Agile Retrospectives

8.2 Activity: Appreciations

Use this to close an iteration, release, or project retrospective.

Purpose

To allow team members to notice and appreciate each other. End the retrospective on a positive note.

Time Needed

Five to thirty minutes, depending on the size of the group.

Description

Team members appreciate other team members for helping them, contributing, to the team, solving a problem, etc. Offering an appreciation is optional ( The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond [Sat91]).

Steps

1. Introduce the activity by saying, “As we end, let’s take this opportunity to notice and appreciate how others have contributed during this session and during the iteration/release/project.”

2. Demonstrate the form with a team member. Even though it’s a demonstration, choose a person that you can speak to sincerely.

   Say the name and then say, “I appreciate you for__________.” Fill in the blank with something about the person or something he or she did. You can briefly describe the impact on you.

   Here’s an example: “Jody, I appreciate you for helping me learn the X feature. You really helped me get up to speed.”

3. Sit down. Wait. Someone will offer an appreciation. When the appreciations slow down, wait. Allow silence. Some people need time to work up to this.

   Close when a minute or so has passed with no one speaking up.

Materials and Preparation

None. You may want to write the form on a flip chart or white board.

Example

One time when we explained this activity in a ...