How to get a team to REALLY care about improving

[Dave Updike]

I've been a coaching for a long time but I've rarely, or never, ran across a team that was so lackadaisical about contributing to Retrospectives and trying to constantly improve while keeping high quality or raising what we have.

Depending on the type of Retro when I ask "what is there that we can improve on", even with some prompting, I get chirp, chirp, chirp. 

Games, sneak attacks, other retro types (we have done Speed Boat and basic Doing Well, Improve On, Start, Stop), anything else.   I'm all ears.

[Amitai Schlair]

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 3:10 PM, Dave Updike <david...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've been a coaching for a long time but I've rarely, or never, ran across a
> team that was so lackadaisical about contributing to Retrospectives and
> trying to constantly improve while keeping high quality or raising what we
> have.

Why do you think they don't have much to say during retrospectives? Is
it that they haven't been paying attention to how their work works, so
they haven't noticed anything worth improving? Or might it be that,
for some reason or other, they don't feel comfortable saying what's on
their minds?

Can you think of some experiments you could conduct to get to the
bottom of this? Do you have a hunch what the outcome(s) would be?

[Marcelo Oliveira]

We use to start our retros with a safety check to make sure everyone feels comfortable speaking about everything.

http://www.funretrospectives.com/safety-check/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Agile Coaching Support" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to agile-coaching-su...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[Morgan Ahlström]

All ISFJ's on your team? ;-)

Apart from improvements, how do they react to other changes? Technological? Reorganizations?

Do you think it's retrospectives in particular that's the problem or are they uncomfortable with new stuff in general?

As an INTP I thrive on changes but there are a lot of people out there who'd really prefer it if you didn't rock the boat.

BR

Morgan

--
__________________________________
Phone: +46 (0)72 726 33 03
Twitter: @Morgsterious
Blog: http://morgsterious.wordpress.com

[Jean-Charles Meyrignac]

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 9:10 PM, Dave Updike <david...@gmail.com> wrote:

Depending on the type of Retro when I ask "what is there that we can improve on", even with some prompting, I get chirp, chirp, chirp. 

Basically, you are telling them that they are inefficient.

What do you expect ? That people will tell you: "sure, we can work a lot better, since we are not very competent as a team" ?

In fact, people believe that they can always put more effort to compensate for lack of organization.

Everybody thinks: "I'm doing my best, and I know that the problem doesn't come from me, but from the others, it's so obvious but I can't tell them openly".

Also, when you tell them that they can work on the organization, they'll tell: we cannot change our managers.

So you have 2 problems to solve:

1) make the team realize that their life can be improved. It's tough, because nobody really wants to be honest in a team.

2) make the individuals realize that they have to change first, before trying to change people outside of themselves (nobody wants to change, because it's an admittance of our own incompetence and there is a belief that change requires effort)

What I recommend is simple:

1) explain that competence has nothing to do with enumerating problems

2) share one of your own past experiences. Try to find one that can resonate for them. Be more open with the team, and they'll be more open with you.

3) play the game of irony, where people have to say the contrary on what they think about the problems. It's very difficult to lie during this exercise.

And please, stop seeking comfort !

It kills people that we never talk about the "real problems".

Good luck !

JC

[Yves Hanoulle]

One of the things I do then is hold work-retrospectives.

that is during the time of rthe retrospective, let them do real improvement work.

you know they thing they bitch about that they never get the time they need.

my requirements:

- pair up (aka everyone works in groups of 2 or 3)

- you work on anything you want

- you have to check in /commit your code to the code repository at the end of the time box for the retrospective

yes, this is not a real retrospective where popel discuss, yet it shows them that you don't need much time to make important improvements

usually not every sub team is able to check in they improvement, yet in my experience at least half of the team do, and also att least o,e of the teams has a major improvement that blows away the full team.

something everyone has been talking about for months and complaining they never get the time, and then they see, they actually only need 1 or 2 hours, to fix most of it

it's a little but like google 20% or fedex days, but at a retrospective part

I blogged about it here

http://www.hanoulle.be/2013/03/work-retrospective/

y

2014/1/8 Morgan Ahlström <morgan....@gmail.com>

--

Yves Hanoulle 

Phone 00 32 476 43 38 32

PS. 11 agile books, normal price $178, now for $50! Grab them before we change our mind!

[Marcelo Oliveira]

Well, this might work to eliminate some tech debts... but its completely different from a retro. In my team we have tech debt sessions every two weeks where the team members talk about and prioritize tech debts for the current iteration.

If you stop doing retros because you are not getting input from the devs, you may be ignoring a big problem... maybe the team doesnt feel trusted, maybe they don't see any value because they are not listened, etc...

[Yves Hanoulle]

I do the work retro's for exactly that reason, they feel they are trusted to work on the stuff they care about 

as we have 1 week sprints , it's ok to miss a real retro from time to time

and yes tech debt session are similar

y

2014/1/8 Marcelo Oliveira <blac...@gmail.com>

[George Dinwiddie]

Dave,

Is the team ecstatic about their work life? They're so happy that they
don't think things could get better for them?

Or are they so demoralized they think there's no point? They're so
unhappy they don't think things will ever get better?

On 1/8/14, 3:10 PM, Dave Updike wrote:
> I've been a coaching for a long time but I've rarely, or never, ran
> across a team that was so lackadaisical about contributing to
> Retrospectives and trying to constantly improve while keeping high
> quality or raising what we have.
>
> Depending on the type of Retro when I ask "what is there that we can
> improve on", even with some prompting, I get chirp, chirp, chirp.

Maybe they think you're only interested in getting more work out of them
for the good of the organization. What are they *personally* interested
in improving? What's in it for them?

> Games, sneak attacks, other retro types (we have done Speed Boat and
> basic Doing Well, Improve On, Start, Stop), anything else. I'm all ears.

David Maister once said that it was really important for a manager to
care about his employees, and get to know them as people. He said that
it wasn't that it was the right and moral thing to do, but that it got
the manager more of what he wanted.

I wonder if the same approach would help you get what you want in the
retrospectives.

- George


--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* George Dinwiddie * http://blog.gdinwiddie.com
Software Development http://www.idiacomputing.com
Consultant and Coach http://www.agilemaryland.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------

[George Paci]

Dave,

It would help if you could say some more about the team, especially what
*you* see as areas for improvement or problems (both ones they can solve
themselves and ones they can't), how long they've been together as a
team, how long they've been doing agile, and whether they have a
previous history of good retrospectives.

Lacking that info, I'm going to go with the group and say they're
probably demoralized past the point of caring.

There's an elephant in the room, and you need to hunt it down. My
favorite elephant gun is anonymity. Managers tend to go all
WWF-save-the-animals about elephants for some reason, so get them out of
the room, or out of the building if necessary.

Give everyone the *same exact* index cards, and the *same exact* pencil,
and ask them to write their answers slowly in block print, to underscore
the anonymity. Then when you get the cards back, immediately shuffle
them up, so it's clear you don't know who wrote what. As a final step,
don't show anyone else the cards, just read them back to the group
(paraphrasing if someone uses an identifiable dialect). Rip them up if
you think that'll help. And explain to them beforehand that you'll be
doing all these things to protect anonymity. In fact, you might want to
ask a very low-risk question first (e.g. "What is your favorite color?")
so you can *show* them how their answers will be protected.

Some questions you can ask:

1) How comfortable are you answering this way? (The usual safety
question, with answers from "I'll smile and say everything's perfect" to
"I'll answer openly about anything"; see
http://www.funretrospectives.com/safety-check/ )

2) What is the biggest technical problem the team has?

3) What is the biggest tool problem the team has?

4) What is the biggest people problem the team has?

5) What is the biggest problem *you* have at work?

6) What is the biggest problem the team can't solve itself?

7) What is the biggest problem the team *can* solve itself?

8) How happy are you with work: 1 = I'd quit if I didn't need the money,
5 = I'd do this for free

9) Do you think the team will meet its (long/medium/short)-term goals?

10) Do you feed appreciated at work?

11) Do you think your work matters?

(I"ll give you $5 if *nobody* says "Not enough time" to #6.)

I don't hold this list out as exhaustive; you should have no problem
thinking of other useful questions, tailored to your situation.

You can either have them discuss the answers, or pointedly have them
*not* discuss the answers (to further encourage people to be
forthcoming). Just say which it will be beforehand. If you do have
discussion, you may want to emphasize respectful listening and responding.

If you still don't get anything useful, don't blame yourself. Get
somebody as different from you as possible (but still suitable) to come
and lead the next retrospective; then you'll find out if it's just some
strange chemistry going wrong between you and this particular team.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck.

--George Paci

[Dave Updike]

OK.  Thank you all for your feedback.  This is great stuff.  We are in our next Release Planning which is 1) why I asked my question and 2) why I haven't been able to get back to you til now.

 

The team has been together for a little over 6 months (with a couple of new members) doing Agile, however with massive changes from management (who don't want to/are resistive to change.  They like the Demo’s even if they don’t attend them and then make waterfall decisions).

 

Yes, they are demoralized and I believe that is the major obstacle. 3 total design changes, bad infrastructure, etc.

 

BTW, it’s just the Retro’s.  They are generally quiet and unresponsive to questions.  Even in Stand Up’s.

 

George Dinwiddie, no the team is not ecstatic about their work life.  It definitely leans to demoralize.  Yes, they are so unhappy they don’t think things will get better.  They are contractors simply bringing home a paycheck.  It’s difficult here for the manager to show they care because there is one manager for about 80+ people. 

 

I saw this before but I plan on using George Paci’s idea with the cards to see if I can’t better nail down exactly where the demoralization is coming from and use that information to help the team overcome them and use it as talking points to management so they are informed and can make decisions based ion that information.   

Thanks,
Dave    

[George Dinwiddie]

Good luck with it, Dave. I hope you'll let us know how you progress.

- George

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Agile Coaching Support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to agile-coaching-su...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.