Team Practices Group/Retrospectives/2016-06-03

The Team Practices Group (TPG) was dissolved in 2017.

Previous Themes/Actionables

• Exploring novel ways to support the org and increase our capacity [4 +++ KS] GRACE to kickoff thread---->  6/3 Agile Coaching Lifecycle discussion at IRL ONGOING
  • Examples of what we have already done?
  • EG Kevin supporting RelEng,
    • Arthur’s new role
• Do something with THCs [4++++] GRACE to kickoff email thread to put them on hold (6/3 GRACE to spin up ticket, add checkboxes)
• Doing too many things at once/context switching/gratuitous context switching due to info overload or losing track [5+++++] JOEL & GRACE to pair on incorporating this into bullet below 6/3 see if this is still a thing
• Saying no to new work [6+++++ KS]  GRACE to move to email also add to offsite etherpad  6/3 see if this is still a thing.

What has happened since the last retro?

Previous retro was 2016-04-27

• TPG Offsite
  • Gigantor
• Started interviewing for agile specialist
• Reading offsite
• Discovery search offsite
• Started annual reviews
• Goal to facilitate overhaul of QGQR -> goal to facilitate Annual Plan Retro
• Grace started working with Performance team
• TPG continues to Bumblebee - GG/JA, KS/GG
• Arthur’s outage
• Multiple VE/JamesF coaching situations
• Max got a sweet new window desk when Strine vacated
• Heard discussion of office move
• Ran a tight Editing/DR KIT (“keep in touch”)
• ED search/Recruiter interaction heats up
• WMF Engagement Survey reanimated
• Design Research → Nigeria, soon India
• Researchers had WikiCite conf in Berlin
• Wikimania travel impacts starting to hit
• We’re wrapping up TPG strategy (by circulating the results to stakeholders)
• New gesture invented :)

What went well

Org stuff:

• Max’s window desk is sweet, but in all seriousness I’m much more inclined to be at my desk now that it’s not at the lunch table (<---understood!  Lunch table proximity is rough)
• The org didn’t have any big crises

TPG team, light engagement, and embedded stuff:

• We came up with some great outcomes at Offsite (Values, new things to try)
  • As promoter of just enough/just in time, the new MVP value is working for Grace :)
  • Working well for KL too!
• Kristen did a good great job planning IRL (offsite?)
• Seems like our pace has slowed a bit (in a good way), based on section above?
  • JA: Yes +1
• Reading Offsite went well enough that we got more interest in TPG services from unserved WMF teams (like Performance), and re-affirmed TPG’s reputation with those on Reading and with Reading’s offsite guests
• Good interview pairing for GG with Joel (and MB with KS)
• Light engagements felt rewarding/good cost-benefit: RobLa’s Phab setup, Collab is using Phlogiston, a few mailing list questions
• Glad that at least some thumbs siders are coming around to the coaching lifecycle
• Bumblebeeing!
• Grace got to talk process with Ori :)
• FDC comment praising TPG (does this belong in what has happened since last retro?)

Team Culture stuff:

• Glad to say goodbye to collective-ownership-agency-individual-thing (a former TPG value)
• WMF Culture trainings are great
• Heads up a-- Tea Time was good fun

What could have gone better (highlighting = want to follow up)

• Would have been great to have had Arthur and [new hire] at off-site - tough timing/too bad we couldn’t postpone
• Travel [JA] [MB] [GG]
  • Kevin traveled WAY too much (7 of the last 8 weeks)...3 offsites in May
  • Max traveling a lot for work too, hard to keep up, hard to avoid since some things had to be scheduled way in advance (Hackathon, Wikimania) and then other things got squeezed in between later (Offsites)
  • Joel’s travel: TPG and VE off-sites with one week in-between
  • Kevin’s archcom and releng engagements have been impaired by travel+offsites
  • Uninstalling work email from my personal phone has been difficult and will require trip to Verizon store
• Annual reviews took a lot of time
• “No”[KS]
  • We didn't get to just saying no at IRL....is it still a problem?
  • At offsite, didn’t address “how to say no”
• Interviewing for new hire [MB]
  • Greenhouse isn’t always straightforward to use
  • Interviewing for Agile Specialist is another thing on the calendar, and it’s a little daunting because there isn’t an end in sight (gotta get a hire before we stop)
• The values we selected at the offsite are not values we consistently live by [JA] [KS]
• TPG fell through the cracks with the ED recruiter meeting
• Annual Review process feels like it covers too much time span, hard to remember everything and reflect thoughtfully, also happened at the same time as the Reading Offsite and part of the time for Engagement Survey 2.0 [KS] [GG] [MB]
• Community communication frustration [GG]  [JA]
  • VE launch led community member to threaten another SuperProtect-type situation
  • Downer of response to Deb’s Portal announcement
    • But there were several public supportive replies
• Max barely has time for TPG between embedding on 3 teams, not finding as many opportunities to pare back meetings as hoped (travel and onboarding new hires part of that)

What’s Confusing Us

• Not sure when to fill this section out
• What to do next? Cluster? Real-life confusion!

Discussion

• Travel [JA] [MB] [GG]
  • Kevin traveled WAY too much (7 of the last 8 weeks)...3 offsites in May
  • Max traveling a lot for work too, hard to keep up, hard to avoid since some things had to be scheduled way in advance (Hackathon, Wikimania) and then other things got squeezed in between later (Offsites)
  • Joel’s travel: TPG and VE off-sites with one week in-between
  • Kevin’s archcom and releng engagements have been impaired by travel+offsites
  • Uninstalling work email from my personal phone has been difficult and will require trip to Verizon store

Common thread (aside from phone) is squeezing in travel before end of FY. Could teams plan earlier? Or change things in finances?

If TPG avoids May/June next year, that would solve half of the problem.

• Annual Review process feels like it covers too much time span, hard to remember everything and reflect thoughtfully, also happened at the same time as the Reading Offsite and part of the time for Engagement Survey 2.0 [KS] [GG] [MB]

In an ideal world, review is not annual, but instead is more frequent. We could provide feedback to those who planned the reading offsite and engagement survey. Especially the survey, since it seems like that could have been held back a couple weeks.

Was the reading offsite an FY issue like the earlier discussion topic?

Q4 is a horrible time in general. Lots of org-level things going on at the same time.

Agree that having more frequent reviews would be good. Talk about having quarterly personal development roadmap. Maybe review those at the last Kristen 1:1 of each quarter? At least capture the quarter’s info

Keeping notes about 1:1 topics every week creates a list you can review for annual review. Definitely would be better to shorten the feedback cycle.

Suggestion: Add collaborator names to weekly 1:1 notes to help fill out peer reviews

Anything Kristen can do to take concrete action?

I don’t want to force it on anyone.

Why not have a system to get peer feedback in the moment?

Action items

• GRACE to spin up ticket for putting THC on hold, add checkboxes
• Joel (or Arthur) will (in a month or so) do something about offsite timing issues
  • Plan early so TPG’s offsite isn’t in the same last-minute time period as everybody else
  • Push everybody else to plan earlier
  • Talk to finance about avoiding the get-it-in-this-fiscal-year crunch from the money side, like teams being able to spend this-FY money in next FY
• Kristen: Look into improving the peer feedback loop (more frequent than annual)

Next month’s facilitator: Joel