Agile Retrospectives, Second Edition: A Practical Guide for Catalyzing Team Learning and Improvement

by Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, David Horowitz

In an uncertain and complex world, learning is more important than ever before. In fact, it can be a competitive advantage. Teams and organizations that learn rapidly deliver greater IPSer value faster and more reliably. Furthermore, those teams are more engaged, more productive, and more satisfied. The most effective way to enable teams to learn is by holding regular retrospectives. Unfortunately, many teams only get shallow results from their retrospectives. This book is filled with practical advice, techniques, and real-life examples that will take retrospectives to the next level--whether your team is co-located, hybrid, or remote. This book will help team leads, scrum masters, and coaches engage their teams to learn, improve, and deliver greater results.


For nearly two decades, scrum masters, team leads, and coaches have relied on the first edition of Agile Retrospectivesas an essential resource to facilitate better retrospectives.


This edition builds on recent research, reflects the authors' experiences over two decades, and shares wisdom gleaned from the global retrospective community. Find practical advice to level up retrospective skills. Address the challenges of remote and hybrid retrospectives head on. Take advantage of expanded guidance on designing and facilitating retrospectives--based on the questions and concerns of practitioners worldwide. Gain insight into choosing a broad or narrow focus for retrospectives. Explore how to use both objective and subjective data to enable more effective conversations. Learn how to make decisions that stick.


Understand the importance of psychological safety and how to foster it in retrospectives. Elevate issues and engage managers in systemic change.


Learn from many real-life stories that demonstrate how our advice has impacted retrospectives at organizations around the globe. Finally, find a set of recommended flows that reveal the authors' thought process in designing retrospectives for scenarios teams faced in real life.

472 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2024

Reviews

[Viktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read the first edition when I began working with teams over 10 years ago, and I found it highly valuable. Returning to it years later, I made new insights. Now, with the release of the second edition, I'm reminded of the core concepts but also discovering new approaches.

In the second edition, the have increased their level of codification, making it an excellent resources suitable for managers, team members, scrum masters, and team coaches of varied seniority levels.

One thing I particularly like about the second edition, is that this book, much like "Teamwork Is an Individual Skill" by Christopher Avery, can be read by team members and offers them a better understanding of how they can contribute better to team improvement.

As a general summary, I think the second edition picks up where the first left off, and now offers a deeper dive into the structure and theory of retrospectives while also providing more practical stories and hands-on instructions. Esther, Diana, and David excellently codifies how to establish or restore evolutionary capabilities in teams, addressing naturally occurring group dynamics, goal achievement, collaboration, and more. The second edition also covers strategies for dealing with issues arising both within and outside the team, including those related to individual team members.

I think this book offers great leadership development, and is a must read for anyone working with teams.