3 solutions to maximize the outcome of retrospectives

Nowadays everyone knows how important is the Deming's cycle (PDCA - Plan / Do / Check / Act) when it comes to Scrum usage. Without these last two points, teams are not able to correct the undesired deviation from the framework standard. However, daily meetings are ideal to implement this cycle. They are also ideal for working on some other encountered problems and ideas that slowly evolve throughout the Sprint and might be omitted by Scrum Team members.

And this is the best place for a retrospective - a regular meeting which takes place at the end of each Sprint. Last Annual State of Agile report puts Retrospectives in the top 5 most frequently used agile techniques (83% of organizations which implemented Agile Methods use Retrospectives to identify and implement ideas for process improvement) thus I’m almost sure that the whole “agile society” understand how beneficial they can be…

Here's what Scrum planning looks like in our software house! Lot's of discussions, planning, and shuffling cards. And no, it's not about excluding our UX people, Gosia was just updating important mockups for the whole team 😉 #scrum #scrummeeting #scrumplanning #planning #work #workinghard #groupeffort #team #focus #macbook #fakegrass #office #officelife #funatawork #lovemyjob #webdev #webdevelopment #webdesign #ux #userexperience #softwarehouse #poznan #merixstudio

Post udostępniony przez MERIXSTUDIO (@merixstudio) 27 Wrz, 2017 o 5:58 PDT

Even if overall knowledge about Scrum is more and more settled, I very often meet with the situations when a framework used in real life has nothing in common with the Scrum Guide. The main reason for that? "Our client doesn’t agree with such significant overhead in development process”.

Yes, I know it's better to stop pretending that we are using Scrum framework when working for this type of clients. Or even to stop working with such clients... But let's cut the comedy - sometimes we need those projects even if cooperation with the client will be rather hard.

Sometimes we have to deal with it by not including the time dedicated to Scrum to the overall project cost or by making each event as short as possible. The horror of horrors is when you have to remove some of these meetings from the Sprint agenda. So, what can you do as a Scrum Master in this situation?

Be honest with your client - it could change everything!

One of the reasons why principals don't want to pay for a time spent by a development team on Scrum events is the unawareness of how the development process looks. Well, unfortunately, it's impossible to create a perfect solution in a first attempt. Heck, it's impossible to do it regardless how many times you try!

However, if we don't devote some time to discuss our doubts and problems, we'll look past something for sure. Time spent on retrospectives is not wasted until your meetings are efficient and have the right purpose (blame shifting for sure is not one of them).

So, how you can "sell retrospectives" to your clients? Show them your team's example of a great to-do list as an outcome of the conducted meeting. Describe how all these tasks can influence the increase in their product's quality or improve the overall process of working on the project.

What's more, you can ask your client over for the retrospective. However, you can do it only in agreement with the whole team and when you're sure that the client knows what their role is. When clients participate in the Scrum meeting, then you won’t have to convince them of its importance - they will see it with their own eyes! Believe me, an awareness that client accepts and understands the idea of retrospectives may positively change team's attitude.

Use "Retrobox" - don’t forget about ideas and problems

How many times have you forgotten about something? Yes, other team members have the same problem as you do! Even if they have been struggling with a giant bug or invented a solution for listening music on YouTube native app when their phone is locked, they may forget about it after a whole month without a retrospective meeting! It is effortless to prepare and use - all you'll need is any box (you can decorate it however you want to), flashcards, and few minutes to introduce it to the team. That's all it takes!

During the whole Sprint team members may put the cards into the box and submit any ideas or problems they have. The retrospective Scrum team will discuss all of them, and since the notes are written anonymously, it may open a discussion about some elephants in the room or other awkward issues. I don't know a better way to deal with that kind of problems!

Don't follow the beaten track!

Scrum likes consistency, but the team could get bored of the retrospectives' patterns. Don't try to measure everything to show a positive difference between the past and present. It definitely won’t help... Additionally, don't forget it is impossible to endlessly increase efficiency, gladness, and other indicators! It's not your primary purpose; you should focus on the real team's satisfaction level.

To measure it, you have to be creative and use variable methods and tools. Try to sometime add some fun to the meetings. Use unexpected exercises - a lot of them you can find for example at Tasty Cupcakes. That way you can not only lighten the mood but also teach the team on the fly a lot about Scrum.

And that's a proper way to start a day on Friday! 💯 #friday #fridaymorning #casualfriday #chill #chilloffice #meeting #office #officelife #webdev #webdeveloper #softwarehouse #poznan #merixstudio

Post udostępniony przez MERIXSTUDIO (@merixstudio) 23 Cze, 2017 o 1:12 PDT

If you are familiar with Agile, you will know that there are no ready to use, always-working solutions. However, I hope that those three promptings might open you to trying something new and help to maximize Retrospectives' outcome in the future. I've tried them in different situations and in different companies and, in my opinion, they work. But don't forget about something important - it's up to you how efficient are the retrospectives, so don't accept mediocre effects.

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