Position Statement for OOPSLA 2003 Workshop # 11:
Patterns for Retrospectives

Steve Berczuk
steve@berczuk.com

OOPSLA 03: Patterns for retrospectives Position Statement 

*note, I also submitted a position to another w/s session at the same
 time as this one (2 Are Agile Methodologies Really Different) You can
 consider that if you are over subscribed.

I probably have less experience in structured or formal retrospectives
than many of the participants in this workshop. What I learned at the
ADC sessions on retrospectives made a lot of sense to me, and I will
submit a pattern sketch below. (I will also read norm Kerth's book) I
think that what I can add to the session is skill in structuring
pattern languages.


Pattern Outline Follows.

Context: 

Congruent Action (see Weinberg QSM III pp 58 ff)

Problem: How do you encourage open dialog about issues that cause
tension?

Forces:
 * People naturally have emotional reactions to problems with a
 process. It is natural to think in terms of blame.
 
 * Blaming and other incongruent responses to a situation are not
   productive.

 * It is very difficult to deal with your feelings and act
   congruently; emotions may make it difficult to recast your feelings
   into a useful form.

 * The issues that cause tension are often the ones that most need to
   be discussed.

Therefore:
  The organizer should encourage participants to practice congruent
  action during the retrospective sessions. Prepare people with some
  guidelines for how to manage incongruent feelings, and provide
  coaching during the session when participants forget.

  The organizer can help the person to notice the incongruence,
  suggest how the person can make adjustments, and encourage the
  person to make contact with the other position and to make "I"
  rather than "You" statements. The organizer should be aware of
  "fake 'I' statements."