Agile Retrospectives

1.4 Decide What to Do

At this point, the team has a list of potential experiments and improvements. Now is the time to pick the top items (usually no more than one or two for an iteration) and plan what to do. Your primary job is to provide structure and guidance for your team to plan experiments and actions.

Sometimes teams come up with long lists of candidate improvements; but too many initiatives can overwhelm your ability to change. Pick one or two experiments for the next iteration. Help your team choose items that they can commit to and that will have a positive effect. If your team is recovering from a change that was stressful, help them choose something less complex this time.

Taking action during the retrospective builds momentum. Mike’s team created a new working agreement, “Everyone will pair at least four hours a day,” to address inconsistent pair programming. Jan’s team redesigned their lab and created new check-in procedures.

One way to plan for experiments and changes is to create story cards or backlog items. This makes it easier to incorporate improvement plans into the work plan for the next iteration. Holding your retrospective right before iteration planning is ideal. Plan a break—even if it’s only lunch—between the retrospective and the planning session.

Whether you finish planning in the retrospective or incorporate actions into iteration plans, be sure that people sign up and commit to tasks. Without individual commitment, people assume that “the ...