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• Innovation games workshops:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Innovation Games: Practical Tools for Team Engagement": Video Link
    • "Using Gamification for Team Innovation": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Product Box - Teams create and pitch their ideal product features.
    • Remember the Future - Envision and backcast from successful outcomes.
    • Speed Boat - Identify project anchors and accelerators.

• Technical spike planning:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Technical Spikes in Agile: A Practical Guide": Video Link
    • "Planning and Executing Effective Spike Solutions": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Time-boxed research sessions on new technologies.
    • Proof-of-concept development workshops.
    • Architecture decision record (ADR) creation.

• Exploratory testing techniques:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Mastering Exploratory Testing": Video Link
    • "Advanced Exploratory Testing Strategies": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Bug hunting sessions using heuristic approaches.
    • Scenario-based testing workshops.
    • User journey exploration exercises.

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• Process optimization workshops:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Lean Process Improvement - Value Stream Mapping in Action": Video Link
    • "Agile Process Optimization Techniques": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Value Stream Mapping sessions to identify bottlenecks and waste.
    • Team brainstorming to streamline existing workflows.
    • Root cause analysis exercises using techniques like '5 Whys'.

• Technical debt management:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Managing Technical Debt in Agile Teams": Video Link
    • "Strategic Approaches to Technical Debt Reduction": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Code smell identification and prioritization sessions.
    • Technical debt inventory creation and scoring.
    • Refactoring planning using the "boy scout rule" approach.

• Quality metrics review and adjustment:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Effective Quality Metrics for Software Teams": Video Link
    • "Data-Driven Quality Improvement in Agile": Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Data-driven review sessions comparing current metrics against targets.
    • Metric effectiveness evaluation workshops.
    • Goal-setting sessions for the upcoming year using SMART criteria.

Session Guidelines (November):

• Schedule 2-3 hour focused sessions for each topic.
• Involve all team members and relevant stakeholders.
• Use collaborative tools for remote participants.
• Document outcomes and create actionable items.
• Set clear follow-up dates for implementation review.

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• Annual retrospective:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Effective Annual Retrospectives for Software Teams" by Diana Larsen: Video Link
    • "Remote Annual Retrospective Facilitation" by Ben Linders: Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Timeline Exercise: Create a visual timeline of key events, milestones, and challenges from the year.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Effective Timeline Retrospectives" by Esther Derby: Video Link
        • "Visual Project Timeline Creation" by Diana Larsen: Video Link
    • Start/Stop/Continue Analysis: Team identifies practices to start, stop, or continue for next year.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Start, Stop, Continue: A Deep Dive" by Ben Linders: Video Link
        • "Facilitating Effective Team Analysis" by Linda Rising: Video Link
    • Team Health Check: Review team satisfaction trends and collaboration patterns.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Team Health Monitoring and Assessment" by Henrik Kniberg: Video Link
        • "Measuring Team Collaboration Success" by Lyssa Adkins: Video Link
  • Tools: Miro/Mural, Retrium, Google Sheets

• Success metrics evaluation:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Measuring Success in Agile Teams" by Martin Fowler: Video Link
    • "Key Performance Indicators for Software Teams" by Alistair Cockburn: Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Metrics Review Dashboard: Compare actual vs target for key metrics.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Data-Driven Agile Metrics Dashboard" by Troy Magennis: Video Link
        • "Building Effective Agile Performance Dashboards" by Jeff Patton: Video Link
    • Impact Analysis: Evaluate how improvements in metrics affected business outcomes.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Measuring Business Impact of Agile Transformations" by Dean Leffingwell: Video Link
        • "ROI of Agile Metrics" by Mary Poppendieck: Video Link
    • Trends Analysis: Review monthly/quarterly trends to identify patterns.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Trend Analysis in Agile Teams" by Esther Derby: Video Link
        • "Pattern Recognition in Agile Metrics" by Mike Cohn: Video Link
  • Tools: Jira/Azure DevOps, PowerBI/Tableau, Excel

• 2026 planning preparation:

  • Recommended Videos:
    • "Strategic Planning for Agile Organizations" by Jeff Sutherland: Video Link
    • "Long-term Planning in an Agile Environment" by Mike Cohn: Video Link
  • Suggested Activities:
    • Goal Setting Workshop: Define SMART objectives for the upcoming year.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Setting SMART Objectives in Agile Teams": Video Link
        • "Effective Goal Setting for Software Teams": Video Link
    • Capacity Planning: Assess team capabilities and resource needs.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Team Capacity Planning Best Practices": Video Link
        • "Resource Estimation in Agile Teams": Video Link
    • Risk Assessment: Identify potential challenges and mitigation strategies.
      • Relevant Videos:
        • "Risk Management Strategies for Software Projects": Video Link
        • "Proactive Risk Mitigation in Agile Teams": Video Link
  • Tools: OKR tracking software (e.g., Lattice, 7Geese), Strategic planning templates, Risk assessment matrices

Session Guidelines (December):

• Schedule full-day or multiple half-day sessions.
• Include all team members and key stakeholders.
• Use hybrid meeting setup to accommodate remote participants.
• Document all decisions and action items.
• Set clear follow-up dates for implementation review.