Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash
Much of the Agile framework is outward looking and helps participants in the software development process to get stuff done.
Then towards the end of a cycle, the Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum team to think about itself and how the (admittedly) complex process of software development can be improved as the team move forwards.
That is - a Sprint Retrospective occurs after a Sprint Review and prior to planning the next Sprint.
Sprint Retrospectives are all about the team getting together, and having open conversations to make the development process iteratively better.
This means that a good quality Sprint Retrospective should be a safe space that creates open and honest conversations. These conversations, if they are well-run, should build trust and help the constituent members to hold one another accountable. Positivity is also allowed, celebrating success and share learning but always looking for improvement.
Want to go further? Define controlled experiments, follow up on them and work on their outcomes for your next iteration.
There is a role in the Sprint Retrospective, that of the Facilitator, how ideally is from outside the process and can make this a rather lovely process.
A great facilitator is likely to have (but may not have all of these, and may still be great!)
- The facilitator is a neutral role, and is there to listen and make sure the environment is positive and aligned to the meeting outcomes
- The facilitator respects time boxes, and has the power to move on the conversation if the group gets stuck on a certain topic
Now these become all the more important when teams are working at home. It is common for meetings these days to take place over Zoom, Google Hangouts or you might be working in 1998 and use Microsoft Teams (or, I guess, work for Microsoft).
The facilitator can takes notes, and basically runs the meeting. If decisions are made by the group, the facilitator should note these and hold the group accountable. Did someone pick up an action item? This won't happen unless they know that they actually have to do it (believe me, that is true).
Duration The ideal meeting would take place from 30 to 60 minutes.
The Discussion
- What went well in the Sprint
- What could be improved
- What will we commit to improve in the next Sprint
How this discussion is run really depends on the nature of the team and the work that people are actually doing at your place.
We're at home though - so your Post-it Notes ideas are totally out of the question here (unless people write separately, or you use Slack for that, or something else…). So why not get participants to have a think about this meeting before the start time, or even present some information for them to think about at the beginning of the meeting (and some thinking time).
Since we are in the online world, we need to make sure that everyone has time to speak. Perhaps have a board with the order of the speakers written down (people like to know in advance when they will need to speak), and be prepared with an ice-breaker or two if things don't kick off quite how you think they should.
When one person is speaking everyone else should be on mute - this is just good manners for everybody involved.
Think ahead of time how decisions can be made. Are votes going to be taken? You can do silent voting by people waving at the top or the bottom of the screen (to avoid your left/my left issues) to signal yes or no respectively.
Agile sprints can be a little bit tricky for new developers. Don't worry - I hope this article has given you a guiding hand in how you might be able to use this in the future!
Change isn't easy - but the gradual improvement of your process is very important and Sprint Retrospectives are part of that.
If you've any questions, comments or suggestions please hit me up on Twitter