# Esther Derby et al. - Agile Retrospectives (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/38507321) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/api_book **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Esther Derby]], [[Diana Larsen]] **Full Title**:: Agile Retrospectives **Category**:: #books #readwise/books **Category Icon**:: 📚 **Highlighted**:: [[2023-09-26]] **Created**:: [[2024-03-09]] ## Highlights - And, in contrast to traditional postmortems or project reviews, retrospectives focus not only on the development process, but on the team and team issues. (Page 12) ^690201669 - Figure 1. Retrospective steps as part of an iterative life cycle (Page 21) ^690201670 - She used a brief check-in to allow everyone to speak and reviewed the team’s already established working agreements. (Page 21) ^690201671 - Then ask everyone in the room to speak. When someone doesn’t speak at the beginning of the retrospective, that person has tacit permission to remain silent for the rest of the session. (Page 22) ^690201672 - Start with a simple welcome and appreciation for people’s investment of time. Restate the purpose of the retrospective and the goal for the session. Remind people of how long you’ll meet. (Page 22) ^690201673 - Next, outline the approach for the session. (Page 22) ^690201674 - As the team develops or adjusts their working agreements, notice what comes up. Working agreements are often a clue to what people are worried about. (Page 24) ^690201675 - Help your team choose items that they can commit to and that will have a positive effect. If your team is recovering from a change that was stressful, help them choose something less complex this time. (Page 29) ^690201676 - Without individual commitment, people assume that “the team” will do the task, and no one does it. (Page 29) ^690201677 - Waiting for other people to change is an exercise in futility. The most powerful place to start change is within the team. Even when your team doesn’t have direct control, your team can take action to influence or change their own response. (Page 30) ^690201678 - Change happens in the course of normal work. Teams who believe their retrospectives are a waste of time often keep their improvement plans completely separate from their daily work plans. When the plans are separate, no one finds time to do the “extra” work. (Page 30) ^690201679 - If your team produces only superficial insights and shallow plans, it may be that they need more time. (Page 35) ^690201680 - For an hour-long retrospective, you may spend one hour preparing. (Page 35) ^690201681 - Count on a ten-minute (minimum) break every ninety minutes or so. If (Page 37) ^690201682 - Count on a ten-minute (minimum) break every ninety minutes or so. (Page 37) ^690201683 - Move the tables to the side of the room. Start seated in a semicircle facing the long wall and then move to the corners of the room for small group work. We don’t want people seated around a conference table. The semicircle will allow everyone to see each other for the initial discussion. We’ll need variety and space for people to move around. (Page 40) ^690201684 - Activities are timeboxed processes that help the team move through the phases of the retrospective. Activities provide structure to help your team think together and have several advantages over freewheeling discussion. (Page 40) ^690201685 - Choose activities that support the goal of the retrospective. If there’s no way to discuss the activity that makes a connection between the activity and the work, omit it. (Page 41) ^690201686 - There’s only so much time, so don’t waste it with activities that (Page 41) ^690201687 - There’s only so much time, so don’t waste it with activities that are “just for fun.” Have fun, but have a purpose. (Page 41) ^690201688 - Strategies for Stimulating the Motivation to Learn [Kel87]). (Page 41) ^690201689 - Choose activities that help people stay engaged so they don’t drift off (Attention) and that are relevant to the goal (Relevance). You want activities that people can accomplish successfully (Confident/Competence). Avoid activities that are designed to make people feel stupid, inept, or set up. (Page 41) ^690201690 - Finally, make sure activities fit into the overall design so people think the retrospective is a good use of their time (Satisfaction). Vary (Page 42) ^690201691 - Finally, make sure activities fit into the overall design so people think the retrospective is a good use of their time (Satisfaction). Vary (Page 42) ^690201692 - Finally, make sure activities fit into the overall design so people think the retrospective is a good use of their time (Satisfaction). (Page 42) ^690201693 - If you’re bored with an activity, chances are your team is, too. Find new activities to keep your team (and yourself) interested. (Page 42) ^690201694 - Choose two activities for each stage—one short and one long. Substitute the shorter activity if time is tight. (Page 42) ^690201695