Retrospectives: From Complaining to Actionable Learning

by David Horowitz, Niki Kohari

Think about your latest retrospective. Were people interested and engaged, or did they complain and accuse? Did you leave the retrospective feeling like you learned something valuable, or were you simply there to check the retrospective off your list? Did anyone at the retrospective say, “nothing changes anyway, so what’s the point of this?” You’re not alone. The fact of the matter is that retrospectives are hard work! Yet effective retrospectives are possible, and they can have a transformative effect on your team’s performance and ultimately your organization’s ability to achieve its goals. How can you break the negative mindset around retrospectives? What practical steps can you take to give your team a voice that can be heard by your manager, your stakeholders, and your company’s executives? Retrium CEO David Horowitz and COO Niki Kohari explored the surprising connection between retrospectives, employee engagement, and voice. Learn tangible steps you can take to level-up your retrospectives and turn them into the catalyst of continuous improvement they were designed to be.

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For a deeper dive for members, the Scrum Alliance Learning Journey includes How Successful Teams Practice Sprint Retrospectives, an online course especially beneficial for scrum masters who want to help their team make this a valuable, effective scrum event. If you're not a member, check out these benefits of joining!

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Presenter(s)

David Horowitz

David Horowitz is co-founder and CEO of Retrium, Inc. Retrium is the world’s first and only enterprise-ready platform for Agile retrospectives. Prior to co-founding Retrium, David spent nearly a decade between The World Bank and International Finance Corporation as a software developer turned Agile coach. While there, he experienced firsthand the importance — and difficulty — of effective retrospectives at scale. In addition to Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Economics from The University of Maryland, as well as a Master’s degree in Technology Management from The University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School of Business, David successfully founded and exited a movie search engine business in 2013. He is married to his college sweetheart and is the father of three little ones.

Niki Kohari

Niki Kohari is a serial entrepreneur, author, and lifelong learner with a passion for helping people work better together. With over nine years of experience in software startups at various stages, she is currently the COO at Retrium and a certified executive and leadership coach at BrightSpark Coaching. Her background is in Industrial/Organizational psychology with expertise in leadership development, organizational change, emotions in the workplace, mental models, and teamwork.