SIMVaC Project Retrospective Mary Lynn Manns manns@unca.edu www.cs.unca.edu/~manns

What is a Project Retrospective? A retrospective is an opportunity for the participants to learn how to improve. The focus is on learning—not fault-finding. Norm Kerth

Project Retrospectives from Norm Kerth (and Edward Bear) … we bump our heads in project after project, day after day. If we would only take a moment to stop and think of alternative ways to proceed, I’m sure we could find better ways to do our work. Norm Kerth

Why retrospectives? Learning and development do not necessarily occur as a result of the experience itself but as a result of reflection explicitly designed to foster learning and development. B. Jacoby For many of the team members, this will be the first time they consciously think about the processes they use. N. Kerth … wisdom comes from our ability to understand the relationship between an individual’s work and that of the entire team. … I have seen whole-team reflection explain, discover, and teach so much. I believe that there is no better way to improve a team’s performance and quality. N. Kerth

Why will SIMVaC run a retrospective? To look at the past Document what went well Discover our mistakes/problems To plan for future projects Document the successful practices we want to continue Examine how to correct our mistakes and address our problems To create community To gather information for our report(s)

What is important in a retrospective? Every team member must be present in order to get the complete picture Information will be gathered with techniques such as: Timeline Define success Artifacts contest etc….

The purpose of a retrospective is learning … … to correct (sometimes recurring) mistakes … to identify and document successful practices … to gather information for reports … to prepare for future projects

Please …. Indicate your availability for the date of this retrospective (Remember that each team member must be present in order for the retrospective to be most effective)