Retrospectives

From RCC 2007

Retrospectives for Growing Community and Family

Host: Diana Larsen

Participants: Carol, Kevin, Tony, John, Nature and ?

Retrospectives evolved from project post morta (did something die?) as a tool for project teams to inspect and adapt their teamwork, methods and processes.

Diana's household has adopted weekly retrospectives for household "goodness" and wonders whether they would help intential and online communities as well.

Framework for Retrospectives**:

• Set the Stage - help people get ready to do the work

• Gather Data - look at what happened (including metrics, events, etc.) during the last increment and how we responded, reacted or felt about what happened; tell the story of the time together

• Generate Insights - make meaning of the data and discern the implications (e.g., what went well that is done, what went well that we want to continue, what do we want to differently and why)

• Decide what to do - the group decides (by consensus or consent, or by following the greatest energy) what to keep doing and/or what new to try in the next increment.

• Close the retrospective - acknowledge everyone's contribution, review the decisions or plans, reflect on continuously improving your retrospectives

Carol mentioned Chris Corrigan's "Harvesting Process" as a similar way to get groups to reflect. (You've done the work - prepared the ground, sown the seed, watered, weeded, etc.,- why not harvest the learning?)

The person who asks the questions (or facilitates) the retrospective may change. It's not always the same person...if it were consistently the same person, it might become "their" retrospective rather than shared by the group.

Collaboration tools can help distributed groups (like wiki communities) hold retrospectives. Tools include: netmeeting, webex, cardmeeting.com, etc. Face to face is always richest.

Two ways to keep people from falling into blaming or scapegoating: 1) Kerth's Retrospective Prime Directive, and 2) Focus on, Focus off activity; in addition to any other working agreements or groundrules the group may adopt.

Sometimes holding something in one's hands can help diffuse nervous energy, especially when a person needs to say something thats hard for them to say--examples of fidget tools include, Koosh balls, pipe cleaners (chenille stems), small soft stuffed animals

Possible uses we thought of: wiki communities, "cause" communities, household, intentional communities, learning communities...as well as work groups.

  ** More on retrospectives can be found in 
   "Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great" (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006)