A Retrospective for End of Year or Project Reflection

Photo by AdNorrel

How do you help a team reflect on learning and change over a long timeframe? I recently facilitated a retrospective for a team that had deployed to production after six months of development effort. Over that time, the team membership changed, impediments were discovered, and new technologies were learned. From the outside looking in, I sensed it had been a long and bumpy journey for the team. To help them reflect upon that journey, I first asked what they wanted to get out of the retrospective: the consensus was improvement items for themselves and learnings to share with other teams that are on similar technology journeys.

With the goal of the retrospective clarified, we were ready to move into the next retro activity. I asked them to imagine that the team was a spaceship. The spaceship had just completed its mission. I tasked the team members to individually draw pictures of their spaceship. What does it look like now? How damaged is it? What upgrades did it receive in its journey? Drawing took nearly 15 minutes as individuals added more details and iterated on their designs. Keeping with the creative spirit, I asked the team members to reveal their pictures on the count of three while also making the sound of their spaceship landing. It helped maintain a light and open tone as we then looked for commonalities across the images. We captured the similar themes on the whiteboard and further processed what they meant for the team.

As a facilitator, I noticed areas that the team spent a lot of time discussing and others that did not get mentioned; my role involved inquiring about the unspoken topics that seemed to be in their blindspots. Retrospectives on longer timeframes—even when a team has regular retrospectives—need an objective facilitator to notice what’s being said and what’s not being said to help the group gain a fuller understanding and learn.

A simple metaphor of a spaceship finishing a mission unpacked a lot of ideas and assumptions about their experience as a team delivering a project, and we could use it to talk about what future capabilities would be desired or future missions—the possibilities are endless on how this retrospective can be adapted to your teams!

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard helps overwhelmed technical leaders debug their management approach. She teaches them how to manage up, support people through change, and make time for strategic work. Her education in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University helps her connect technical work with people management. As a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Allison focuses on improving product delivery and leadership culture. Her experience includes work in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries. Allison regularly speaks at global conferences like Scrum Gatherings and Agile Alliance's Agile20xx. She promotes women's leadership as the program director for Women in Agile's Mentorship program. When she's not working, Allison likes to drink lattes and listen to Broadway musicals. Allison is a proud glasses wearer and co-owner of Middlegame Partners.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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