Hello July! Summer Retrospective
In a previous article, I wrote about Engaging Retrospectives
Now that July is here and feeling the holiday mood from the office I thought it might be a good idea for a thematic retrospective with my team. So I tried the Sailboat format
Below are some benefits that I noticed when using this technique:
- It is very simple and does not need preparation, besides drawing of course
- Teams like storytelling and this theme gives a nice and relaxing atmosphere
- Team bonding, emphasize the idea of sailing together as a team
- Can be made independent, does not matter how the sprint went
- Can be applied also for projects, not only for sprints
- You can discover positive perceptions, which were the impediments or what slowed down the sprint but also what to be avoid
- You can see if there are other perceptions for Ideal Destination, as a team
How you run it?
Keeping the 5 steps structure in mind from Diana Lersen book:
1. Set the stage
Show the team the drawing and start the storytelling about sailing together as a team considering that there are some things that helped them, some impediments on the way and possible rocks before arriving to ideal destination. In my case ideal destination was the sprint goal - project phase delivery
2. Gather data
Now ask the team to think about each category from the drawing and to write ideas on sticky notes, time boxed - 5 or 10 mins.
Each of the team member adds sticky notes on drawing by giving context to his colleagues
3. Generate insights
Start with ideas gathered in the rocks area and discuss by grouping them together and let the team think about what we can be done to avoid impediments to happen in next sprints
3. Decide what to do
Once you have ideas for improvements, discuss a priority - if there are multiple items - you can use dot voting. Then, agree on SMART actions, including the responsible person and an ETA
4. Close
To close the retrospective, do a summary about drawing and insist on improvements discussed and agreed together, as a team
Have you tried the Sailboat format? What did you notice?
Now that July is here and feeling the holiday mood from the office I thought it might be a good idea for a thematic retrospective with my team. So I tried the Sailboat format
My retrospective went smoothly and the team enjoyed it
- It is very simple and does not need preparation, besides drawing of course
- Teams like storytelling and this theme gives a nice and relaxing atmosphere
- Team bonding, emphasize the idea of sailing together as a team
- Can be made independent, does not matter how the sprint went
- Can be applied also for projects, not only for sprints
- You can discover positive perceptions, which were the impediments or what slowed down the sprint but also what to be avoid
- You can see if there are other perceptions for Ideal Destination, as a team
How you run it?
Keeping the 5 steps structure in mind from Diana Lersen book:
1. Set the stage
Show the team the drawing and start the storytelling about sailing together as a team considering that there are some things that helped them, some impediments on the way and possible rocks before arriving to ideal destination. In my case ideal destination was the sprint goal - project phase delivery
2. Gather data
Now ask the team to think about each category from the drawing and to write ideas on sticky notes, time boxed - 5 or 10 mins.
Each of the team member adds sticky notes on drawing by giving context to his colleagues
3. Generate insights
Start with ideas gathered in the rocks area and discuss by grouping them together and let the team think about what we can be done to avoid impediments to happen in next sprints
3. Decide what to do
Once you have ideas for improvements, discuss a priority - if there are multiple items - you can use dot voting. Then, agree on SMART actions, including the responsible person and an ETA
4. Close
To close the retrospective, do a summary about drawing and insist on improvements discussed and agreed together, as a team
Have you tried the Sailboat format? What did you notice?
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