Time to get better

Battered, bruised, and still smiling.

My team just finished a long, involved, and complex project.  The outcome is a milestone product that we are proud of.  In fact it is probably the best product we have released in years.

As part of any good strategy to improve, the team will be hosting a retrospective which will allow team members to discuss what practices they would like to continue to perform, and what practices need improving.  I am heading on vacation shortly and will not be available to attend, so I drafted some notes listing my humble opinions about the good, bad, and ugly practices.  It gave me a chance to reflect on the benefits of a retrospective.

It is important that teams host a retrospective shortly after a milestone, because it provides teams with many benefits, including some which may not be obvious:

• It allows team members to indirectly thank each other.  By stating that a practice was beneficial, the team member who original suggested or implemented the practice gets an emotional boost.
• The retrospective provides an opportunity for newer, shy team members to participate in larger team discussions, even if they only say ‘I agree".
• The team can focus on improving itself without the pressures of delivering a product
• It builds the community, since a retrospective involves different functional teams discussing issues in the same room

The retrospective is a beneficial activity that is not restricted to our company.  Some company executives host an annual retrospective where they discuss the prior year.  Others follow processes that require retrospectives, such as SCRUM.

If you are not performing retrospectives, you are missing out on a vital opportunity to inject successful practices in to your next project.  Start now!

Here is a good resource to get you started: Iteration and Release Retrospectives: The Natural Rhythm for Agile Measurement.