This retrospective is especially helpful when you notice the following things happening with your team;
- the team blames the business for their challenges
- teammates blame other teammates for their individual challenges particularly between Developers and QA.
- the team’s comments and attitude expose tunnel vision – they aren’t really aware of the business and/or customers perspectives nor how critical they are to the success of the product.
This retrospective will help expose these mindsets and help the team work through them. It is also a great refresher if you are on Sprint number 75 and looking for a unique Retrospective, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire theme is based on the 75th Hunger Games, also known as the Quarter Quell.
There is an iconic scene in Catching Fire where Katniss says, “if we burn, you burn with us.” That quote perfectly encompasses both the independence and interdependence that is common with so many businesses and Scrum teams. Granted in this instance it leans heavily towards the negative but you could just as easily say, “if we flourish, you flourish with us.”
I used this quote to spark a conversation with the team by asking, “How is this quote applicable to us as a team?” That quote led to some eye opening realizations and some other exercises to bring some fun into the mix and help reinforce the connection they are now seeing.
A highly effective way to reinforce this connection is through the Gathering Feedback created for this retro. Start by saying something like this to the team, “Rather than the usual way we gather feedback where we judge if something is good vs bad, or add vs stop think about the subject and share your insights, both good and bad, related to the subject. Also keep in mind to include the Focus and Check-In work we just did about being independent and interdependent in our business environment.”
Then use the following 4 images and descriptions
The Jungle what is killing our Agility? (Use this picture, or create your own!)
Tick Tock how does time factor into feedback – good or bad. (Use this picture, or create your own!)
The Capitol How does a non Agile or not as Agile business or customer impact us a team and/or as individuals. (Use this picture, or create your own!)
District 13 what should we be doing to make things better – think big, don’t be limited by reality. (Use this picture, or create your own!)
As usual we had fun with food and I shared a Pinterest board I made with snack options for the team to choose from, click here to check it out. Some pictures of the spread are below.
To get a free PDF of the complete step by step retrospective to try with your team subscribe to the every other week newsletter full of tips, hacks, and resources to help you improve your effectiveness as a Scrum Master and email agileinitiaives@gmail.com to let me know which one you want.
