Agile Retrospectives

10.1 Provide Support

The work of creating a change isn’t done when the retrospective is over. Even small changes need to be nurtured and supported. Support comes in different forms: reinforcement, empathy, learning opportunities, practice opportunities, and reminders. Certain kinds of support can come from the team—empathy and reminders, for example. But other support requires resources and a budget. Team leads, coaches, and managers have responsibility for obtaining support that involves expenditure.

Reinforcement    Change is difficult. Support your team (and yourself) by noticing progress. Give encouragement on what is going well: “Our new unit tests are helping us keep the build clean—way to go!” When you encourage your team, you acknowledge the challenges and boost morale.

Provide information on what’s going well to help your team recognize that they are making progress. Be sure the feedback describes behavior and states the impact: “I noticed that yesterday we stayed on track in our stand-up meeting. We agreed to stick to our four questions, and we did. That really helped me see what the obstacles were.”

Empathy    Acknowledge that people’s feelings of loss or frustration are valid. Here’s how Fred, a team lead, mishandled the situation when a team member came to talk to him about a change. Fred listened as Katie explained how she felt about giving up her private cubicle when the team decided to move into an open work space. “I’ve thought about it,” Fred responded, “and ...