Hands-on Agile Webinar #10: The Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns

This Hands-on Agile webinar covers twelve anti-patterns of the Sprint Retrospective—from #NoRetro to the dispensable buffer to UNSMART action items to the absent Product Owner.

(INTRODUCTION) Let us start with a short refresher from the Scrum Guide. According to the Scrum Guide:

– The Sprint Retrospective in an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements for the next Sprint.
– It occurs after the Sprint Review and before the next Sprint Planning. Purpose: “closure.”
– The Scrum Master participates as a peer team member in the meeting from the accountability over the Scrum process. (The SM is not merely facilitating the event.)
– The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to:
–– Inspect how the last Sprint went with regards to people, relationships, process, and tools;
–– Identify and order the significant items that went well and potential improvements; and,
–– Create a plan for implementing improvements to the way the Scrum Team does its work.
–– The Scrum Master encourages the Scrum Team to improve, within the Scrum framework.
–– The Scrum Team figures out how to increase product quality by improving work processes or adapting the definition of "Done.” (If appropriate and not in conflict with the product or organizational standards.)

So, no rogue “Scrum”: improvements follow the Scrum Guide and comply with organizational standards. Although improvements may be implemented at any time, the Sprint Retrospective provides a formal opportunity to focus on inspection and adaptation: Discipline equals freedom; reduce the cognitive load by having a rule.

(1) The first Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the lack of a Sprint Retrospective: The point is that all Scrum events are essential for a Scrum team’s success–you cannot just skip an event for convenience.

(2) The second Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers postponing the Sprint Retrospective: Beyond the ‘inspection & adaptation’ aspect, the Sprint Retrospective shall also serve as a moment of closure that resets everybody’s mind so that the team can focus on the new Sprint.

(3) The third Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the rushed retrospective: The Scrum Team is in a hurry and allocates much less than the minimum 60 to 90 minutes for a retrospective.

(4) The fourth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the Groundhog Day-Style Sprint Retrospective: The retrospective never changes in composition, venue, or length.

(5) The fifth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the endless cycle of blame and finger-pointing: Seriously, the Scrum Team wins together, the team fails together.

(6) The sixth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the stakeholder alert: The Scrum Master permits stakeholders to participate in the Sprint Retrospective.

(7) The seventh Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the participation of line managers in Sprint Retrospectives: This is the worst anti-pattern I can think off. It turns the Retrospective into a truly unsafe place.

(8) The eighth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the Product Owner as a persona non grata: The Product Owner is not welcome at the retrospective — that is a simple Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern: The Scrum Guide refers to the Scrum Team having a retrospective, including the product owner.

(9) The ninth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers Sprint Retrospective prisoners: Some Scrum Team members only participate because they are forced to join.

(10) The tenth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the Sprint Retrospective Snitch: Someone from the participants provides confidential information from the retrospective to an outsider.

(11) The eleventh Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers UNSMART improvement actions: Bill Wake created the SMART acronym for reasonable action items: S – Specific, M – Measurable, A – Achievable, R – Relevant, T – Time-boxed. If the team picks UNSMART action items, though, it sets itself up for failure.

(12) The twelveth Sprint Retrospective anti-pattern covers the lack of a suitable place to run the retrospective: The least appropriate place to have a Sprint Retrospective is a meeting room with a rectangular table surrounded by chairs.

(SUMMARY) The last chapter summarizes my dirty dozen of the Scrum Retrospective anti-patterns: from #NoRetro to the dispensable buffer to UNSMART action items to the absent Product Owner.

[laurarubio]

Thank you, this was a useful prompt as I look to review & reset how I run retros