Every team can actively improve their ways of working
In the age of AI and powerful build and management tools, standing still isn't a viable option. Here's a simple approach which ensures progress.
I’ve yet to find a team who thinks their ways of working are perfect. Where they have crafted a delivery approach which is so streamlined that waste is nonexistent. Where any change would decrease the team’s output or its quality.
For many teams hunting for the perfect ways of working doesn’t come naturally. The desire is often there though. You can see it every time a weakness or frustration is shared during a meeting or in online chat.
To reach improvement and fixes from frustration, a change of mindset is required. A progression from ‘this is broken’ or ‘this is a waste of my time’ to ‘we could try a new approach’ or ‘you know what might be better’.
The blocker to that progression depends on the team and their context, but it often comes down to one of two things.
Psychological safety. The ability to try things and fail without blame or judgement.
Time pressure. When a team are so busy, treading water is difficult enough without unforced change.
Where there is a need to improve ways of working, but the environment doesn’t allow it, it’s often best to start with the smallest achievable safe approach to introduce those improvements.
One of the simplest tools I use to allow a team to safely surface and create better ways of working is the 15 minute micro retrospective. Often seen as a backwards step from grand reviews at the end of each sprint, or after a project is complete.
Classic retrospectives are marmite to delivery teams. Either a team runs them, consistently acts on the findings and slowly improves their ways of working. Or a team runs them, will not consistently act on the findings, and see no value in them.
The difference is blindingly obvious. Taking action on what is revealed by retrospectives isn’t optional if you want to ensure regular improvement.
Partly because they’re so misunderstood, I can count on one hand the number of agency teams I’ve worked with who saw consistent improvement thanks to their retrospectives. The well known process of regularly reviewing a team’s ways of working is not always seen as a good use of time.
Those who learn retrospectives from a book will likely implement them as part of a delivery approach and expect some sort of ‘inspect and adapt’ magic, but it takes a little more work.
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