Get together and talk about how everyone is feeling. Do this regularly.
In my work environment, of teams that create and evolve digital products, we have a meeting for this: the retrospective.
The retrospective is a meeting that takes place once a week (for example every Wednesday from 4 pm to 5 pm), where people on the team talk about what was good in the period and what they should do to improve.
The retrospective creates the environment for people to reflect and listen to how everyone is feeling.
Retrospective is essential to bring the team together on a common goal and to prevent disagreements from rising to levels of interpersonal discomfort, reduced communication and disruption of the group.
A couple, a family, or people confined to a location because of a pandemic is a group. I say more, a group in formation, a group that was not used to “working” together for so long. A group that needs a lot of attention to avoid disagreements. A group that needs retrospectives.
Today I read the following news:
“Divorce rates in China have risen significantly because ‘couples are spending too much time together at home’ during coronavirus self-isolation, according to register offices across the country.” – dailymail.co.uk
Since the beginning of this pandemic, I have been very aware of the need to help my teammates with remote retrospectives. Suddenly, all teams have to work remotely. Many of these teams are used to work collocated and did their retrospectives in a meeting room, face-to-face. Now they need to do retrospectives remotely.
I updated the FunRetrospectives.com activities, marking the ones that work well for remote teams. I also released many features that were being built for the remote retrospectives board.
But I had not realized the need for retrospectives beyond work, especially for the many people who are not familiar with the concept.
I’ve done some retrospectives at home. But that was sporadic.
Now, especially after reading this news about the rising divorce rate in China, I realized that people who are confined to the same environment need to check back regularly. They need regular retrospectives!
People who are confined to the same environment need regular retrospectives.
So, if you didn’t know what retrospectives are about, now you do. Retrospectives are essential to forming and keeping great teams. FunRetrospectives.com has many ideas and activities for retrospectives.
But if you know agile methods and already apply the concept of retrospectives, please help others during this pandemic period. Facilitate retrospectives in your home, teach a colleague how to facilitate retrospectives. Let’s help each other by sharing practices that improve our coexistence and help us in this challenging moment.
