The Speedcar is a great visual tool to run an agile retrospective. It’s different from your usual retrospective meeting. It encourages people to think about their team a bit differently by using Speedcar as a metaphor. Here:
•The Speedcar is the team
•The engine it all things that make the team go faster
•Parachute slows down the team down
Let’s look at each of them in detail.
Engine
These are the core competencies of your team that is driving the team forward and helping it achieve the sprint and project goals. It could include process, personal or technology related things. Let’s look at some examples of Engine:
1.The requirements and designs are clear and precise. It’s enabling us to focus on delivering the product versus running around to find answers to questions.
2.We are completing daily standups in time without going down a rabbit hole
3.The last few releases have gone out without any issues. Thanks to the thorough testing by the development team.
4.Our estimates are getting better as a result of breaking down tickets into smaller parts and conducting research spikes. It’s helping us find blockers before investing too much development resources into the ticket. And now the team is running into fewer issues in the sprint.
5.Using third parties integrations has saved us a lot of inhouse development time.
Parachute
Things that are hindering development and causing you to miss your targets. They could be issues that have crop up in the last sprint. Or known issues whose impact overtime has added up and is now affecting the pace of work. Some example of parachute are:
1.Too many meetings without any agenda! I’d rather be working on my ticket!!
2.We have not been investing in reducing our technical debts. It’s really started to impact our ability to develop. Releasing hotfixes in the middle of the sprint is not the solution.
3.People are leaving. Employee turnover is hitting us hard. Is anyone doing anything about it?
4.We need new machines. Hardware failing in a software company is a bad sign. Need more budget for upgrades.
A great way to start an agile retrospective especially with a new group is by using icebreaker questions. They help set the stage for the group discussion by allowing people to interact with each other on a random topic. Examples of icebreaker questions:
1.What song do you jam to while you work?
2.What’s the best part about working from home?
3.Which TV show most resembles your life right now?
4.What’s a small act of kindness you were once shown, that you’ll never forget?
We have over 300 icebreaker questions to help you kickstart your sprint retrospective meetings. Check them out!
