PROJECT RETROSPECTIVES

Le Monde En Tique

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Ouvrage 9780932633446 : PROJECT RETROSPECTIVES
With detailed scenarios, imaginative illustrations, and step-by-step instructions, consultant Norman L. Kerth guides readers through productive, painless retrospectives of project performance.
Whether your shop calls them postmortems or postpartums or something else, project retrospectives offer organizations a formal method for preserving the valuable lessons learned from the successes and failures of every project. These lessons and the measurements they yield foster stronger teams and savings on subsequent efforts.
For a retrospective to be effective and successful, though, it needs to be safe. Kerth shows facilitators and participants how to defeat the fear of retribution and establish an air of mutual trust. One tool is Kerth's Prime Directive: Regardless of what we discover, we must understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job he or she could, given what was known at the time, his or her skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.
Applying years of experience as a project retrospective facilitator for software organizations, Kerth reveals his secrets for managing the sensitive, often emotionally charged issues that arise as teams relive and learn from each project.
Don't move on to your next project without consulting and using this readable, practical handbook. Each member of your team will be better prepared for the next deadline.
Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
1 Introduction to Retrospectives 1
The Need for Ritual 4
Naming the Process 5
Prime Directive for a Retrospective 7
The Darker Side of Retrospectives 8
The Retrospective Facilitator 10
2 Anatomy of a Retrospective: A Case Study 13
The Sample Retrospective 13
Preparing for the Retrospective 14
The Retrospective Plan 16
Retrospective Day 1 18
Retrospective Day 2 25
Retrospective Day 3 28
Preparing for the Facilitator's Job 32
3 Engineering a Retrospective: Making Choices 35
Engineering a Retrospective 37
First Consideration: What is the purpose of this retrospective? 38
Second Consideration: How healthy is this organization? 41
Third Consideration: Do I have the skills to lead this retrospective? 44
A True Story 46
Who Should Attend the Retrospective? 47
Where Should the Retrospective Be Held? 49
Selecting a Residential Site 51
When Should the Retrospective Be Held? 52
How Long Should a Retrospective Be? 53
A True Story 55
4 Selling a Retrospective 57
Understanding the Market for Retrospective Sales 59
Segment 1 Sales Approach (Change As Habit) 61
Segment 2 Sales Approach (Change Due to Pain) 61
Segment 3 Sales Approach (No Change Requested) 62
Selling Is Okay 62
A True Story 63
"Qualify" the Customer 64
Effective Selling Requires Listening 64
Sell Trust, Confidence, and Ongoing Support 65
5 Preparing for a Retrospective 67
Connect with the Managers 69
Map the Community 73
Collect Effort Data 76
Sample Effort Data Collection E-mail 79
Ready the Team 84
Three Sample Retrospective Handouts 84
What Is a Retrospective? How Should You Get Ready? 85
Who Is Norm Kerth? 87
Retrospective Pre-work Handout 88
When to Get the Legal Department Involved 90
A True Story 90
Track Details with a Checklist 91
Retrospective Checklist 92
When to Arrive for the Retrospective 93
6 Retrospective Exercises 95
The Exercises 99
The "Introduction" Exercise 100
The "I'm Too Busy" Exercise 103
The "Define Success" Exercise 105
The "Create Safety" Exercise 108
A True Story 113
Another True Story 114
The "Artifacts Contest" Exercise 116
A True Story 119
References for Further Reading 120
The "Develop a Time Line" Exercise 121
Building the Time Line 122
Mining the Time Line for Gold 124
A True Story 127
The "Emotions Seismograph" Exercise 127
The "Offer Appreciations" Exercise 130
References for Further Reading 133
The "Passive Analogy" Exercise 134
References for Further Reading 137
The "Session Without Managers" Exercise 138
References for Further Reading 143
The "Repair Damage Through Play" Exercise 144
The "Cross-Affinity Teams" Exercise 146
A True Story 150
Preparing a Proposal for Management 151
The "Making the Magic Happen" Exercise 152
The "Change the Paper" Exercise 157
A True Story 160
References for Further Reading 162
The "Closing the Retrospective" Exercise 163
Designing a Retrospective Meal 165
References for Further Reading 168
A True Story 168
7 Leading a Postmortem 171
The Challenger Story 174
Transforming the Failed-Project Experience 175
Saving Face 178
Grieving Over Loss 180
Accepting a Lowered Self-Esteem 183
Qualifying to Lead a Postmortem 186
Some Important Differences Between Retrospectives and Postmortems 186
8 Postmortem Exercises 189
The Exercises 190
A True Story 190
The "CEO/VP Interview" Exercise 193
The "Art Gallery" Exercise 195
The "Define Insanity" Exercise 197
A True Story, Revisited 199
The "Make It a Mission" Exercise 201
A True Story 204
References for Further Reading 206
9 On Becoming a Skilled Retrospective Facilitator 209
Six Lessons 211
A True Story 216
Understanding the Facilitator's Procedures 220
The "Dealing with Conflict" Procedure 220
References for Further Reading 223
The "Handling Resistance to Change" Procedure 224
The "Four Freedoms" Procedure 227
A True Story 230
References for Further Reading 231
The "Understanding Differences in Preferences" Procedure 231
A True Story 234
References for Further Reading 234
The "Ingredients of an Interaction" Procedure 235
References for Further Reading 237
The "Congruent Messages" Procedure 238
Incongruent Messages 240
The Incongruent Facilitator 245
References for Further Reading 247
10 After the Retrospective 249
Retrospective Reports 252
Collecting Retrospective Reports 253
Sample Report Format 254
Keeping the Wisdom Alive 256
A True Story 257
A Secure Location 258
Conduct a Retrospective of Your Retrospective 259
Collecting Retrospectives-of-Retrospectives Reports 261
Index 263


Auteur : KERTH
Editeur : DORSET HOUSE
Nombre de pages : 240
Date de publication : 02 2001

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