Patterns and shifts
This technique is best used in combination with visual activities from the previous phase, such as Timeline or Mad Sad Glad, which provide the raw data that Patterns and shifts analyzes.
Description and objectives
It is used to look for links and connections between facts and emotions. It analyzes the data about the iteration and guides the group to recognize and name the patterns that contribute to current problems.
After collecting the data, a discussion is held to analyze it, looking for patterns of events, behaviors, or emotions. The team also looks for moments when there was a shift; for example, when everything was going well and then the energy dropped. Ideas are written down on flip charts, or a timeline can be used.
How to run the activity
- Once the data has been gathered, it is made available to the team on a screen so they can examine it.
- Ideally, go through it point by point. The team writes notes on what they see or adds them to a separate flip chart.
- While looking at the gathered data, the team is asked:
- Between which events can we find links and connections?
- Where do you see patterns? What would you call that pattern?
- Where do the shifts occur? What would you call them?
- The shifts and patterns are reviewed. The team is asked again:
- How do these patterns contribute to the current problems?
- What do the shifts tell us about the current problems?
- The team reflects on which patterns and shifts are the most important to take into account in the next phase of the retrospective.
When to use it
- After a Timeline or a Mad Sad Glad, when the team has a lot of data but has not yet identified what it is telling them.
- When the same problems keep coming back sprint after sprint and the team needs to see the pattern explicitly.
- In end-of-release or end-of-project retrospectives, where there is a lot of historical material to analyze.
Common mistake
Naming patterns without committing to actions. The technique is powerful for making visible what the team cannot see because it is too close. But recognizing a pattern is only valuable if it is followed by a decision about what to do with it. If the session ends with a list of well-named patterns and no commitment to change, the team will have learned something but will not have moved forward.
Resources
🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective, in Spanish]Template · Scrum Manager
📄 Tercera fase de una retrospectiva: crear conocimiento [Third phase of a retrospective: creating knowledge, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2023
References
- Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.
See also
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