The Review Revival
Hey there, welcome to our newest newsletter! We're diving into the Sprint review scene with a mission: kicking the Zombie Sprint Review to the curb. Let's dive in!
Agile Matinée is a fortnightly dispatch curated by Panaxeo, one Agile topic at a time. We bribe five Agile enthusiasts with croissants and expect them to collect interesting and read-worthy content in return. This one is about sprint reviews!
Our researchers would like to present you with a carefully curated starter pack for a zombie Sprint review based on real-life observations across dozens of Zombie Scrum teams. You’ll need:
optional calendar invites for the developers
The latest Powerpoint template presenting what the teams worked on
a sh*tscared lead developer clicking through a PoC that barely made it to the test environment a few moments earlier
a handful of bored stakeholders eager to depart for the weekend
a cleverly-timed question regarding feedback 5 minutes before the meeting ends
cheerful meeting minutes email thanking everyone for the fantastic participation (same as the week before)
While this may be the sad industry norm, we are convinced that our readers know we can strive for a much higher bar. So, let’s explore today how to avoid these destructive patterns and maximize the value of sprint retrospectives for the teams, the stakeholders, and the product itself.
“Life is a series of changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
— Lao Tzu (no tag, we couldn’t find his LinkedIn)
01.
Ghosted? — How to (Re-)Engage Stakeholders Who Won’t Show Up
(10-min read)
You may have noticed we’re in love with Mike Cohn’s content. His takes are always very practical and rooted in decades of hands-on experience. Here, Mike provides seven common reasons why your sprint reviews might not be the go-to party for your stakeholders, how to identify each problem, and, of course… what you can do about it so they love you back.
02.
Far apart — Tips to Improve Sprint Reviews in Distributed Teams
(15-min read)
Stefan Wolpers is a prolific Scrum trainer, scrumfluencer, and author. So we knew Stefan had something in the archive! We did a quick search and found this lovely piece. Why, you wonder? Stefan focuses on a rising niche, distributed teams, here. One way they can overcome the distance and engage actively in a Sprint review is by using Liberating Structures. If you never tried an LS, this is the time!
PS: Stefan has a book about Scrum anti-patterns about to be released - go check it out. We’ve already pre-ordered ;).
03.
Massively Interactive! - An Example String of Liberating Structures for your next Sprint Review
(8-min read)
Remember the starter pack from the intro? Bored faces, powerpoint, demo, bye-byes. To many, it seems impossible to overcome this pattern because “inspection and adaptation” are inherently dull processes.
Wrong! Some hardcore facilitation prep comes to the rescue. The Liberators put together a complete guide of a different set of Liberating Structures than Stefan for a Sprint review, including the reasoning behind the use of each one, nice photos, and printouts.
Still reluctant to try an LS? Don’t — we attest it’s game-changing.
04.
Spilled Beans — Agile Coach’s rulebook for improving Sprint reviews through mindset change
(17-min read)
Yuliia is an Agile & Lean coach. She spilled all her beans in this deep, methodical article about how she approaches Sprint review transformations with her clients, thoughtfully building up to a sustained event improvement. We particularly liked her incorporation of rational and emotional drivers per each participating role based on David Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow. It never occurred to us, but it makes so much sense!
05.
Getting Hired — Must-know SR answers when interviewing for a Scrum Master role
(15-min read)
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night asking yourself whether to cancel a sprint review if no stakeholders can join? Such and similar open questions are, in fact, pretty good because the arguments a candidate gives to support his answer reveal a lot about their understanding beyond the mechanical elements of Scrum.
My fellow insomniac, here are a few such questions regarding Sprint Reviews, with PST’s commentary. We don’t guarantee they will make you score big on your next interview - but maybe they’ll expose a gap in your understanding and save your interview by making you dig a bit deeper into understanding the core principles.
Social Radar
Prateek Singh, a heavyweight in the emerging Professional Kanban movement, ran some simulations to find out the best time to resolve dependencies in terms of improving throughput and cycle time. His conclusions are intriguing — would you have guessed right?
That’s it; we’re off.
Hope you’ve basked enough in this Agile well of inspiration. Now, go about your day and put this stuff into practice! Oh, and unless you want to miss our next digest, follow us on LinkedIn or share this post with your friends and frenemies!
Hasta la Agilista, baby!