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Lots of our people have lots of opinions. Here are just a few of them

ThoughtWorks embraces the individuality of the people in the organization and hence the opinions expressed in the blogs may contradict each other and also may not represent the opinions of ThoughtWorks.

PMI - Plus, Minus, Interesting



PMI (plus, minus, interesting) is a retrospective activity that encourages participants in a discussion to look at an idea from more than one viewpoint.

Running the activity:

1.       Split the canvas into 3 areas: plus, minus, interesting.


2.       Ask participants to add notes to each area

So, in the context of this retrospective, please share with us what you consider: positive (Plus), negative (Minus), or Interesting. Please write each note on a post-it, and place them on the respective canvas area.

3.       Group conversation about the notes
  

 The PMI thinking activity was developed by Dr.…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
22 May 2013

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the 4 Ls: Liked – Learned – Lacked – Longed For

The 4Ls is a great data gathering activity for recurring retrospectives. The Ls stand for: liked,  learned, lacked, and longed for.

Running the activity:
1.   Split the canvas in4 areas (or use 4 posters:
  • Liked – things you really liked
  • Learned – things you have learned
  • Lacked – things you have seen the team doing, but consider that could be done better.
  • Longed for – something you desired or wished for
2.   Ask the participants to individually write notes on post-it for each of the L areas.
3.   Group conversation about the notes

This activity…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
20 May 2013

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KALM - Keep, Add, More, Less


KALM (Keep, Add, More, less) is a retrospective activity that fosters the conversation to the current activities and the perceived value. It helps team members to understand each other perceived value on such practices.
 
The KALM (Keep, Add, More, less) divides the board into 4 areas:
  • Keep – something the team is doing well and you recognize the value on it.
  • Less – something already being done; but you rather do less of it.
  • More– something already being done; and you believe will bring more value if done even more.
  • Add – a new idea, or something you…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
17 May 2013

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General Behavior activity



The General behavior activity fosters a team conversation about behavior. It is specially useful when forming new teams. The results of this activity serve as an ongoing guide for acceptable and unacceptable team behavior.

Running the activity:

1.      Separate the canvas in two separate areas with the following titles

  • Wonderful behavior
  • Unacceptable behavior

2.   Ask the participants to write on post-its (and place at the canvas) examples of wonderful behavior and unacceptable behavior.
3.      Group conversation about the notes.

Please find below a sample result after runnign this activity.



 

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
14 May 2013

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Ground rules

This activity helps with team formation. It is specially useful for –collectively—deciding and writing down the team ground rules.

Discussing ground rules after problems arise is much more difficult. Ground rules should focus on these elements:
  • Process  – How the activities will be carried out.
  •  Norms  – Ways in which team members will interact with each other.

Running the activity:

1.                  Create the empty canvas with the ground rules elements (in my case: Ground rules / Process and Ground rules / Norms).
2.                  Ask participants to write down the rules they are really strong about…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
13 May 2013

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Opinion on Music

Simply put, this is my list of favorite albums all times.

  • Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)
  • White Album (The Beatles)
  • Abbey Road (The Beatles)
  • Revolver (The Beatles)
  • Magical Mistery Tour (The Beatles)
  • Let It Bleed (Rolling Stones)
  • Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones)
  • Are You Experienced (Jimi Hendrix)
  • The Velvet Underground & Nico (Velvet Underground)
  • Led Zeppelin IV (Led Zeppelin)
  • The Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd)
  • The Wall (Pink Floyd)
  • Machine Head (Deep Purple)
  • A Night At The Opera (Queen)
  • The Who…

Blog post by Vincius Gomes
13 May 2013

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That Guy & This Guy



That Guy & This Guy is a team building activity that foster the conversation on being a  team player. The results of this activity serve as an ongoing guide for acceptable and unacceptable team behavior.

Running the activity

1.       Separate the canvas in two separate areas with the following sentences (drawing is very welcome)

  • Don’t be “that guy”
  • “This guy” rocks!

2.       Ask the participants to write notes on this and  that guy


 “That Guy” is a non-team player..This Guy” is the ultimate team player. Everyone wants “this guy” on their team! Please…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli- Agileretroactivities
10 May 2013

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fire prevention and firefighting




Moving around large Agile projects, I came across a common situation that hinders the team performance.  Individuals cannot allocate time for improving their work (and avoid future problems) because they are constantly firefighting current issues.

It typically happens like this: Someday on the past, the problem has started. Unfortunately, the issue (small at the time) was not clearly identified. It only got enough attention when it was on fire. Therefore the vicious cycle:


Everyone is busy putting out fires -> no time to improve (and avoid future fires) -> more fires


It takes discipline! Finding the balance between fire…

Blog post by Paulo Caroli
1 April 2013

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What am I managing?



When I first started PMing I used to manage people working.
A few years went by. I changed.
I realized I should manage the work and enable people.
More years went by. I changed again.
Today I came to the realization I should manage people expectation and enable the work.
I wonder what will be my realization in another few years.

Blog post by Paulo Caroli
15 March 2013

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Treinamentos deste mês! #Agile, #Tempo e #LeanStartup

Estou me organizando para fazer pelo menos 3 workshops por mês. Serão sempre workshops de 3-4 horas de duração. Eventualmente um workshop com duração maior, 8 horas. Fora quando estiver apoiando na formação de metodologias ágeis da TargetTrust.

É a minha forma de seguir praticando, ensinando e trocando ideias com o pessoal que quer melhorar. Todos queremos! Estes workshops me ajudam e me dão ritmo para escrever, para pensar em coisas diferentes, e evoluir como profissional. Vivendo o meu propósito. E se der para bancar os custos de sala e coffee break e um valor…

Blog post by Daniel Wildt
14 March 2013

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