Retrospectives are where I started, they’re the subject of my anti patterns book, and my best talks. But almost every meeting that goes wrong, goes wrong for the same reasons: no one feels responsible, no one reads what’s happening in the room, and no one adjusts to the situation. That’s what facilitation actually is, and I bring it to more than retrospectives.
What I facilitate
Started here
Retrospectives
This is what I’m best known for. It’s still the best way for the team to gain insights. I do training (with a free copy of my book for participants) and I can facilitate difficult teams to get them back on track.
15 minutes
Daily Standups
Fixing the meeting every team has and almost no one designed on purpose.
Direction
OKR & Goal-Setting Sessions
Turning a room of individual opinions into one goal people actually believe.
Decisions
Design Sprint
Structured time to get from ideas to something the team can start working on.
Whole room
Architecture Workshops
Getting the room’s expertise on the table, not just the loudest engineer’s.
Together
Mob Programming Sessions
Keeping the mob a mob, not a spectator sport.
High stakes
Executive Strategy Summits
Same skills, bigger room, more on the line.
Hands on
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Sessions
For when the real answer won’t come out in words alone.
Facilitation coaching for leaders
Not every meeting needs an outside facilitator, and you shouldn’t need to hire one forever. If you’re a lead, Scrum Master, or manager already running your own standups, retrospectives, or planning sessions, I coach you directly; sitting in on a real session, and giving you feedback afterwards. It’s facilitation skill-building built on your concrete situation.
Why bring someone in from outside
An outside facilitator isn’t there to run the meeting for the team, they’re there so the people who normally have to run it can actually participate. That’s true whether it’s a seven-person retrospective or a board-level strategy session.