Personal Maps
Beginner
difficulty
Stage 2
Agile IQ® Level
People
Retrospective
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.
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
- Education
- Work
- Hobbies
- Family
- Friends
- Values
- Goals
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
