CEO and co-founder of Retrium David Horowitz left his gig as an Agile coach to focus on a growing problem: retrospective fails. David says, "If you ask me, 'How would you describe Agile in just two words?' it would be, 'Continuous Improvement.'" Retrospectives are the vehicle for continuous improvement. Yet across the industry, David sees many teams who treat retrospectives like a chore or a checklist item--or, even worse, they skip the retrospective altogether. It gets even worse if the teams are distributed. David decided to quit being an Agile coach and founded Retrium, whose SaaS product makes retrospectives much more effective and engaging. The biggest pitfall in retrospectives, in David's opinion: "lack of follow-through." As for pitfalls during live retrospective, the lack of a level playing field may keep teams from getting value. Seniority, personality and physical location can all contribute to--or detract from--a participant's ability to actively participate and gain value. In other words, just because someone is junior, introverted and/or remote doesn't mean they don't want to contribute to the team's growth. 

David also touches on the Retrospective Facilitators Gathering, which he participates in.

Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA.

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