Project Retrospectives

Linda Risingrisingl@acm.org

www.lindarising.org

Mary Lynn Manns

manns@unca.edu

www.cs.unca.edu/~manns

What is a retrospective?A time to reflect on and improve our practices.

We have to test our knowledge constantly—using practices like retrospectives. These should be done after each iterative cycle rather than waiting until the end of the project. The quality of learning derived from this practice shows an organization’s true commitment to learning, and therefore, a key to its adaptability. Jim Highsmith

Retrospective rituals are more than a review of the past. They also provide a chance to look forward, to plot the next project, and to plan explicitly what will be approached differently next time. Norm Kerth

Project RetrospectivesA retrospective is an

opportunity for the participants to learn how to improve. The focus is on learning—not fault-finding.

Norm Kerth

Why are retrospectives important?

We don’t just want to complete a project; we want to learn about completing projects while completing projects.

Dave Parnas

Learning and development do not necessarily occur as a result of the experience itself but as a result of reflection explicitly designed to foster learning and development.

B. Jacoby

For many of the team members, this will be the first time they consciously think about the processes they use.

Norm Kerth

Why a retrospective? To look at the past

Project planning and control involves two kinds of skills: looking backward to understand the past and looking forward to predict the future. We want to believe that learning from experience is automatic, but it requires profound skills. Experience provides data, not knowledge.

Why a retrospective? To plan the future

The most positive message we consistently get is that people want to improve themselves but usually they don’t know what to work on. When they get good feedback on specific goals, that releases the natural internal inclination to improve.

James Fallows

Why a retrospective?To reach closure

Research shows that when organizations go through changes, people have feelings and thoughts but no place to express them in the normal course of business. Thus, their experience is carried forward as a heaviness that slows them down and keeps them from moving into the new setting with enthusiasm.

Barbara Waugh

Why a retrospective?To create a community

… wisdom comes from our ability to understand the relationship between an individual’s work and that of the entire team. … I have seen whole-team reflection explain, discover, and teach so much. I believe that there is no better way to improve a team’s performance and quality.

Norm Kerth

Retrospective Examples• Robins & titmice• The buffalo hunt• Softball• Post-Fire Critiques

www.chiefmontagna.com/Articles/post%20fire%20critique.htm

• Military: After Action Reviews, Navy Lessons Learned, Coast Guard Uniform Lessons Learned

• Experience reports

What a retrospective isn’tNot a postmortem (sometimes it is!)

Do at regular intervals

Not a drudgeryTechniques are fun (sometimes it isn’t fun)

Not done in secretCan include different affinity groups

Not a whine sessionEmphasis is on being constructive

Not a witch hunt Participants speak from “I/we” point of view

Kerth’s Prime DirectiveRegardless of what we discover, we must

understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job he or she could, given what was known at the time, his or her skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.

Types of Retrospectives End of project Interim

o Work chunko Heartbeato Custom – response to a “surprise”

What You Need Team members Location, location, location Facilitator – external or internal (see

“Facilitation Resources” slide) Supplies, such as:

Flipcharts Colored cards, pens Tape or thumbtacks

What happensBefore

Request: event data effort data artifacts

Talk with management

Survey key players

What happensDuring

Readying Examples: Create Safety, I’m Too Busy

Look at the past Examples: Artifacts Contest, Timeline

Prepare for the future Examples: Making the Magic Happen, Change the Paper

What happensAfter

Retrospective reports What worked well that we don’t want to

forget? What should we do differently? What still puzzles us?

Patterns Action plans

How is knowledge shared?

Web postings Email Posters Team meetings, staff meetings, tech

forums

How to “sell” retrospectivesin your organization

The purpose of a retrospective is learning … … to avoid recurring mistakes … to identify and share successful practices … to prepare for the next iteration and future

projects

Everyone says they want to learn, but so few take the time to do so.

Next Steps Get Norm Kerth’s book

Read it! Sign up for the retrospectives Yahoo

group: retrospectives-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Sell the retrospective idea in your organization: www.cs.unca.edu/~manns/intropatterns.html

Project Retrospectivesa final thought

from Norm Kerth (and Edward Bear)

… we bump our heads in project after project, day after day. If we would only take a moment to stop and think of alternative ways to proceed, I’m sure we could find better ways to do our work.

Norm Kerth

Facilitation resources International Association of Facilitators - certification program

http://www.iaf-world.org/ ASTD - American Society for Training and Development - local chapters

http://www.astd.org/index_NS6.html ISPI - International Society for Performance Improvement -

certification, local chapters http://www.ispi.org/ NASAGA - North American Simulation and Gaming Association

http://www.nasaga.org/ Workshops by Thiagi - Freebies http://thiagi.com/ Roger Schwartz, The Skilled Facilitator Sam Kaner et al, Facilitators Guide to Participatory Decision Making Ingrid Bens, Facilitate with Ease!  Josey-Bass Inc., 2000. R. Brian Stanfield, ed., The Art of Focused Conversation. ICA Canada,

1977. R. Brian Stanfield, ed., The Workshop Book. ICA Canada, 2002. Training and development Yahoo group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trdev/