Posts Tagged: facilitating

Boring retrospectives – part 8 : fishbowl

During the Mini XP Days conference, Rini Van Solingen interviewed me on the fishbowl exercise.  This is a great exercise to use in retrospectives when your team is divided and needs to understand the different opinions without lapsing into hour-long

Boring retrospectives – part 8 : fishbowl

During the Mini XP Days conference, Rini Van Solingen interviewed me on the fishbowl exercise.  This is a great exercise to use in retrospectives when your team is divided and needs to understand the different opinions without lapsing into hour-long

Boring retrospectives – part 7 : Role swapping

People picture themselves doing your job, and I bet you do the same. If I were a tester on this project, I would do things differently. In many cases, you even have ideas to do the job better.  Whether or

Boring retrospectives – part 7 : Role swapping

People picture themselves doing your job, and I bet you do the same. If I were a tester on this project, I would do things differently. In many cases, you even have ideas to do the job better.  Whether or

Boring retrospectives – part 6 : Storming Group Facilitation

(Tuckman’s Group Development Model) Every new team goes through a storming phase. These are times when nerves are tight and you can feel the tension in the air.  As a retrospective facilitator, it is important to recognize this and plan

Boring retrospectives – part 6 : Storming Group Facilitation

(Tuckman’s Group Development Model) Every new team goes through a storming phase. These are times when nerves are tight and you can feel the tension in the air.  As a retrospective facilitator, it is important to recognize this and plan

Boring retrospectives – part 5 : Reverse Timeline

My next exercise in the series ‘Boring Retrospectives’ is the reverse timeline. It is a modification to the classic ‘Gathering Data’ exercise called ‘Timeline‘. This is an activity used to reconstruct what happened during the previous iteration.  I also use

Boring retrospectives – part 5 : Reverse Timeline

My next exercise in the series ‘Boring Retrospectives’ is the reverse timeline. It is a modification to the classic ‘Gathering Data’ exercise called ‘Timeline‘. This is an activity used to reconstruct what happened during the previous iteration.  I also use

A retrospective check-in exercise

I often use a check-in exercise at the beginning of a retrospective.  In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to jump immediately into the search for improvements.  No, we all need to warm up, clear our mind and prepare

A retrospective check-in exercise

I often use a check-in exercise at the beginning of a retrospective.  In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to jump immediately into the search for improvements.  No, we all need to warm up, clear our mind and prepare

Agile Retrospectives Anti-Patterns

During our XP2011 tutorial, Pat and me facilitated a fishbowl, followed by a brainwriting exercise. Because we needed a subject we could all relate to, we decided to discuss retrospective anti-patterns during the fishbowl. I recorded each anti-pattern that was

Agile Retrospectives Anti-Patterns

During our XP2011 tutorial, Pat and me facilitated a fishbowl, followed by a brainwriting exercise. Because we needed a subject we could all relate to, we decided to discuss retrospective anti-patterns during the fishbowl. I recorded each anti-pattern that was

XP Days Benelux 2010 revisited

Last week I went to XP Days Benelux in Eindhoven (the Netherlands). I had high expectations which were totally justified. It turned out to be a great conference. The program was very diverse, with a lot of duo presenters. The

XP Days Benelux 2010 revisited

Last week I went to XP Days Benelux in Eindhoven (the Netherlands). I had high expectations which were totally justified. It turned out to be a great conference. The program was very diverse, with a lot of duo presenters. The

Boring retrospectives – part 4

The previous weeks have been quite busy and the result was that I couldn’t keep up with my goal to write at least one blog post a week. Let me try to make it up. This is a post in

Boring retrospectives – part 4

The previous weeks have been quite busy and the result was that I couldn’t keep up with my goal to write at least one blog post a week. Let me try to make it up. This is a post in

Book review: Unfolding the Napkin

During my holiday I finally got time to read a book that was high on my reading list. In Unfolding the Napkin, Dan Roam takes his famous back of the napkin concept one step further. His second book promises that

Book review: Unfolding the Napkin

During my holiday I finally got time to read a book that was high on my reading list. In Unfolding the Napkin, Dan Roam takes his famous back of the napkin concept one step further. His second book promises that