Fledging and mature Agile teams go through periods where their ceremonies lack the desired level of engagement. In this session, we'll work together to identify common behaviors and anti-patterns of one of the iconic Agile ceremonies and discuss ways to get your teams to re-engage in ways that support self-organization, agility, and adaptability.
3. “
An anti-pattern is different from bad
practice; an anti-pattern is a
common practice that initially looks
like an appropriate solution but ends
up having bad consequences that
outweigh any benefits
- Source: What is an antipattern? | Agile Alliance
4. Ceremonies &
Their Intended Outcomes
Retrospective
● Identify and put into practice improvements to
the way the team works to accomplish their
goal(s)
Stand-up (aka Daily Scrum)
● Pivot or persevere according to sprint plan
● Identify impediments and encourage quick
decision making
Planning (Iteration or Increment)
● Team(s) is aligned on what to build next and
the value it will deliver to the business
6. Teaching Your Drama
Scenario:
● You’ve been hired by a University to teach a class
on how to create the WORST version of this
ceremony
Instructions:
● In groups, brainstorm what you might
experience in the nightmare version of your
ceremony
Prompts to get Started:
● What do you hear/not hear?
● What body language might you see?
● What do you and others feel?
Timebox
10 Min
8. Opportunities for Improvement
Instructions:
● In your groups, discuss all the issues you
identified and how you could resolve them within
your teams to meet the desired outcomes
Prompts to get Started:
● What do we need from each other?
● What is an ideal environment?
● How would we interact with each other?
● As a facilitator and/or participant in this
ceremony, what might you do or say?
Timebox
10 Min
9. Ceremonies &
Their Intended Outcomes
Retrospective
● Identify and put into practice improvements to
the way the team works to accomplish their
goal(s)
Stand-up (aka Daily Scrum)
● Pivot or persevere according to sprint plan
● Identify impediments and encourage quick
decision making
Planning (Iteration or Increment)
● Team(s) is aligned on what to build next and
the value it will deliver to the business
12. 5 Tips for Stand-Up
● Toss a “virtual” ball to participants - start with one person and
have them pass to someone else until everyone has gone
● Add Randomization - Try Wheel of Names
● Ask Different Questions - Ask What do you need help with to
be successful today? What did you learn?
● Inspect and Adapt - the purpose of stand -up can be
accomplished other ways. Ask the team for new ideas.
● Finish It Friday - ask team members “what thing is closest to
being done and what do you need to finish it?” then pick one
story/goal to finish before the weekend
13. 5 Tips for your Retrospective
● Mix it up - try a new activity or metaphor (funretrospectives.com)
● Start with an Energizer - Try Collaborative Origami or Building a
Story together to get everyone laughing and talking
● Focus on Team Building - It is often a forgotten initiative but
building up the team comradery will improve openness and
communication; set aside time often to have fun, play games, and
build that team
● Be comfortable with silence - allows others to fill the space. Hold
yourself back from filling the space. Especially in virtual calls give
an extra 10 seconds of silence before you jump in
● Switch Facilitators - if retros are always run by the same person or
role, rotate who facilitates the retro to highlight different
perspectives
14. 5 Tips for your Planning Event
● Have Fun - Try getting all your RTEs to wear the same outfit or fun hats.
Sometimes just mixing up the visual aspect is enough to get people
energized and engaged
● Leverage Data - If your team consistently doesn’t finish everything they
commit to, lean on the previous iteration
● Don’t Gloss Over High Confidence Vote - Make sure to dig into why
members extremely confident especially if past PIs or Sprints have not
ended up with commitments completed
● Plan to Deliver, Not Deliver a Plan - Highlight team or train opportunities
to adjust throughout the sprint/PI to reduce the urge to be perfect
coming out of planning
● Come Up With a Sprint/PI Theme, Slogan or Mantra - These help drive
common understanding of goals and delivery and support self
organizing
15. Lastly….
Continue to experiment, fail, succeed, and try all
the new things - Just because someone hasn’t
thought of it yet doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be
done!
