Reflection Leads to Learning

I'm back from the 2nd annual Retrospective Facilitators Gathering. What a great, juicy week!

Two stories stand out for me:

Seeing the Big Picture: Chrystina Katz, who is building a retrospective practice within her company, reports that informal communication has improved since they started doing retrospectives. People in different functional areas have a better idea of how their work or changes to their plans effect other groups, and they make an extra effort to keep other groups in the loop. The result: fewer blindsides and a greater sense of "we're in this together."

Better Working Relationships: Tim MacKinnon started doing retrospectives on his XP team after every iteration. The short turn around allowed them to try small experiments: " Let's do something differently this iteration and see how it works." Tim reports better working relationships and communication as a result of taking time to reflect on process and teamwork during retrospectives.