This article goes over how to run an Agile retrospective meeting.
Motivation
Why is retro important to a team? Because the goal of a retro is to:
- identify what went well,
- discuss what could be improved,
- and come up with action items for continuous improvement.
Preparation
As the retro moderator—or the person facilitating the meeting—create a retro board.
Create three columns:
| What went well | What could be improved | Action items |
|---|---|---|
Or with different names:
| Hit | Miss | Question |
|---|---|---|
Ask the participants to fill out the board before the meeting, but you can always fill it out during it.
Before retro begins, align with the participants on the the rules, the goals, and the expected conduct of the meeting.
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is an optional but fun activity that shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes. Some examples are:
- Conversation games like “2 Truths and a Lie”
- Codenames
- Among Us
The goal is to build team bonding, lighten the mood, and get people receptive to the retro.
Ideate
Set a timer for 5 minutes and ask the participants to submit ideas to the board.
If you’re conducting this remotely, ask the participants to mute themselves and turn off their camera until they’re ready.
Note: the submission process should be anonymous so people feel safe enough to bring up topics without fear of repercussion.
Group
Once all ideas are submitted, group them by theme. For example, if you see “Teamwork” and “Amazing collaboration,” then merge the two together.
Set a timer for 3-5 minutes and make sure to collaborate with all the participants. The goal is to ensure redundant ideas are only discussed once.
Vote
Once the grouping is done, ask the participants to vote on the ideas. Give everyone 3-5 votes, but let them know that they don’t have to use all their votes.
Set a timer for 1-2 minutes and sort the ideas by highest to lowest votes. This ensures the most important ideas are talked about first.
Discuss
Go over each idea from left-to-right and top-to-bottom on the retro board. Encourage the participants to talk and come up with action items.
For each idea, set a timer for 3-5 minutes. If an action item is created, assign it to someone.
Sometimes a discussion can get heated or go down a rabbit hole. It’s your job as the moderator to ensure everything’s on track so feel free to interrupt and guide the conversation when necessary.
Follow-up
Lastly, document the retro in Confluence or Notion. Before the next retro, go over the action items and check on how the team is progressing.
Did this guide help you? What did I miss? Leave your feedback in the comments below!