Personal Maps

Basic

difficulty

Stage 2

Agile IQ® Level

Retrospectives

GUIDES

People

Practices

Overview

Personal Maps are a tool to build empathy between team members and a deeper understanding of each other on a personal level.

Personal Maps help teams build and strengthen connectedness – a key behaviour of team agility.

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Above: Example of a Personal Map [2]
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People is an important aspect of the Retrospective

Don't fall into the trap of just reviewing and improving process at the Retrospective. The Retrospective is an opportunity to inspect people, process and/or tools and create actions for improvement.

TRY THIS

In a Retrospective:

  • Download and print the template.
  • 10 min: Each person makes a Personal Map about themselves. 
  • 10 min: Ask people to pair-up and exchange their maps and present them.
  • Return to the group.
  • 30 min: Each person presents the other person’s Personal Map.
  • Share the things you had in common.
  • Share the things that surprised you.

Categories

A Personal Map starts with the following 8 core categories:

Home

What is your home life like? Where do you live?

Education

What studies, courses, degrees have you done?

Work

What's your job, role and what do you like about the work you do?

Hobbies

What do you like doin gin your spare time?

Family

Who are your family members, pets, and relatives?

Friends

Who are the people you love to hang-out with when not at work?

Values

What principles and ethics do you hold most dear?

Goals

What do you want to achieve in life?

Download

Download the PDF template for Personal Maps to use in your Retrospectives.

References

1. Litvin, D. and betters-Reed, B. (2005). The Personal Map: A lessons in similarities, differences, and the invisible. Journal of Management Education 29 (2):199-217. 2. Craft Chellenges. Personal Maps. Online at: agilepartner.github.io/craft-challenges/culture/personal-map.html
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