Podcasts about agile retrospectives

Every team has them. The teammate who turns a one-word answer into a five-minute monologue. The developer who has not said a word in three retrospectives. The Product Owner who "adds context" to every user story before anyone gets a chance to read it. This episode is a high-energy, no-nonsense look at the over-talkers and under-talkers who quietly shape every meeting, and at the facilitation moves that turn a room of crickets and ramblers into a room of contributors. Expect a practical tour through the Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer, and Prisoner lens from Diana Larsen and Esther Derby's Agile Retrospectives, a fresh take on meeting personas like the Rambler, the Interrupter, the Silent Assassin, and the Ghost Participant, and a stack of techniques you can use this week:Sand timers in stand-ups. Parking lots that get used. Round-robin and popcorn share-outs. Intentionally crafted breakout rooms. Silent brainstorming. "Make space, take space" working agreements. And the most underused move of all, one-on-one coaching outside the meeting.The takeaway is simple and bracing. The goal of a great meeting is not equal talking time. The goal is meaningful contribution. Great facilitators do more than manage conversations. They create the conditions for better conversations to happen.

Terry Haayema: The High Cost of Unsafe Agile Retrospectives Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. "She was kind of like the mum for the team... she was actually the glue that held the team together." Terry tells the story of a team that was functioning like a feature factory until a business analyst became their champion and "team mom." This BA supported everyone through agile transformation and helped build trust and healthy conflict. However, when she mentioned something in a retrospective that led to her being put on performance management and eventually leaving, the team rapidly self-destructed. They lost their sense of belonging and teamness, retreating back to working as independent professionals rather than collaborating. The story illustrates how leadership actions can instantly destroy weeks or months of trust-building work, and how critical psychological safety is for sustainable team performance. For more critical points on how to be a great leader, check this episode with Captain David Marquet, a thought leader in the leadership space who wrote Turn the Ship Around!  Featured Book of the Week: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Terry credits The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni as massively influential in his career, particularly praising how Lencioni demonstrates that without trust as a foundation, teams cannot achieve anything else. The book's framework shows how lack of trust prevents healthy conflict, which prevents commitment, which prevents accountability, which prevents results. Terry found the way Lencioni illustrates these dysfunctions and their cascading effects to be incredibly valuable for understanding team dynamics and what's needed to build high-performing teams. In this segment, we also refer to Agile Software Development with Scrum, by Schwaber and Beedle. Self-reflection Question: What would happen to your team's dynamics if your most supportive, trust-building team member suddenly left tomorrow? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Salum Abdul-Rahman: The SECI Model of Knowledge Management Applied to Team Retrospectives Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Salum explains how the key role for Scrum Masters is to help teams develop themselves to the point where they can learn and grow without constant guidance. Success means building team resilience and operational capability while knowing when to step back. He emphasizes the importance of recalibration workshops to maintain shared understanding and the balance between supporting teams and challenging them to become self-sufficient. When teams reach this level of maturity, Scrum Masters can focus their efforts elsewhere, knowing the team has developed the capability to continue evolving independently. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The 5-Stage Retro Format From the book "Agile Retrospectives," this format captures the complete learning process and aligns beautifully with knowledge management principles. Salum connects the three central phases of this format to the SECI model of knowledge management, particularly referencing Nonaka and Takeuchi's work in "The Knowledge Creating Company." This retrospective structure helps teams create new knowledge and behavioral change by following a systematic approach that transforms individual insights into collective team learning and action. In this segment, we also refer to the seminal article by Takeuchi and Nonaka: “The New New Product Development Game”, which originated the work on Scrum as a framework.  Self-reflection Question: How do you recognize when your team has developed enough self-sufficiency that your role as facilitator can evolve or step back? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Salum Abdul-Rahman: From Isolation to Integration—Rebuilding Agile Team Connection For Remote Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Salum describes working with a grocery ecommerce team during COVID that fell into the trap of prioritizing individual convenience over team collaboration. Remote work led team members to design their work around personal preferences, with the lead developer becoming increasingly isolated and unresponsive to team communication. This anti-pattern of "what works for me" over "what works for the whole team" created significant dysfunction. Despite management intervention, the situation required creative solutions like organizing face-to-face sessions and shared working sessions with digital whiteboards to rebuild team cohesion. Featured Book of the Week: Agile Retrospectives One of the most important roles of Scrum Masters is to help teams develop themselves. Salum emphasizes that you can't tell the team what to do - you have to help them discover it themselves. "Agile Retrospectives" provides the foundation for running meaningful retrospectives that become the key tool for team self-development. The book's emphasis on variation and building retrospectives to match your team's needs and maturity level makes it essential for empowering teams to grow and evolve continuously. Self-reflection Question: How might your team's current work arrangements prioritize individual convenience over collective effectiveness, and what steps could you take to shift this balance? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Somya Mehra: How Upper Management Can Destroy a High-Performing Team in Minutes Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. While working as a business analyst at a startup building an exam evaluation product for universities, Somya witnessed a well-functioning team with good collaboration and timely delivery. However, upper management began challenging the team lead and Scrum Master, accusing the team of padding story points. When leadership confronted the team, the tech lead threw the entire team under the bus, breaking all trust. The CEO's declaration that he could detect padding in estimates shattered the relationship between developers and leadership, leading team members to want to leave. Featured Book of the Week: Agile Retrospectives by Larsen and Derby Somya recommends "Agile Retrospectives" by Larsen and Derby because doing Scrum right means doing retrospectives right. As someone who wanted to excel as a retro facilitator, she found this book invaluable due to its excellent reviews and practical examples. The book provides several examples of how to facilitate retrospectives effectively, making it her go-to recommendation for Scrum Masters wanting to improve their retrospective facilitation skills. Self-reflection Question: How do you maintain trust between your team and leadership when management questions the team's estimates or performance? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Joel Bancroft-Connors: Sustainable Value—Redefining Success Beyond Profit Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Joel has evolved his definition of Scrum Master success over time, moving beyond traditional metrics to focus on what truly matters: sustainable value delivery. While Agile principles clearly state the goal of delivering value continuously, Joel emphasizes that success isn't just about making profit - it's about creating sustainable profit through sustainable processes and people practices. He challenges Scrum Masters to consider their "people sustainability metric" and asks whether their approach supports long-term team health and organizational resilience. Joel's definition encompasses three pillars: delivering sustainable value, maintaining sustainable processes, and ensuring sustainability for people. This holistic view of success requires Scrum Masters to think beyond immediate outcomes and consider the long-term impact of their practices. In this segment, we refer to the book Turn the ship around! by David Marquet.  Self-reflection Question: What is your people sustainability metric, and how are you measuring whether your Scrum practices support long-term team and organizational health? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Back to Basics Joel advocates for returning to the foundational retrospective format outlined in "Agile Retrospectives" by Derby and Larsen. Rather than getting caught up in complex or creative retrospective techniques, he emphasizes the power of following the basic steps: set the stage, gather data, generate insights, decide what to do, and close the retrospective. Joel stresses that there's an important arc to retrospectives that shouldn't be overlooked. By taking time to properly gather data and following the structured approach from the agile retrospectives book, teams can achieve more meaningful and actionable outcomes. Sometimes the most effective approach is simply executing the fundamentals exceptionally well. In this segment, we refer to the book Agile retrospectives, by Derby and Larsen.  [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Richard Brenner: Contracting for Success,  Establishing Clear Agile Coaching Outcomes Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard reflects on his evolution in defining success as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach. Initially, he believed that if his team was successful, he was successful—but soon realized this perspective was incomplete. Top management wanted tangible evidence of coaching impact, which became problematic without clearly defined metrics. Richard now advocates for establishing a coaching agreement at the beginning of any engagement, with both management and teams defining what success looks like for the coach. He emphasizes the importance of dual-sided accountability as a natural outcome of proper contracting, using metrics that matter to the organization such as flow metrics and outcome metrics to demonstrate coaching value. Self-reflection Question: How are you measuring your own success as a coach or Scrum Master, and have you created explicit agreements with both teams and management about what success looks like? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Solution Focused Retrospective Richard recommends the Solution Focused Retrospective from the book "Solution Focused Coaching for Agile Teams." While traditional retrospective formats from books like "Agile Retrospectives" typically open a topic and dig deeply into the problem space, the solution-focused approach suggests spending only a short time discussing problems before pivoting to designing the desired future state. This format focuses on identifying the next step and emphasizing what positive outcomes the team wants to achieve, rather than dwelling on what's wrong. Richard values this approach for its ability to maintain a positive, forward-thinking mindset within teams. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Tired of “What went well?” and “What didn’t”? Brian Milner is here to help you cook up retrospectives that actually get your team thinking, collaborating, and improving. From creative themes to actionable frameworks, this is your behind-the-scenes guide to better retros. Overview Do your retrospectives feel more “check-the-box” than game-changing? Brian Milner shares his full recipe for planning and facilitating retrospectives that actually matter. Whether your team is stuck in repetition, tuning out, or phoning it in, Brian’s step-by-step approach will show you how to bring structure, creativity, and energy back into the room. Brian walks you through the five essential components of a retrospective, including how to match formats to your team’s personality, align activities with Agile's three pillars (transparency, inspection, and adaptation), and spark meaningful change with every session. References and resources mentioned in the show: Stranger Things Retrospective Download Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby & Diana Larsen Retromat Blog: Overcoming Four Common Problems with Retrospectives by Mike Cohn Blog: Does a Scrum Team Need a Retrospective Every Sprint? By Mike Cohn #139 The Retrospective Reset with Cort Sharp Retrospectives Repair Guide Better Retrospectives Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Auto-generated Transcript: Brian Milner (00:00) Welcome in Agile Mentors. We are back for another episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, like we always do. And I'm with you as always, Brian Milner. Today we have with us, me, just me. Now, before you get frustrated with that or think we're copping out in some way, this is intentional. I wanted to have an episode to myself because and working through all this stuff around retrospectives, I thought that it might be good to take an episode here. And I kind of thought of it sort of like a cooking episode, right? Like if you watch a cooking show, you know, Gordon Ramsay show or something, they'll walk you through how they make something. And it's from start to finish. They show you the ingredients. They show you how everything's put together. And then you see this beautiful dish at the end. Well, I've often compared the way that you can format a retrospective to a little bit like a meal, because a meal has different courses in it. And a retrospective should have these themed areas or repeatable sections of it. And so I thought of it a little bit like making a meal. So I thought I'd just walk you through a little bit step by step. what I'm thinking here and how I would go about doing it. this is, you know, we're cooking up something special here. It's a kind of a recipe here that's, you know, equal parts creative and effective. It's a way to try to keep your retrospectives interesting, but also keep them to be solid and where you can have an actual outcome that comes from this. And you actually make definitive changes here with your team as a result. So there's a couple of retrospective courses that I have coming out where I go into detail about all these things, but I wanted to take an episode where I could walk you through and just have you kind of peer over my shoulder a little bit about how I might do this if I was going to create a retrospective for a team. So first starters, I think we have to understand that there is a menu to follow, right? And I kind of use this menu metaphor because one of the great things about when you go out and you have a meal at a nice restaurant is there's a repeatable pattern to it. You kind of expect that they're gonna bring you a drink first and then maybe you have, if it's a really fancy restaurant, maybe you have appetizers first or hors d'oeuvres even before appetizers, then you maybe have appetizers or not. Then you have a main course and maybe you have a salad even before the main course and then you have a a meal, and then you have some kind of a dessert afterwards, maybe even some kind of a cocktail at the end of the meal or coffee at the end of the meal. But there's sort of a pattern to it. And regardless of what restaurant you go to, you kind of repeat that same pattern. Now, I know that there's times you'll be, this is where the metaphor kind of breaks down a little bit, I get it. You may not have the same pieces every time. And what we're going to be talking about here as a retrospective pattern is that, yes, you should sort of follow the same pattern. You can't really get to, let's say, dessert. You can't just skip and go to dessert, right? You've got to go through this journey of the other sections so that you can end up at dessert and really fully appreciate it, right, and get the most out of it. So that's where this metaphor is a little bit of a, starts to break down a little tiny bit. But. I want to talk about here first why retrospectives matter and why they often go stale. I think they often go stale for a lot of reasons, but one of the chief reasons I've encountered when I work with teams is that the Scrum Master on the team really only has a small amount of formats and styles that they have to work with. They have a small little set in their toolbox. And they may even rotate through a few of them. But at the end of the day, it's kind of a small toolbox. There's only a few tools in there. And if I'm a team, if I'm a member of that team, you can imagine how I might get bored. And I might think this is not really worthwhile if I'm showing up every single time and I'm hearing the same exact questions. What did I do? What do we do well? What do we not do so well? Do I have any roadblocks? If I'm just asked that same thing every time, then I might not feel like this is a very worthwhile thing. Or I might get to the point where I feel like, gosh, I've answered the same question, you know, three sprints in a row. I just, got nothing more for you Scrum Master. I just, I can't dig any deeper. I've given you everything and it just feels like this is the, you know, groundhog day. We're doing the same thing over and over again, but nothing's really changing. So. I think it's important that we be able to switch things up, but it's not change just for change sake. That's why I think that having a structure of some kind can give you that pattern to fall back on that can make it effective, but then also can provide variety, can make it something that changes over time as you do this with your team. Doesn't mean that you can't ever repeat a format that you've used. I don't think that's a bad thing. I just wouldn't want to repeat the same, just handful, small little number of them over and over again. That's going to get repetitive and it's going to make people a little frustrated. The other thing is I think you have to match these to the personality of your team. Your team might be more outgoing or they might be more introverted. You might have people who prefer activities or little more, you know, kind of quiet activities or some that are more verbal, you know, require more discussion. That's really an individual thing for your team. So I think you have to think as you go through this, what's going to work for these people, right? For this set of individuals that I am working with. You know, I always say there's kind of a first commandment for Scrum Masters, know thy team. And I think that's really something that's important for us to grasp onto is we have to know our team. can't coach to the average. Right? We have to coach to the individual, to what we have on our team, because your team is unique. That set of individuals has never come together anywhere else in the world. Right? Those personalities. And what you want is to find out how to make that set of people work well together. Right? How do they work best together? Not how does every other team in the world work best or how does the average team work best? How does your team work best? Right? So with all of this is sort of setting this and saying that there should be a pattern. I do want to give the hat tip here and say that the Esther Derby Dinah Larson book on retrospectives is one I strongly recommend. In fact, pretty much my whole career as a trainer, I have said, when people say if there's one book, if I'm to be a Scrum Master, if there's one book that you would say would be really impactful to me from pretty much day one, I have pointed to that book. It's called Agile Retrospectives, Esther Derby, Dinah Larson. And in that book, they lay out a pattern of kind of five phases that go through it. I'm going to distill it down because to me, it's sort of the three middle ones that are the most important. I will talk about the two on the ends here as well and kind of put that on top of these three. But sometimes I find people find it easier if they just remember what I'm gonna teach you here about the three that are in the middle. So in Scrum Master classes, we will talk often about how there's these three pillars of the Agile process or three pillars of empiricism. Empiricism says that we learn through experience. Well, I always say in class, it's not enough to just do the wrong thing over and over again. I gain a lot of experience by doing the wrong thing over and over, but I don't learn from it. And the three pillars are what's needed to make sure you learn from them. And I'm sure you've heard these before, but if you haven't, transparency, inspection, adaptation. Those are the three. Transparency meaning we're not going to be clouded about how we do the work. We're going to be very transparent, open about it. We're going to try to reveal how we work best as much as possible. Inspection, that we're going to actually take time and pause and try to figure out not just what happened, that would be transparency, right? What's the reality of what just happened? But inspecting says, why did this happen? Right? What's the root cause of it? I don't want to just deal with the symptoms, right? If we just try to cure the symptoms over and over again, we still have the same disease, we still have the same illness, and we're not really getting to the root cause. So inspection says, we're going to take time out to actually get to the root cause. And then adaptation, the last one, is probably the most important step here, because if you figure out what's wrong, but you don't ever do anything about it, well, we're doomed to have the same exact discussion again. So adaptation says, now that you know what the problem is, what are you going to try different? We may not even know exactly what the right thing to do is, but we got to try something. What we know for certain is what we did didn't work. That's the one thing we absolutely can't do again, is exactly what we did. We've got to try something new so that we move on, right? So that we find out more information and get closer to whatever our final solution is. So transparency, inspection, adaptation, those three actually serve as a good guideline or three phases you can think about for your retrospectives. There needs to be a transparency phase where you try to figure out what happened this last sprint. there needs to be an inspection phase where now that we know what happened, we got to ask the question, why did it happen? And we need to get to the root cause of why it happened. Now that we know what that is, then we have to move on to adaptation to say, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to take this knowledge we just gained and actually make a change? So we need activities around all three. And what I'm saying here to you is that can serve as your menu. I can do lots of different activities that would match these three areas. Now, I do, again, want to go back to the Esther Derby, Dinah Larson book, because their five phases adds one on the beginning, one on the end, which I actually do think are very helpful. The first one is kind of opening the retrospective. It's a way of trying to just start to get voices in the room. And this is something I will often do as well. Just a quick, quick exercise to just get people to start talking. And that's one of the ways you can start to get a quieter group to get involved is throw them something really easy to respond to right out of the gate. And then the last one is to close the retrospective. Closing the retrospective is a great way to then try to sum it all up and say, well, here's the takeaways, here's the things we're going to do about it, and we're going to move forward from here. Opening the retrospective to that introduction can also then review what you talked about at the end of the last. retrospective. You can say, here are the things that we decided, and let's talk about what's been done about them before you start to inspect the current retrospective. So given that, right, I know I'm going fast here, but you can rewind and listen back to this if you need to. But if you think about that, that you have these kind of phased approaches, and think of it like a menu, right? There's different courses to my menu. Well, I'm not going to serve the same meal every time. That would be boring. So I got to find out different things I can serve for each course of my retrospective. Now, here's where it gets interesting, right? Because there are lots of tools out there. And there's a website that I often recommend called RetroMAT. RetroMAT is a great site where you can go to, and it has those five phases. You can kind of scroll through different exercises for each of the five phases. they sort of have, you you can kind of mix and match and create your own menu based off of that. And doing that is absolutely free. Now they have paid things there as well. They're not a sponsor. I don't get any kickbacks or anything from them. But they have some paid activities as well as far as having things like Mural and Miro templates that you can use if you want to do that as well. So there's lots of things you can do there to thank them for what they put together. But there are times when Maybe you're trying to fit this to your team specifically, or you've grown tired of the exercises that you're used to, and you want to find some new dynamic to add into your retrospective. So what I'm going to do is kind of walk you through what I would do if I wanted to take some kind of a theme and create a new retrospective that's themed around a certain topic. Now I will say that this theme is gonna go just in one of our sections. So it's not going to go throughout it. I'm not gonna be that creative here with you on it, because I don't think you need to be. I don't think you need to have this, it's not like a theme to party, right? You can just take the theme and use it in one of the sections. So what would I do for something like this? Well, I'd start with, as I said, some way to kind of open the retrospective. And I like to have little quick activities as I said, that just get voices in the room. an example of things I've done in the past. Ask the team a quick question like, if this last sprint were a song title, what song title would you use to describe this last sprint? And people can use whatever kind of music they like, right? It doesn't matter. They can just call it any songs that they're familiar with. Or do movie titles. I've had a lot of fun in the past doing that with teams where I'll say, hey, shout out a movie title that might represent this last sprint. You just want to find something quick that people can shout out like one or two word answers, right? Or a small sentence in the case of a song title or movie title or something like that. But something that they can tie it into, right? And it doesn't have to be anything that makes perfect sense, right? It can be kind of crazy. It can be... You know, if this last sprint were a flavor of Starburst or, you know, an color, what color would it be and why? And just have people, you know, shout out whatever they think the answer would be. They might have to be a little creative with their answers when they do that. But that's okay. You're just giving them an opportunity to have a few voices start to enter the conversation. Don't force anyone, right? Don't force anyone to shout out, but give them an opportunity to. So I'm going to open the retrospective with some kind of fun, quick exercise like that. Probably won't take more than five minutes, okay? Then I want to move into that transparency section. And the way I frame transparency is what actually happened this last sprint? What was the reality of what happened this last sprint? So here's where I'm going to inject a themed kind of approach. And I just, I go through a couple of examples in our courses where I talk about doing this, but I picked a different one here for this podcast episode that I've put together right before this recording to try to walk you through a little bit of how I did this. So I tried to pick something that was a little more relevant to today. I know that this is popular and people are looking forward to the next season, which is about to come out. sometime soon, I know they've been shooting it, but I picked the theme, Stranger Things. And I just thought, what if my team, you know, had, I knew there were some people on my team really into Stranger Things, or what if I just knew they were aware of it, they knew what it was, and I wanted to have a theme built around this. So here's how easy it is to do this. I went to chat GPT, and I asked it to give me some, you know, putting together a retrospective that I want to theme it around stranger things. And give me some major themes from Stranger Things that might align to Some different ways of collecting information around what actually happened this last sprint. And. They gave me a long list of different things. And I read through these and kind of tweaked them, talked back and forth with it a little bit, kind of refined. And I distilled it down to five sort of themes or categories I thought would be fun and would kind of challenge the group to think along different lines of thought. So here's what I came up with with Chat GPT's help. My first category. I called running up that hill. And what I put for the prompt for this one is what felt like an uphill battle this sprint? Now just think about that, right? In traditional sprints, there's lots of things that are just, I'm essentially asking what was the obstacles? What were the hurdles in this sprint? But I'm getting them to think about it in little different way by saying, what was an uphill battle in this sprint? And even that subtle rewording, of that prompt can trigger people's brains to work in a different way and get them to think along different lines. If I just ask over and over again, you know, what was a blocker of this sprint or what blockers do we encounter this sprint? If I use those same words over and over, I get sort of immunized against them and I can't really think about anything new. But just phrasing it that little slightly different way, what felt like an uphill battle this sprint I think can really trigger some new ways of thinking. So that was my first category. The second one that I came up with, big theme here in Stranger Things, was the upside down. And I related it this way to say, what is completely upside down right now? What is the opposite of what it should be right now? Now here, I'm trying to get them to think about things that are not really going well, right? Things that are going the opposite direction that they should, and it's upside down from what should be the normal. Right? And again, we're just thinking along this theme of stranger things and I'm tricking their brains a little bit into thinking along a different line, right? To examine it from a different point of view. My third category that I thought would be fun was I titled Vecna's Curse. And what I prompted here for this one was what haunted the team this sprint or kept coming back up to bite us. And The idea here is to get them to think about things that were maybe decisions we wish we had made differently. These could have been decisions in the past. It didn't have to be a decision from this sprint. But what are those things that we felt kind of like was like Vecna's curse? It was just something that kept rearing its ugly head. And it was just a struggle for us to get around. My fourth one, just to have a little fun. I call the fourth one Surfer Boy Pizza. And what I put as a prompt on this one was, where did we bring the chill? Where did we bring the creative spin to a tough solution during the sprint? So here I'm wanting to celebrate good things, right? And I'm asking that in a funny way. So it brings some humor to it, puts them in a better mood, and also gets them to think along a maybe a little bit of a different line in this area to think, all right, well, what do we get really creative about? What do we have to be really creative about in this sprint? What kind of tough solutions did we really conquer? Did we really nail in this sprint? And I'm just theming around that loose theme of that surfer boy pizza from the last season. And then the last one, I couldn't have categories here without mentioning Hellfire Club. So the last one was Hellfire Club. And the prompt I put for it was, where could we bring more of kind of that Hellfire Club vibe, planning, teamwork, shared adventure, right? Just the fun. Where could we put more of that vibe into our team and to how we operate? Now, this is getting them to think about something that might otherwise be a little bit of a uncomfortable thing to think about, right? Because Now we're getting into interpersonal dynamics. We're getting into how the team actually works and fits together. And that's why I chose this theme, because I wanted it to be just kind of a, even maybe a sneaky back doorway of getting their brains to start to examine, yeah, what would have made this more fun? Or what would have made this, how could we have, I've asked often in retrospectives, what would it take for us to be the team that everyone else wishes they were on? Well, That's what I'm asking here, essentially. So I've got my five themes. And I even then went forward and created and kind of get some images for each one of those, like icons for each one of those things. Just created a board and mural for this and put each of those things up. Had a big block space next to each one where people could put Post-it notes. So what I would do here in the retrospective is I'd introduce this. I'd give them the prompts for each of the section and say, all right, let's take a few minutes. Everyone can add Post-its to any of these sections, but try to think through several of them and put several of them up here on the screen or physical board if we're in the same space. But take a few moments here to think through each category and see if there's anything that you can think of that you would add to each area. So we take, I don't know, five, 10 minutes to do that. normally time that, I just see when it starts to slow down. And there's generally a point there where you can kind of intuitively feel it and feel like, you know, the group's ready to move on. So whenever that time comes, I'll call a halt to it and I'll say, all right, now that we've done this, I want us to try to narrow down what's on the board. So let's give you each three votes. And I do this usually with dot voting or something along that line. where they have three dots they can place on three different sticky notes across all five categories. And what I tell them is find the three that are the most important of all the things here, what are the three that are most important and put your vote on those top three. And by doing this, having the team vote on it, then we surface the most important three out of the entire group, right? It's not to say we ignore the others, but we're going to try, we can't focus on everything in our time that we have. So, whether our top three, and then I start with the first one, right? So right now, all we've done is kind of the introduction of the sprint. We've done a transparency section. Now we move into the inspection. Now there's lots of different things you can do here, but what I put together for this retrospective was taking them through sort of a five whys activity. So I would take that first one, I'd have them examine it and look at it and say, all right, let's ask the question why five times for this one. Why did this happen? whatever they answer, then we say, all right, well, why did that happen then? And we ask why, it doesn't have to technically be five times, but you need to ask it enough to where you get down to something that you can say, yeah, that's definitely the root cause, right? That's what's underneath all this. All that followed it, all that came afterwards was all stuff that came as a result of us making that decision. So once we have our root cause, we can repeat that again for the other two. if we have time, but if we're starting to run out of time, I kind of watch my time box there. And once I realize we need to move into solutioning, then we'll move on into the adaptation portion. In adaptation, we just take each single one, and we kind of repeat this process of getting possible answers across the team. So for the number one issue that you guys identified, here's our root cause. Let's take some post-its here. or let's take some suggestions of what we might possibly do to counteract this in the next sprint. So we get those things that come up. Then we'll talk through each one, and we'll try to build consensus as a team as to the most important step to take. So for each item, I want what's the one most important thing to do. So we'll identify that, again, as time allows, I want to at least do the most important thing. If we have time for more than that, great, we'll get to the second and third. But I think it's so important to just, whatever the biggest, most important thing is, make sure you have an action item for that thing. And here's where I just caution you. It doesn't have to be, hey, we've knocked it out. We've cleared it. We've solved it in the next sprint. It just has to be that we've taken a step towards solving it, right? What's the old phrase, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Well, the same thing goes for our teams. And this is oftentimes why teams get stuck, is they just feel paralyzed. Hey, there's nothing we can do about this. It's such a huge issue. Well, that's not true. What's the next step you can take? So take the next step. Make sure that the team understands what it is. And make sure we understand who is going to be responsible for that. And do that for as many as you can get through. Then get to the closing the retrospective part of it. Kind of wrap up. Remind them, here's the journey we've taken, here's what we've uncovered, and here's what we're gonna do differently for next time. And now those items, they should go straight into your next sprint backlog, not product backlog, sprint backlog, right? They don't need to be prioritized because the product owner has been with you, they should have been with you in this meeting, it's the entire Scrum team. So the product owner has weighed in as well. This has been a team collective decision. So now those items should go into your sprint backlog, and you should do something about them in this next sprint. That's the whole concept of the Kaizen comes first, right? The good change should happen before we do anything else so we can get the benefit of it over a longer period of time. So that's kind of the idea here. And I wanted to give you that kind of really quick flyby to help you kind of see how to go about doing something like this, right? And I just picked one theme. I just picked Stranger Things because I thought it would be fun to work on. I thought it would be a fun kind of theme. And it might be fun for a team I was working with. But maybe that's not something that aligns to your team. Maybe your team has a bunch of people who are really into cricket. Well, do a cricket-themed one. Maybe you have a team that's around the Academy Awards time. And everyone's talking about, and now people don't do this as much anymore, but. Maybe they're all talking about who's going to Oscars this year or something. Well, do an Oscar-themed one. Or it can be around anything. Do it around award shows in general. It doesn't have to be just Oscars, but do it around any kind of award show. And you can pick up different themes. Again, if you're stuck, ask your favorite large language model and see what it comes up with. It's not all going to be gems that comes from that, but you can pick and choose and refine it, which is exactly what I did with my five themes for this. So I hope you see how easy it is to do that. It doesn't have to be complicated. You don't have to be extremely creative to do this. You can make use of the tools that you have available to you. And as a Scrum Master, you can keep this fresh. You can tailor this to the team that you have. What is your team really into? What's the theme that they would really resonate with? Choose that. Go with that. Create a theme around that and see what they think about it. Afterwards, ask them, hey, did this work all right? Did you like this? I hope that's been useful to you. If you like this and you want to hear more like this, come to our website to mountngoatsoftware.com and check out our courses that we're launching actually this week, Better Retrospectives and the Retrospective Repair Guide. Those are the two that we really want to have you kind of think about. Come to our site, find out more about them. Better Retrospectives is all about just the expert level retrospectives course really gets into the heart of a lot of these issues at a very, very deep level. The retrospectives repair guide is taking the 10 most asked questions that we have about retrospectives at Mountain Goat Software and giving you really deep dives on how to solution those, how to problem solve those top 10 issues. And the great news for you is if you're listening to this in real time, right, when we've launched this, We're launching this as a two-for-one special. We'll not have that special again. So it's $99 that you get both of those courses. You don't have to pick and choose from them. You can give $99. They're prerecorded. You can watch them at your own pace. This is for people who want this knowledge, who want these answers. And I know when I was a Scrum Master starting out, there was a lot of, I followed a kind of the pattern that Mike established with his sprint repair guide. I bought that when I was coming up as a scrum master because I needed answers to some of the questions that he had in that scrum repair guide. Well, take a look at the 10 that we have for our retrospective repair guide. Maybe you'll find one of those things that's really tripping you up and maybe just getting the answer to one of those is going to be worth the money for you. I encourage you to go to our site, check it out. Don't miss this. It's a limited time cart that's opened. It's only going to be open for a week. So if you're listening to this when we launch it, don't delay, don't wait until next week. If you hear this next week, then you're running out of time. So make sure that you take advantage of the time that you have here so that you can get these two courses, two for the price of one here at our launch. Again, we won't do that again. So I hope you found this to be useful. It's just a little taste of the kind of thing that's in those courses for you. And if retrospectives are something that you're struggling with, or if retrospectives are something that you just feel like, man, it really could be more. It really could deliver more for my team. Check out these two courses. I really think they're gonna help a lot of teams out there. That's why we put them together. So that'll wrap it up. I hope you've enjoyed this and we'll talk to you next time. on another episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast.

Ville Reijonen: How To Use Agile Retrospectives To Help Teams Focus On Continuous Growth For Ville, true success as a Scrum Master is achieved when the team and the PO can independently manage their development process. He shares how he tracks team progress, conducts one-on-ones to provide tailored support, and uses subtle nudges to guide the team toward autonomy. Ville emphasizes the importance of understanding where individuals are in their learning journey and helping them achieve their goals by continuously assessing and adjusting support strategies. Self-reflection Question: What steps can you take to help your team become more self-sufficient? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Spider Web Games Ville highlights the use of spider web graphs (aka radar graphs) as a way for teams to reflect on their progress in different areas. This format creates a visual representation of strengths and areas for improvement. Ville explains how role-playing and simulation games can foster team cohesion and help teams identify behaviors that can be applied to their daily work. By engaging in playful yet insightful activities, teams can foster collaboration and enhance retrospectives. [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

BONUS: Leading Without Blame, Building Resilient Teams with Tricia Broderick and Diana Larsen In this BONUS episode, leadership experts Tricia Broderick and Diana Larsen explore their latest book, Lead Without Blame, talking about how leaders can create high-performing teams without resorting to blaming. This conversation tackles the key themes from their book, and offers insights on how leaders can foster resilient, learning-focused teams. Understanding "Lead Without Blame" "Leadership isn't about finger-pointing; it's about creating an environment where learning and growth can flourish." Tricia and Diana kick off the conversation by breaking down what it means to lead without blame. They explore the impact of blame in the workplace, particularly how it stifles innovation, and erodes psychological safety. The authors stress the importance of making space for learning and acknowledge that many leaders, even unintentionally, perpetuate a culture of blame. "To lead without blame, focus on building a culture where learning is prioritized over finger-pointing." The Inspiration Behind the Book "Blame has always been a leadership issue, and this book was a way to address it head-on." Tricia and Diana share personal anecdotes that inspired the book. Tricia describes writing the book as therapeutic, reflecting on her past experiences as an executive who lacked the skills to prevent a blame culture. Diana highlights how pervasive blame is in toxic work environments and the urgent need for a shift in leadership approaches to create healthier, more supportive workplaces. "Our goal is to equip leaders with the tools they need to create environments where everyone can thrive without the fear of blame." From Knowledge Work to Learning Work "Learning is the evolution of knowledge work, and it's the foundation of resilient teams." The authors discuss the shift from traditional knowledge work to what they call "learning work." They explain that building resilient teams requires fostering an environment where continuous learning is encouraged and natural. Leaders must embrace the idea that learning is an ongoing process, crucial for adapting to changes like remote work and other modern challenges. "To build resilient teams, leaders must prioritize creating a learning environment where everyone is prepared to adapt and grow." The 4Cs of Learning Leaders "Courage, Compassion, Confidence, and Complexity—these are the pillars of effective leadership in today's world." Tricia and Diana introduce the "4Cs" of Learning Leaders—Courage, Compassion, Confidence, and Complexity. They emphasize that leadership is not just about hierarchical authority but about modeling these qualities at all levels within a team. Leaders must navigate uncertainty and complexity with confidence, showing their teams how to do the same. "True leadership is about embodying the 4Cs—showing courage, compassion, confidence, and understanding complexity in every situation." Leadership Through Learning "Leaders must exemplify the learning process, guiding their teams through growth and change." The authors explore the concept of "Leadership through Learning," where leaders actively engage in and model the learning process. They discuss essential motivators like shared purpose, autonomy, and co-intelligence, which are crucial for fostering a collaborative and innovative team environment. "Leadership through learning means being intentional about creating a space where your team can grow together." The Five Rules for Accelerated Learning In their book, Tricia and Diana outline "Five Rules for Accelerated Learning" that are essential for leaders looking to cultivate high-performing teams. These rules guide leaders in creating environments where learning is continuous, rapid, and deeply integrated into the team's daily work. "Accelerated learning happens when leaders set the right conditions and provide clear, actionable guidance." Managing Conflict with the Escalating Conflict Model "Healthy conflict is a sign of engagement, but it's crucial to recognize when it starts to become destructive." The authors discuss the "Escalating Conflict Model", which helps leaders identify and manage conflict stages within their teams. The model emphasizes recognizing when conflicts move from healthy disagreements to destructive behaviors and provides strategies for keeping conflicts constructive and focused on team goals. "Understanding the stages of conflict helps leaders intervene early and keep team dynamics positive." Maximizing Learning and Adaptation through Retrospectives "Retrospectives are not just about looking back—they're about learning and adapting for the future." Tricia and Diana highlight the importance of retrospectives in team development, emphasizing that these sessions are critical for continuous learning and adaptation. They offer practical advice on how leaders can conduct effective retrospectives that focus on purpose-relevant topics and foster a culture of open, constructive dialogue. "Use retrospectives as a tool to reinforce your team's shared goals and drive continuous improvement." Learn More About the Book The book is Lead Without Blame by Tricia Broderick and Diana Larsen. You can learn more about the book and access additional resources at leadwithoutblame.com. Tricia: Ignite Insight + Innovation Diana: Diana Larsen Both: LinkedIn profiles About Tricia Broderick And Diana Larsen Tricia Broderick, co-author of Lead Without Blame, is a leadership and organizational advisor with over twenty-five years of experience. Her transformational leadership ignites the growth of leaders and resilient high-performing teams to deliver quality outcomes. She is a highly-rated trainer, coach, facilitator, and motivational keynote speaker. In 2020, she founded Ignite Insight + Innovation. You can link with Tricia Broderick on LinkedIn or visit Tricia's website. Diana Larsen is a leadership and team improvement advisor, offering consulting and mentoring services. A sought-after keynote speaker, she has co-authored several books on Agile leadership and co-originated the Agile Fluency® Model. Her book Agile Retrospectives is one of the most mentioned works on this podcast, with the 2nd edition set to release in early 2024. You can link with Diana Larsen on LinkedIn or visit Diana's website.

Doug Rabow: Daily Standups as a Success Barometer in Agile, And Other Lessons For Scrum Masters Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this segment, Doug discusses the dual aspects of success for Scrum Masters: defining it and demonstrating it to others. We also talk about how the quality of daily standups reflects the overall health of the Agile practices in the team. We also explore how fostering an environment of good-faith feedback and continuous improvement can lead to success for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Asking Questions In this segment about Agile Retrospectives, Doug highlights the importance of asking pointed, empathetic questions during retrospectives to uncover deep insights about team dynamics and challenges. We learn about the role that well-crafted questions play in driving continuous improvement. And learn how Doug's approach of integrating impactful questions into conversations, helps teams to navigate and overcome obstacles more effectively.   [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Doug Rabow Doug is a passionate practitioner of Lean-Agile strategic management with a focus on developing empowered teams and Lean process improvement.   You can link with Doug Rabow on LinkedIn.  

Join the Collaborwocky team and special guest Diana Larsen as they discuss Diana's new book, "Agile Retrospectives, Second Edition." Dive into the updates, challenges, and differences in the latest edition of this classic work on retrospectives. Diana also shares insights from her book "Lead Without Blame" and her experiences facilitating leader circles. Show Notes: Introduction to Diana Larsen and her books What's new in the second edition of "Agile Retrospectives" Importance of the five stages of retrospectives Impact of the pandemic on the writing process Comparison with writing "Lead Without Blame" Remote and hybrid retrospectives Connect with Diana Larsen The Collaborwocky Team: Jim Benson, Dave Prior, Tonianne DeMaria, Thushyanthan Amirthalingam and Mark Kilby. The Collaborwocky Mother Ship: Collaborwocky is produced by the faculty at Modus Institute and brings fresh perspectives on making work more enjoyable, effective and humane. Come join the community. The Collaborwocky Promise: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and we will bring you interviews, conversations and new ideas... often.

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods spoke to Esther Derby and David Horowitz about the second edition of the Agile Retrospectives book. Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3WGRQkg Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies: www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter Upcoming Events: InfoQ Dev Summit Boston (June 24-25, 2024) Actionable insights on today's critical dev priorities. devsummit.infoq.com/conference/boston2024 InfoQ Dev Summit Munich (Sept 26-27, 2024) Practical learnings from senior software practitioners navigating Generative AI, security, modern web applications, and more. devsummit.infoq.com/conference/munich2024 QCon San Francisco (November 18-22, 2024) Get practical inspiration and best practices on emerging software trends directly from senior software developers at early adopter companies. qconsf.com/ QCon London (April 7-9, 2025) Discover new ideas and insights from senior practitioners driving change and innovation in software development. qconlondon.com/ The InfoQ Podcasts: Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts: - The InfoQ Podcast www.infoq.com/podcasts/ - Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture - Generally AI Follow InfoQ: - Mastodon: techhub.social/@infoq - Twitter: twitter.com/InfoQ - LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/infoq - Facebook: bit.ly/2jmlyG8 - Instagram: @infoqdotcom - Youtube: www.youtube.com/infoq Write for InfoQ: Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development. - Join a community of experts. - Increase your visibility. - Grow your career. www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

Welcome to another exciting episode of "Becoming a Scrum Master"! In this episode, host Ryan Ripley is joined by the renowned Esther Derby, a pivotal figure in the agile community and author of "Seven Rules for Positive, Productive Change" and the upcoming second edition of "Agile Retrospectives". Join us as Esther shares her rich journey in the world of Scrum and Agile methodologies. 

Inga Bergmann: Building Stronger Teams Through Conversation, And Addressing Conflicts and Tensions Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, we explore how teams create problems when they do not address the unspoken conflict. Inga emphasizes the critical importance of voicing concerns and the dangers of silence within team dynamics. We talk about through the nuances of team communication, the consequences of unspoken tensions, and offer strategies to encourage openness and growth. Inga's insights offer a roadmap to fostering a culture of transparency and mutual understanding in teams. If you like this episode, you will also like this episode on Tension Meetings with Sara Clark.  Featured Book of the Week: Agile Retrospectives by Derby and Larsen Discover how the book "Agile Retrospectives" became a cornerstone for Inga's journey as a Scrum Master. This episode delves into the profound impact of the book in shaping Inga's approach to fostering team reflection and growth. A testament to the power of retrospectives, this conversation not only highlights the book's influence on her career but also serves as an inspiration for anyone looking to understand and implement Agile principles effectively.   [IMAGE HERE] Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!     About Inga Bergmann Inga is an empathic provocateur dedicated to unlocking the potential of teams on their way to high-performance. As Agile and Organizational Coach, she fosters psychological safe and thought-provoking environments where human-centred approaches and agile principles apply. She emphasizes trust and meaningful connections as enablers of successful collaboration and growth. You can link with Inga Bergmann on LinkedIn.

Today's post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she's come across on the web, books she's read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she's listened to. And today, she's joined by Marcus Wermuth, who is an Engineering Leader specialising in virtual leadership.| Marcus is back on this show, this time talking about his recent professional transition: laying himself off from his job as Head of Engineering. This has been a very difficult decision to take, but he's followed his own principles, and stayed true to his identity as servant leader. Coffee Break Articles: First off, check out Marcus' article on “laying himself off”, If you are interested in hearing another conversation about how to strike the balance between transparency and discretion, check out episode 69 of the Management Café. 18.30 MINS Deutsche Bank's 3-day-a-week return-to-office policy has been met with fierce criticism by staff who say there isn't enough space for everyone via Business Insider The title says it all, but worth looking at some of the detail to understand the risks of mandatory planning looks like. Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level Recent research shows that having laws about the right to disconnect is not enough to prevent employees feeling like they have to be constantly available. Company culture and in-house companies are needed too. 10 Ways to Build Better Relationships Working Remotely A blog post that could have been a short ebook. A thoughtful article with specific advice on how to build relationships . Are Enterprise Social Platforms All Talk? Past guest Wietske Van Osch has just released research into why enterprise social networks need to be run differently to the social networks employees might be used to, for employees and the organisation to get the most out of them. Gifts and Greats for True Feedback via Mark Kilby A very useful post to guide us through formulating feedback on other people's work, and how to structure it. Listening Recommendations: Podcast: The Rich Roll Podcast Episode: #815 CHARLES DUHIGG: HOW TO UNLOCK THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF CONNECTION Date: 22 February 2024 An interview with journalist/writer Charles Duhigg, talking about building strong relationships. Podcast: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Long-form Interviews with a range of guests, from a range of industries. Podcast: Collaboration Superpowers Episode: Agile Retrospectives 2.0 with Esther Derby, Diana Larsen & David Horowitz Date: 5 March 2022 Lisette Sutherland talks to the authors of the new edition of Agile Retrospectives 2.0. Pilar hasn't listened to it yet, but highly recommends it - she's a great fan of David Horowitz, who guested on this show back in 2017, in episode 129 on Building a Distributed Business. Podcast: Sliced Bread Episode: Fitness Trackers (UK link, but look for it in your podcast app) 29 Feb 2023 Book Recommendations: Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson Collabor(h)ate: How to build incredible collaborative relationships at work (even if you'd rather work alone) by Deb Mashek PhD Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman Can't Hurt Me by David Goggings Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens You can connect with Marcus Wermuth on LinkedIn and check out his website: www.marcuswermuth.com Other episodes with Marcus: WLP291 Starting a New Role Remotely WLP219 OnBoarding (or Integration) in Remote Teams and Organisations WLP188 - From Maker to Manager in a Distributed Company SIgn up to the Virtual not Distant's newsletter here: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/newsletter  

In this episode of the Collaboration Superpowers podcast, we hosted esteemed guests David Horowitz, Esther Derby, and Diana Larsen. The conversation dived into the essence of conducting a successful remote agile retrospective, highlighting the importance of clear goals, structured feedback, and the engagement of all team members. Our guests shared common pitfalls in organizing retrospectives, such as lack of preparation and inadequate follow-up on action items. They reflected on their journey of writing and updating their seminal book on agile retrospectives, noting the adjustments made in the second edition to address changes in the agile landscape and incorporate new learnings. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

In this episode originally published on the Agile for Humans podcast, Professional Scrum Trainer Ryan Ripley is joined by the renowned Esther Derby, a pivotal figure in the agile community and author of "Seven Rules for Positive, Productive Change" and the upcoming second edition of "Agile Retrospectives". Join us as Esther shares her rich journey in the world of Scrum and Agile.

Viktor Didenchuk: Breaking the Ice, How To Turn a Tough Agile Retrospective Around Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Viktor, shares a challenging experience in conducting retrospectives. He faced difficulty in initiating conversations among engineers, who prefer concrete specifics over discussing feelings. Despite his facilitation skills, Viktor struggled to engage the team. Eventually, by openly admitting his uncertainty and holding space for silence, he encouraged team participation. Viktor shares tips like holding weekly retrospectives, setting up a retro board at the sprint's start, and using current events as facilitation tools, emphasizing that metaphors can significantly aid dialogue.   [IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.   About Viktor Didenchuk Viktor began his career as a Software Engineer in the mid 2010's, before discovering a passion for coaching and facilitating value delivery. He currently serves as a Scrum Master at Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's largest retail bank, where he contributes to the Agile transformation of a 60,000+ employee organization, navigating and sharing the challenges encountered. You can link with Viktor Didenchuk on LinkedIn. 

Robert Briese: Agile Retrospectives Without Blame, The Importance of The Retrospective Prime Directive Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode with Robert, we talk about what we need to consider when introducing Scrum in support organizations, navigating heated retrospective discussions, and emphasizing the use of the prime directive. Robert highlights the importance of avoiding blame and instead fostering an environment of continuous improvement. Norm Kerth's retrospective prime directive serves as a tool to steer conversations away from finger-pointing, encouraging teams to address challenging issues constructively. The retrospective prime directive reads: “Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.”   [IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.   About Robert Briese Robert Briese, is an Agile Coach who's seen it all. From startup stumbles to orchestrating massive Large-Scale Scrum feats, like BMW's level 3 autonomous driving milestone. He's on a mission to simplify the complex and help teams build adaptable, sustainable organizations. Buckle up for a wild, Agile ride with Robert! You can link with Robert Briese on LinkedIn and connect with Robert Briese on Twitter. 

Armin Mandara: Thriving Teams and Joyful Work, Armin's Vision of Scrum Master Success Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Armin reflects on the essence of success for Scrum Masters, emphasizing the delivery of high-performing teams and consistent, valuable software. He emphasizes the importance of joy and camaraderie within the team, highlighting laughter and open communication as key indicators. Armin stresses the value of fun in facilitating difficult conversations. Success, in his view, also hinges on the team's ability to openly discuss problems.  In this episode, wer refer to the episode about a team that got into trouble: “When Harmony Hinders Progress, Learning to Trigger Difficult Conversations”. [LINK] Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Fostering Open Conversations with Simple Retrospective Techniques and Exercises Armin likes to use the framework by Derby and Larsen (introduced in the Agile Retrospectives book). He begins with a warm-up exercise to set the stage and assess the mood of the team. For data gathering on what's going well and what needs improvement he might run the "glad/sad/mad" exercise. Armin values open conversation for generating insights and emphasizes clear instructions for each phase. To conclude, he incorporates a lively check-out exercise, ensuring a fun and engaging close to the retrospective session. This approach enhances team reflection and facilitates meaningful discussions for continuous improvement.   [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Armin Mandara Armin is the Head of Scrum Masters at IBM iX, a leading digital agency. With a career spanning seven years as a Scrum Master, Armin has partnered with numerous teams to successfully deliver top-notch digital products. His passion lies in enabling agile teams to achieve their goals and unleash their true potential. You can link with Armin Mandara on LinkedIn.

Armin Mandara: Breaking Resistance with Dialogue and Collaboration, A New Scrum Master Story Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Armin shares a story from his early days as a Scrum Master, leading a team in developing an ecommerce platform for a major corporation. Despite initial challenges, he sought to introduce project retrospectives for broader learning. However, faced with resistance from project managers, he reflected on the experience and found strength in seeking support and open communication. Armin emphasizes the inevitability of resistance and advocates for transparent, honest conversations in the workplace, acknowledging the power of addressing concerns openly.   [IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.   About Armin Mandara Armin is the Head of Scrum Masters at IBM iX, a leading digital agency. With a career spanning seven years as a Scrum Master, Armin has partnered with numerous teams to successfully deliver top-notch digital products. His passion lies in enabling agile teams to achieve their goals and unleash their true potential. You can link with Armin Mandara on LinkedIn.

Aki Salmi: Indicators of a Thriving Agile Team When Uncertainty Rules Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Aki emphasizes the importance of growth within a team, regardless of whether the path forward is uncertain. He provides insightful tips, such as tracking the effectiveness of retrospectives and monitoring the nature of discussions. Aki prompts reflection on whether the team is delving into systemic issues or getting stuck in "but" statements. He encourages listeners to observe where the team's focus lies and whether they exhibit curiosity towards their work, asking exploratory "what if" questions. Featured Retrospective Format For The Week: The Empty Table Retrospective In this segment, Aki shares his preferred retrospective format inspired by "Agile Retrospectives" by Larsen and Derby. He gives the tip that it's a lot easier for Scrum Masters when we don't run retrospectives for our own teams. Aki introduces the "Empty Table" retro, emphasizing the significance of a thorough check-in. Participants imagine an empty table to gather insights and events. He used to employ dot-voting extensively, but later decided there were better methods to select the topics for discussion. He suggests a different approach for topic selection to promote shared leadership. He stresses the importance of active listening and embraces silence as a valid contribution.   [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Aki Salmi Aki is a software crafter and shares the joy of coding and the value of empathy at work. That is, Aki works on ones and zeros (code) and everything else (humans). You can link with Aki Salmi on LinkedIn.   

Aki Salmi: Learning Decision-Making without Explicit Leadership, A Key Skill For Scrum Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Aki reflects on a highly effective team, drawing inspiration from Google's Project Aristotle on high-performing teams. He recounts the story of a team that operated without a designated leader, relying on consensus-based decision-making. However, this approach often hindered progress and experimentation. Aki highlights the importance of bringing up such systemic issues in retrospectives. He advises teams to step back and critically evaluate their working methods and their implications. Aki also touches on concepts like "double loop learning" and emphasizes the significance of considering core tasks, emotional climate, and effective structures in the work environment. Featured Book For The Week: Dare to Lead by Brene Brown In this segment, Aki talks about Brene Brown's book "Dare to Lead," emphasizing its transformative impact on authentic self-expression in the workplace. He highlights the value of embracing one's humanity, including emotions, and underscores the importance of vulnerability and visibility. Aki also references books like "Agile Retrospectives" by Larsen and Derby, and "Atlas of the Heart" by Brene Brown. He discusses trust-building, echoing the idea that trust is built in small moments. The episode encourages listeners to prioritize trust and genuine self-presentation in professional environments.   [IMAGE HERE] Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!     About Aki Salmi Aki is a software crafter and shares the joy of coding and the value of empathy at work. That is, Aki works on ones and zeros (code) and everything else (humans). You can link with Aki Salmi on LinkedIn. 

Tom Siebeneicher: A Deep Dive into Agile Dysfunction, And The Journey Back To Healthy Scrum Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Tom shares the story of a team that slowly drifted away from Scrum, and it's values, but without noticing it themselves! The team followed the rituals, but their retrospectives pushed them aways from Agile and Scrum principles. The team inadvertently, and over time, adopted a waterfall approach. To avoid this in your teams, Tom advocates for digging into root causes instead of symptom-fixing. Eventually, Tom helped the team do a “scrum reset” which realigned the team, prompting a valuable tip: conduct resets every six months. Tom emphasizes double-loop learning, urging a focus on long-term improvement amidst day-to-day challenges. Featured Book of the Week: The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries Tom delves into the transformative impact of Eric Ries' "The Lean Startup." The book revolutionized his perspective on Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), emphasizing radical experimentation and learning over rigid planning. It liberated him from the constraints of plan-driven approaches, emphasizing the dynamic nature of execution. Tom underscores the criticality of continuous measurement and learning, a principle he now prioritizes in his approach. He shares valuable advice: never underestimate the power of measuring and learning in the pursuit of agile success.   [IMAGE HERE] Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!     About Tom Siebeneicher Tom is an engaging speaker, who has delivered presentations at conferences like the Atos DREAM Conference, the Agile Leadership Day, and TED XKE by Xebia. Their enthusiasm for discussing Agile is evident in those talks. You can link with Tom Siebeneicher on LinkedIn. 

Sónia Won: How to Overcome The Pressure in a Small Feature Team Serving Multiple Products Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Sónia shares her experience with a small feature team consisting of 3-4 members responsible for delivering 3 products, each with separate calendars. The team constantly faced pressure, and the knowledge of the products was concentrated in just 2 team members. This knowledge imbalance led to overwork and complaints from those 2 members. In retrospectives, the team decided to address the issue and brainstormed solutions. They chose not to assign any work to the 2 overloaded members, leading to the knowledge spreading across the team over a few sprints. Sónia highlights the importance of discussing such challenges in retrospectives and emphasizes that team-driven solutions are key to addressing knowledge transfer issues during team growth. Featured Book of the Week: Transforming Nokia, by Risto Siilasmaa In this segment, Sónia discusses her favorite book, "Transforming Nokia" by Siilasmaa. The book explores how to handle tragedy scenarios while maintaining inspiration and optimism. It shares radical stories of optimism and serves as a valuable lesson for large companies, emphasizing that the market dictates the direction. The book's concepts are linked to VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity). Sónia highlights that Scrum's essential aspect is the ability to swiftly adapt to new requirements, making it a crucial tool for coping with changing circumstances in the business world.   [IMAGE HERE] Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!     About Sónia Won Sónia is an experienced professional with 17 years in Software Engineering. She has held roles as a Software Engineer, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach for a decade. Currently, as a Product Owner, she values teamwork and recognizes the significance of prioritizing people in any endeavor. The big lesson she's learned so far: no matter how complex a subject can be, the most important thing is to take care of people. Because teams, companies, and communities are made of those! You can link with Sónia Won on LinkedIn and connect with Sónia Won on Twitter. 

Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse: Tackling Corporate Politics for Agile Success, The Scrum Master's Perspective Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Frederik discussed his experience with corporate politics in an agile software development project. Initially a Product Owner, he became a Scrum Master while a colleague took over as the single Product Owner. Facing a team of 20 people, Frederik encountered challenges with the client's perception of the team as a "feature factory" and their desire for a perfect end product delivered all at once.  He emphasized the importance of incremental thinking and work, offering tips such as being proactive, using User Story Mapping, prioritizing work through slicing, and collaborating with stakeholders. Frederik stressed the need for a strong relationship with management and higher-level stakeholders and highlighted the value of retrospectives in fostering understanding and promoting agile principles. Overall, the episode highlighted the challenges of corporate politics and provided practical strategies for successful agile software development projects. [IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.   About Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse Frederik is a Certified Team and Enterprise Coach at the Scrum Alliance. He works and lives in Belgium. He is part of the company iLean. Frederik has worked as Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Agile Coach. He works with teams and leadership to improve collaboration, flow, and learning. Frederik co-organizes the XP Days Benelux conference - this year, in 2023, the conference has existed for 20 years. He is also a regular speaker at local and international conferences. You can link with Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse on LinkedIn.

How Are Agile Retrospectives Like Jedi Councils? Jedi Council meetings and Agile retrospectives share similarities in their purpose and structure as gatherings designed to reflect on progress, identify areas for improvement, and plan for the future. Let's explore these concepts in more detail. Jedi Council meetings: In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi Council is an assembly of experienced Jedi Masters who are responsible for guiding the Jedi Order and making critical decisions. They regularly convene to discuss the state of the galaxy, assess current situations, and determine the appropriate course of action. These meetings often involve reflecting on past events, addressing challenges, and strategizing for the future. Agile retrospectives: In Agile software development, retrospectives are regular meetings held by Agile teams to reflect on their recent work and identify areas for improvement. During retrospectives, team members discuss what went well, what could be improved, and what actions they should take to enhance their performance in the next iteration. The focus is on continuous improvement, learning, and adapting to change.

Harri Tunturivuori: Success is Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement as a Scrum Master Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In the episode with Harri we learn that success is all about helping the team to deliver a high-quality product and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. To achieve this, he believes that investing in psychological safety and leading by example are critical. Additionally, ensuring that team members feel heard, investing in soft skills, and promoting a sense of belonging are all key factors. Harri recommends using journey lines and other techniques to help team members know more about each other, particularly when the team is distributed, which can make it harder to achieve these goals. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Lean Coffee In this segment, Harri shared their favorite retrospective format, which is Lean Coffee. Harri highlights the importance of having multiple retrospective formats to adapt to different team situations and keep things fresh. The guest personally enjoyed Lean Coffee for its conversational focus, allowing for in-depth discussions on topics compared to other formats.    [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Harri Tunturivuori Harri is an experienced leader, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach who was introduced to the world of agile software development in 2010. Since then, Harri has had the pleasure of leading great agile teams in various forms. Harri enjoys working in a fun environment where there is room for innovation, and Harri is driven by the challenge of growing a group of good people into a great team. You can link with Harri Tunturivuori on LinkedIn. 

Mike Salogub: Learning to measure success as a Scrum Master, focusing on team behaviors Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this segment, we discuss how to measure the success of a scrum master. Mike mentions several questions that can help determine the effectiveness of a scrum master, including whether the team will continue to meet for sprint planning in their absence, or whether team members are actively participating and solving problems together. The goal is to assess whether the team is thriving and hitting their own ambitions even when the scrum master is not present. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The Sailboat retrospective, as a conversation catalyst for Agile teams In this segment, Mike shares his favorite retrospective format, which is the "Sailboat" format. He explains that this format involves visualizing a sailboat and discussing its different aspects, such as the wind, anchor, and rocks. This visualization helps the team reflect on their work and start conversations that they may not have had otherwise. The sailboat format also helps introverted team members share more and encourages those who tend to dominate discussions to listen more. Mike offers tips for facilitating this retrospective format, including knowing your team and finding ways to encourage everyone to participate.   Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Mike Salogub Mike's an accomplished, committed and creative Scrum Master with over 10+ years of expanding horizons in the healthcare technology industry. Focused on continuous improvement using data to inform business decisions, and driving innovation to meet the needs of patients. You can link with Mike Salogub on LinkedIn and connect with Mike Salogub on Twitter.

Caterina Palmiotto: Autonomy and Accountability, Key Team Skills That Make You A Successful Scrum Master Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this segment, Caterina discusses how success for Scrum Masters depends on the team's ability to be autonomous in defining and changing their working agreements. She suggests asking questions such as whether the team members are active when the Scrum Master isn't there and if they are following the agreements they made together. She emphasizes the importance of the team being mature enough to trust themselves to make decisions and call out each other when they break the rules. Finally, she shares a tip on how keeping each other accountable to the work agreements is crucial to maintaining the desired team culture. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Metaphor, or simple format? Which one to use and when?  In this segment, Caterina discusses an agile retrospective format based on team maturity. For new or less mature teams, she suggests using a metaphor, such as a favorite movie or sport, to change perspective. However, for more mature teams, a simple format like MAD/SAD/GLAD works well as they want to jump into and quickly solve problems they already know about. In the end, we must always adapt the retrospective format to the level of the team, as well as the current situation they are facing.   About Caterina Palmiotto Caterina started as a software developer but soon realized that she was passionate about team dynamics and communication, and embraced agility from the moment she saw it. Caterina believes a team can be more than the sum of its parts and that growing the right culture is essential. When people are surrounded by good examples they will be motivated to do their best.  So the first step is doing your best to be a good example of the culture you want to nurture. You can link with Caterina Palmiotto on LinkedIn.

Kirill Golubev: How the Scrum Master's Role Contributes to Team Success Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this episode, Kirill discusses the difficulty of measuring the value of a Scrum Master and how success is ultimately tied to the success of the team. He emphasizes the importance of paying attention to retrospective preparation and capturing concerns expressed by the team. Kirill measures his own success and that of the team by the value delivered to a satisfied customer.  Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Making Agile Accessible and Using User-Friendly Retro Formats In this segment, Kirill discusses the importance of using different retrospective formats depending on what the team wants to achieve and the inputs involved. He mentions examples such as the hot air balloon and sailboat retrospectives, which can visually illustrate the key principles of Agile and help the team reflect on how they implement those. Kirill emphasizes the importance of avoiding the use of hard vocabulary in retrospectives, and making sure that everyone, including those unfamiliar with Agile, can actively participate and benefit from the session.    Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!    About Kirill Golubev Kirill considers himself an Agile and common-sense apologist. He wants to see simple processes in place, when people self-organize and manage themselves without constant push from management. You can link with Kirill Golubev on LinkedIn. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. At one point in his career, Fred was both the Scrum Master and manager for the teams he supported. As he reflected on the impact of the retrospectives he facilitated, he noticed that even though the retrospectives took place, the same things kept coming up at every retrospective. The retrospectives were helpful for the teams to “vent” their frustrations and talk about what was not working well, however, there was never time to discuss the improvement actions. This anti-pattern helped Fred realize that he needed to change the way he facilitated retrospective meetings, and he put in place a simple rule that ensured the retrospectives were impactful, not just helpful for the team! Featured Book of the Week: Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Sutherland The book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Sutherland, was a critical book for Fred's career and personal development in his understanding and practice of Scrum and Agile. One of the key lessons Fred highlights from the book is the razor sharp focus on delivering something “immediately”, by the use of questions such as “what can we deliver right away?” Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome! About Fred Deichler Always leaning on the Scrum values and Agile principles (even before he knew about them), Fred has guided numerous teams through their Agile Journeys over his 20-year career in Technology leadership. Driven by a passion for continual improvement and finding a balance between people, process, and tools. And Fred knows his own journey is just as important. You can link with Fred Deichler on LinkedIn.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Paula suggests that our retrospectives, how they run, how effective they are, can be a great indicator of our success as Scrum Masters. We discuss what to look for, and how to reflect on the retrospectives to take lessons for our work as Scrum Masters. Featured Retrospective for the Week: Helping team members integrate their thinking with a drawing icebreaker When teams come to the Retrospective, they have the burden of the Sprint that just ended still fresh in their mind. It's our job, as facilitators, to help the team get out of that “pressure” and “performance” mode, into the reflection and learning mode they need in the Retrospectives. Paula suggests that starting with a drawing icebreaker is a great way to help teams focus on the topic at hand, and get ready to learn deeply about their work!   Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!  About Paula Dunne Paula is an Agile Coach with experience in large organization Agile adoption as well as in coaching product owners. You can link with Paula Dunne on LinkedIn. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. When it comes to reviewing, and assessing our own success as Scrum Masters, Jill chooses to focus on a few metrics that she follows and discusses with the team. In this episode, we share and discuss what those metrics are, and how you can introduce the idea to the team. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Introducing Retrospectives on Demand, an Agile approach to Agile retrospectives! Jill has used many different formats in her role as Scrum Master. But lately, she's shifted to “retrospectives on demand”. She encourages teams to raise their hand whenever something is on their mind, and they want to discuss it. As a heuristic for these retrospectives on demand, she started a board with the team, and whenever there are a certain number of cards on that board, the team gets together and discusses those topics.    About Jill Stott Jill Stott is here to make friends! She's worked in IT for too many years to count. She is passionate about assisting ScrumMasters to be successful and happy in their roles. Jill knows that there is no such thing as a perfect chocolate chip cookie and she isn't afraid to use puppets. You can link with Jill Stott on LinkedIn. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Caterina invites us to evaluate success in the Scrum Master role by defining and making success measurable. She uses a Continuous Improvement roadmap to solicit feedback from her stakeholders and the team. Using transparency towards her work as a way to create the right conversations in the team, as well as with the stakeholders. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The 5 Why's, a facilitation guide to helping the team go beyond symptoms Caterina's favorite format for Agile Retrospectives is the 5 Why's retrospective. In this segment, Caterina shares with us her insights on how to facilitate the conversation with the team, and how to avoid some potential pitfalls of that format. Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome! About Caterina Reinker Caterina is a social anthropologist and passionate Scrum Master. She regards organizations like villages - or cities - with their own language, institutions, and explicit and many implicit rules. Caterina works and lives in Germany and helps groups of people, big and small, in their agile journey. You can link with Caterina Reinker on LinkedIn.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Ali's focus, as a Scrum Master, is to get the team to be autonomous, and run their own Sprints. In Ali's opinion, a good team can self organize and self manage, and he uses that as his own success measure. In this segment, we refer to #NoEstimates. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Simple formats to help drive conversations Although Ali uses many different retrospective formats, he likes the simpler formats like Mad/Sad/Glad or the Good/Bad/Ugly movie retrospective. He likes the simplicity of the 3 categories, which helps him focus on asking probing questions. In this segment, we refer to the Prime Directive of Agile Retrospectives.  Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Ali Asl Ali is an experienced and accomplished Independent Agile Coach, Trainer and Scrum Master focused on supporting organizations and teams in the application of Agile values and principles to deliver quality and value. You can link with Ali Asl on LinkedIn.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Shahin was working with a group of Scrum Masters. As he started to observe the work of the Scrum Masters, he observed a pattern that he could not understand. The team lacked energy. In an effort to help the team, and the Scrum Master, Shahin and the Scrum Master started to do some small changes to the meetings and Scrum ceremonies, but the needle didn't move. Eventually the Scrum Master left the organization. Later on, Shahin met some of the team members and learned the real pattern that had been going on in that team, a dark pattern that we must be aware of! Listen in to learn what the pattern was, and how you can be ready for it!  Featured Book of the Week: Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen The book Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen is a book that Shahin still goes back to even after having read it many years ago. It's a book that can help starting Scrum Masters to be ready to host great Retrospectives for their teams, especially when they don't yet have a large number of tools to use in those ceremonies.  In this segment, we also refer to The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. A book that Shahin describes as a story telling book that brings a perspective of the whole organization performance, a perspective that we don't often have as a Scrum Master  How can Angela (the Agile Coach) quickly build healthy relationships with the teams she's supposed to help? What were the steps she followed to help the Breeze App team fight off the competition? Find out how Angela helped Naomi and the team go from “behind” to being ahead of Intuition Bank, by focusing on the people! Download the first 4 chapters of the BOOK for FREE while it is in Beta!   About Shahin Sheidaei Shahin Sheidaei is an Agile, Lean and Success Coach,International Speaker, Transformation Expert, and Entrepreneur.   Shahin is a passionate organizational designer focusing on organizational performance, and is also founder and principal coach at Elevate Change Inc. You can link with Shahin Sheidaei on LinkedIn and connect with Shahin Sheidaei on Twitter.

Welcome to another episode of The Agile Coach! We have a special episode for you today as we bring some of the best moments of our amazing guest, Diana Larsen, President and Leadership Agility Advisor at Eos House Consulting and author of Agile Retrospectives.Tune in for some of the most notable highlights and learning points in our previous interview with Diana! HIGHLIGHTSThe creation of the book Agile Retrospectives and its core pointsHow you should use gathered data for learning and generating insightHaving a shared understanding with your team and deciding what to do after thatHow long should we plan for a retrospective? “It's not about individual performance. It's about how we work together to create a system where we can make sure that people's best is good enough for what we need. ”-Diana on being able to push your team to their bestGet to know Diana and what he's up to:About DianaConnect with Vivek and find out more about what he's up to:About VivekAbout The Agile CoachAgile Coach WebsiteIf you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. When we are starting our journey as Scrum Masters, one of the ceremonies that most scares us is the retrospective. There's so much hanging on that ceremony, from the need to get an action that leads to improvement, to having the team engaged and everybody participating. In that context, it's natural that we try our best and prepare extensively for the Retrospective. However, there's a point when preparation is just too much! In this episode, we talk about what is that limit, and how to look at Retrospective facilitation in a way that leaves space for the team to take ownership, and be active in the Retrospective.    About Franziska Moenster Franny (short for Franziska) loves seeing the power of building strong performing teams that build products in a customer centric way. She's been working as a Scrum Master/Agile Coach for over 5 years. Profiting from her hands-on experience on scaling agile across teams and her joy of trying out new things she is always inspecting and adapting on an organizational level as well! On a personal note, she has recently moved to Tenerife to follow her passion of freediving. You can link with Franziska Moenster on LinkedIn.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Mher prepared a retrospective for his team, but 5 minutes past the starting time, there were only a few team members in the room. He looked around and saw that the team members that were present, were not fully engaged. “Something is wrong here, he thought… In this episode, we explore why sometimes team members don't communicate and discuss what might be the reasons, and how to avoid it.  In this episode, we refer to the book Agile Retrospectives by Larsen and Derby.    About Mher Nalbandyan Mher works at Mbition in Berlin, where they develop the next generation of information systems for Mercedes-Benz. You can link with Mher Nalbandyan on LinkedIn and connect with Mher Nalbandyan on Twitter. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Is your team “chatty”? That's the first question that Rafał suggests we ask from ourselves as we assess our progress, and success as a Scrum Master. We also talk about different metrics we can use to help us guide, and support the team.  Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The 4L's and Starfish retrospectives as possible options for different goals In this segment, we hear from Rafał how the 4L's retrospective and the Starfish retrospectives can be used for different purposes. He describes for us, what each of these formats is best for, and how he organizes his facilitation to help the teams focus on those different outcomes.  Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Rafał Witaszek Rafał believes the best things are done together. As a Scrum Master, his focus is on enabling communication within an organization. As he is also a passionate sailor, he's learned that we need to adjust our sails to make the best use of the wind. Focus on what we can affect, and leave other things out. You can link with Rafał Witaszek on LinkedIn. 

Wilson‘s framework to define and measure success for his own role as a Scrum Master is defined in detail in this article. In this episode, he describes the key aspects of his framework, and how he applies it to his work using the Impact Mapping technique.  Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The Modified Mad/Sad/Glad retrospective format Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Wilson structures his retrospectives around the 5 steps described in Agile Retrospectives by Larsen and Derby, but he uses the Mad/Sad/Glad, or Stop/Start/Continue formats as a basis with some modifications that he explains in this episode. He also puts some focus on the icebreaker exercises to get the team started and energized. For that he uses Kudo cards, and asks the team to describe the Sprint in one picture or one word.  Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Wilson Govindji Wilson is a pragmatic Scrum Master, he has over 15 years in Software development and has worked in different roles, from Support Analyst, Developer to tech lead. Wilson is from Portugal, with Indian origins and currently living and working in the UK with his wife and two daughters. You can link with Wilson Govindji on LinkedIn and follow Wilson Govindji's blog on Medium. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Bent's definition of success for Scrum Masters, is equally applicable to Agile Coaches. It starts with helping teams be able to excel without the presence of the Scrum Master. Through the work of teaching, and supporting the use of the Scrum framework, the Scrum Masters can help the team work well, and be “the oil in the gearbox”  In this segment, we talk about emotional intelligence, and the book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goldman. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The Sailboat retrospective as an inspiring format Bent introduces his own perspective on the Sailboat Retrospective, by bringing in an approach that focuses on creating a positive, and inspiring atmosphere for the team. In this segment, we refer to the book Agile Retrospectives by Derby and Larsen. Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Bent Myllerup Bent Myllerup is a management consultant, organisational change agent and agile transformation coach with 20 years of personal experience in management and leadership. He holds a Master in Management Development (MMD) from Copenhagen Business School and a Bachelor in Science of Electronic Engineering. He was the first European Certified Scrum Coach and he is also a Certified Scrum Trainer. You can link with Bent Myllerup on LinkedIn and connect with Bent Myllerup on Twitter. 

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Julie invites us to ask what success looks like for the teams we work with. Based on that, and a few other questions that Julie suggests, we can assess our impact, as well as invite the teams themselves into the reflection about success.  In this segment, we talk about Psychological Safety, a topic we have also covered in previous episodes.  Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Mixing up formats to focus on the right question for the team Julie likes to mix up several formats as a way to try and tap into what's critical for the teams at that time. We also talk about bringing up the team working agreements regularly, to ensure that the team sticks to the agreements they have made.  In this segment, we refer to the Agile Retrospectives book and a tool Julie calls The Working Agreement Report Card, where the team scores themselves on how well they follow the agreements they had defined for themselves. Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Julie Wyman Julie Wyman has been working with Agile teams for over a decade and is continuously learning with and from them. She's based just outside Washington, D.C., but has had the pleasure of supporting teams distributed across the globe and even experienced her own Agile takeaways all the way in Antarctica. You can link with Julie Wyman on LinkedIn.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Pratik suggests that, for us to achieve success in our role as Scrum Masters, we must focus on a single purpose. As Scrum Masters, we can help the teams we work with understand that, and define their own purpose. Pratik also suggests a few questions that we can use to help understand and define that purpose for the team. In this segment we refer to Vince Lombardi, an American Football coach, and the lessons we can take from his approach to the game. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Exercises to improve the team's emotional intelligence In this segment, we start by talking about Emotional Intelligence, as one of the skills that Scrum Masters must bring to the Agile Retrospectives they host, but also help their teams understand. We discuss the Hot Air Balloon retrospective format and the Peaks and Valleys Timeline exercise using the Happiness gradient. Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Pratik Dahule Pratik is an Agile Project Manager and Agile enthusiast working in the USA. He leads teams and creates a culture of lifelong learning, constant collaboration and continuous improvement. Pratik has 12 years of experience and is passionate about helping teams in their agile transformation. Outside of work, he has a blogging site ClassactLifestyle.com where he shares insights on books and exotic places to travel. You can link with Pratik Dahule on LinkedIn.

Psychological Safety (see these episodes for details) is one of the key aspects that Daniel looks for in a team, and also a focus of his work as a Scrum Master. He shares with us some of the signs that indicate the presence, or absence of psychological safety, and recommends we have a retrospective question focused on psychological safety.  Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: A format for quick decision making, and one for new teams Daniel shares with us why the Agile Retrospectives are the most power tool we have in any transformation or change process we might be involved in. He shares with us 2 different types of retrospective formats. One that is more adequate for teams that are under time pressure and need to get quickly to actions, and improvements, and one for teams that are maybe at a crossroads in their forming process, or are just about to get started. For teams that need to get to quick actions, Daniel recommends the Start, Stop, Continue format or the 1-2-4-all Liberating Structure (see these episodes for more) as these help silent people speak up and get to actions quickly. And for teams that are at a crossroads, or starting their team journey, he recommends the Sailboat Retrospective.  Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches - Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM's that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!   About Daniel Lutz Daniel is an organizational agile coach, working full time at a leading European Energy company, scaling agile with around 30 agile teams. After years in Marketing departments, he realized how much more impact he can have as a Scrum Master by empowering people and building cross-functional teams. He also works part-time as a freelance coach and business consultant helping clients on building high performing teams. You can link with Daniel Lutz on LinkedIn and connect with Daniel Lutz on Twitter.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. This team started on the right foot. Everything seemed to be working. However, a pattern started to develop. The team was becoming quieter and quieter in their Agile Retrospectives as time went by. The body language was passive, and every team member had the camera off as much as they could. You could feel they were distracted, not present during the retrospectives. In this episode, we discuss how to turn around this anti-pattern of passiveness and lack of commitment to agile retrospectives by the team.  In this segment, we also talk about the book Moose heads on the table by Karin Tenelius. Karin Tenelius has been a guest on the podcast to talk about her book.  Featured Book of the Week: The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni In The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni (a book we've mentioned a few times here on the podcast), Daniel found a great guide to the dynamics that can emerge on a team, and helped him understand how to slowly walk up the pyramid of needs for the team. The book also gives us tools and models that are useful to apply when working with teams.  How can Angela (the Agile Coach) quickly build healthy relationships with the teams she's supposed to help? What were the steps she followed to help the Breeze App team fight off the competition? Find out how Angela helped Naomi and the team go from “behind” to being ahead of Intuition Bank, by focusing on the people! Download the first 4 chapters of the BOOK for FREE while it is in Beta! About Daniel Lutz Daniel is an organizational agile coach, working full time at a leading European Energy company, scaling agile with around 30 agile teams. After years in Marketing departments, he realized how much more impact he can have as a Scrum Master by empowering people and building cross-functional teams. He also works part-time as a freelance coach and business consultant helping clients on building high performing teams. You can link with Daniel Lutz on LinkedIn and connect with Daniel Lutz on Twitter.

The 12th principle of the Agile Manifesto reads as follows: “At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.” This principle has traditionally been observed through what are called retrospectives. In many cases, the true intentions of the retrospective are lost as we approach them as nothing more than meetings we hold because we‘ve been told they're necessary. We show up, make a list of what we did and what we can do better and go on with the same ole routine spring after sprint. However, a meeting is just a meeting and a list is just a list without intentionality and further action. The purpose of a retrospective is to bring your team together, be transparent with one another so that you can align your goals, and make concrete decisions regarding how your next sprint can be even better than the last. Today we sit down with author, speaker, and professional Agile leader, Diana Larson and deep dive into Agile retrospectives, discussing topics such as the purpose of a retrospective, the 5-step retrospective framework and how to make good retrospectives great. Our Speaker: Diana Larson When it comes to Agile retrospectives, Diana Larson literally helped write the book. Her publication, “Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great” is world-renowned and has helped countless Agile leaders fully embrace the power that the 12th Agile principle has to offer. Presently, Diana dedicates her time to the company she co-founded: The Agile Fluency Project. Here, her goal is to help new and experienced Agilists make the most of Agile practices within the needs of their businesses and teams. In her free time, Diana enjoys staying connected with the Agile community, speaking at meet-ups and going on podcasts like the one you're hearing today! We are proud to welcome Diana Larson. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support