Project Retrospectives : A Handbook for Team Reviews [Paperback]

"Project Retrospectives" is one of the best written, best edited, most nicely presented, and most useful software books I've ever read. Norm Kerth presents a convincing argument for the value of taking the time to study past projects and learn from them. He then presents a rich tool kit of techniques for helping a project team explore what actually happened, what went well, what caused problems, and what happened that surprised them. Kerth's sensitivity to the complex interpersonal issues surrounding project retrospectives will help any facilitator, participant, or manager get the most out of these important learning activities.

Despite the value of retrospectives, not every project team will find it possible to spend 2 or 3 full days reflecting on its experience. However, the methods described here can be scaled down so that any team can apply them. If a team doesn't take the time to learn how to improve, it shouldn't expect the next project to go any better than the last one. This unique book is a key enabler for any learning organization.

Failure is the norm in software development. The majority of projects are not completed, and it is a rare one indeed that comes in under budget. If a substantial project were ever to yield a useful product, be on time and under budget, it may be cause to ask about any pacts that were made. However, failure is a permanent condition only if you do not learn from the mistakes. A project retrospective is a backward look at what happened, what went wrong, why it went wrong and the points of success. The last is also important, because even the most abject failure contains elements of success.
Unfortunately, but understandably, most people fear retrospectives, thinking that they are nothing more than a search for the people to blame for the failure. If properly done, a retrospective can be uplifting, as the people in the development team can learn what went wrong, alter their approach and increase their chances for success in the future.
It takes a deft hand to perform such an act and Norman Kerth has two of them. His advice on how to politic your way through a successful retrospective demonstrates that he understands the egos, stubborness, jealousy, passion, intelligence, and occasional idiocy of development teams. Navigating through this minefield is difficult, but worth it as the potential rewards are immense. In a field where the cost of failure usually takes seven or more digits to describe, reducing the probability of failure the next time is imperative.
The experience and understanding that Kerth puts forward in this book is priceless and should be a roadmap for what to do after every project is considered done. Using this map to mine your experience for the points of success and failure will pay dividends of many different forms. The simple action of having a brokered discussion can prove cathartic to the members of the development team, helping to restore their energy and relieving anxiety about what went wrong.
A wise person once said, "We must learn from our mistakes, otherwise what is the point of making them?" If development teams were to begin having quality retrospectives using Kerth's criteria, then even the most atrocious failure could generate a favorable return on investment. I consider it to be one of the top ten books of the year.

Norm Kerth has given us a wise and practical book on project retrospectives. It is destined to be a classic in our software engineering and project management literature.

If you are curious, courageous, care about yourself and your teammates, and you are interested in personal and professional growth, read this book.

Beginning with his "prime directive", you will learn why and how to conduct project retrospectives. Norm makes a compelling case for the ritual of retrospectives, openly and honestly presenting the opportunities and dangers. There are many engaging features in this book: fables that make a point, a detailed description of an example retrospective, numerous true stories from real retrospectives that grab your interest, cartoons to illustrate the text, and recipes which provide facilitators with the structure, group processes and rationale for conduct successful retrospectives activities.

Who should read this wonderful book? The book's voice addresses the retrospective facilitator ("must" readers) along with anyone else who wants to learn about retrospectives. This audience includes project managers and their managers, along with team members.

Why these readers? Because software project success is all about people, not technology. How we interrelate, use technology, communicate, and are affected by project history impacts our work. And if we don't learn from our successes and mistakes, we can't grow, do better and have our work bring value to our organizations and ourselves. Project retrospectives are an essential tool toward that end. Norm Kerth's book helps us use this wonderful tool.