Retrospectives

Overview

An agile development process distinguishes itself from a linear one by being flexible and changeable. Therefore, the agile process requires us to critically regard not only the project’s progress but also the current support of the process for the project. This critical process inspection results in continuous changes to the process—to better support the actual circumstances. It is not a good idea to define a process without consulting the project members; a process will only work if the project members accept it. Of course, it always helps if we can provide some guidance to help the project members identify themselves with the process or if we find a simple way to shape the process in a way that supports them best.

It will be very difficult to define the process completely at the beginning of the project. Similarly, there is no process that is ideal for all purposes (for all project sizes, organizational cultures, technologies, people, and the like). There isn’t a fixed process that serves the project at the beginning just as optimally as at the end because so many things will change over time. For example, the team’s habits may improve, or the teams may jell better. Therefore, the process will only be finalized at the end of the project.