Diana Larsen Agile Retrospectives

Past Conferences

2008 Technical Papers

Agile Retrospectives: Collaboration for Continuous Improvement

Diana Larsen, FutureWorks Consulting LLC

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Abstract

Software teams experience what goes right and what goes wrong, what works and what doesn’t, during each and every day of each and every project. What happens to that hard-earned experience? In too many organizations, on too many projects, it dissipates as team members shift focus and move on. Real value lies in capturing, managing, and disseminating technical knowledge and process wisdom to improve current and future projects.

Retrospectives offer the greatest lever for improving any software development project or process based on the solid data of a team’s immediate past experience of success and failure. Through Retrospectives, teams systematically evaluate their own performance, explore their lessons learned, expand their capacity and capability, and choose how to improve the way they build and deliver products to your customers. For best results, smart teams and organizations convene Retrospectives iteratively throughout the project and again after delivery. Successful teams learn how to encounter problems and implement solutions effectively throughout the project, not just at the end, and identify ways to maintain the relevance of continuous improvement to the work of the team.

Author Bio

Diana is known in the software industry for conducting project retrospectives and transitioning groups to Agile processes. She currently chairs the board of the Agile Alliance. Her publications include Agile Retrospectives, Making Good Teams Great, coauthored with Esther Derby. She consults and speaks internationally.