Project retrospectives – more than a lessons learned activity

What is a project retrospective?retrospective (rèt´re-spèk-tîv) -- a ritual held at the end of a project to learn from the experience and to plan changes for the next effort.

No one knows the whole story of the project. Each person has a piece of the story. The retrospective is the collective story telling and mining the experience for wisdom. It is an extremely productive method for improving the development practices.

Look back to the past but learn for the future!

What is not a project retrospective?

It’s definitely not about - finding the guilty one or about fingerpointing …- blaming someone else …- endless discussions …

A common structureNormally, a project retrospective follows the following steps:• Analyze the Project. The project is reviewed from a number of different aspects to understand the important events that occurred.• Generate Insights. The specifics about what went well and what can be improved on the next project are captured.• Create Action Plans. A plan is created outlining the tasks, deliverables, timelines and owners for implementing the changes.

The variety

Size: from a 1 hour session in a meeting room to a big event on 2 days in a seminar hotel - everything is possible

When: at the end of the project / after reaching milestones / at the end of certain project phases

How: special event to close the learning loop / integrated part of the process (like in Scrum)

Method: plenty of facilitation techniques can be used to keep retrospectives interesting, useful and effective

Success factors• have a contracting with the sponsor: define the goals clearly well in advance, get to know the project circumstances and specifics• follow the structure shown above: it gives the project team a tried-and-true process for the inspection and the learning• have a facilitator, someone who was not involved in the project• invite every stakeholder who participated in the project

The Single Most Important Element in Making

Retrospectives Happen is…

The Single Most Important Element in Making

Retrospectives Happen is…

Someone decides to make retrospectives happen in their organization

Literature:Norman L. Kerth:

Project RetrospectivesEsther Derby / Diana Larsen:

Agile retrospectives – Making Good Teams Great

Contact:Horváth ErvinSiemens PSE Kft.

1143 BudapestGizella út 51-57.

Telefon: +36 1 471 3128E-Mail: horvat2@t-email.hu