Focus Focus Focus !

Appreciation only

16

Appreciation only

What did I learn?

The Big Picture

Is this our best?

TextI Hate.. I Love..

Suitable for teams that have a lot of emotions which do not come out in traditional retro sessions

17

TextRate Yourself

Suitable for teams which are complacent and need to define the next level

18

TextWhat did I learn?

Suitable for teams which are too involved in the project work. Need to get the spirit of learning imbibed

19

TextFocus Focus Focus

Suitable for teams which need to focus deeper on certain topics (For example, testing, collaboration etc.)

20

What’s your favorite flavor?

21

The RIGHT KitchenChallenge #3

Retrospectives do not fly far unless the organization nurtures a culturethat supports them

22

All this works because we have teams with motivated individuals, wanting to take on a journey from wanting to take on a journey from being Good to GREAT…

THANK YOU…

23

bhuwan_lodha@mckinsey.com kanchan_khera@mckinsey.com