When using the Scrum framework, the Retrospective is the final event in a Sprint. The Retrospective allows the team to identify how to work together better and improve the quality of the product. Whereas the Sprint Review is an opportunity to inspect the increment, the Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the team to inspect themselves. During this event, the team discusses how the Sprint went regarding individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done.
As an outcome from the Retrospective, the team identifies ideas for improvement and implements them as soon as possible. Many teams decide to place improvement ideas into the next Sprint Backlog to make their completion more likely and add transparency.
Like all other events in the Scrum framework, the Sprint Retrospective is timeboxed. It runs to a maximum of three hours for a one-month Sprint; the event is usually shorter for shorter Sprints.
Who facilitates the Sprint Retrospective event?
The Scrum Guide leaves this point open, but it’s usually the Scrum Master who facilitates the event in practice. I would recommend that the Scrum Master encourage others to facilitate the event, too, because this tends to bring out different perspectives and a different focus, which can benefit the team. Have the Product Owner facilitate some events or ask the Developers to take turns. Teams might also consider having guests - such as IT resource managers or security SMEs - attend or even facilitate the event, especially if there are organizational or technical issues impacting the team that the resource manager might help resolve.
Retrospective ideas
Each team can decide how to run their Sprint Retrospective, and changing approaches from time to time can help keep things fresh. Below are a few agenda ideas: try them out and leave a comment to tell me how it went or to share other ideas you have.
What went well; what didn’t go well; ideas for improvement
I am a straightforward person, and my favorite retrospective is the simplest one. Reproduce the columns below on a shared physical or electronic whiteboard (see remote facilitation section below for tools). Ask team members to place sticky notes under each column to share their ideas. Then, select one to three items from the ideas for improvement section for the team to focus on during the next Sprint. Remember, you often can’t do everything, so only select a few of the best ideas for improvement and leave the rest.
Stop-start-continue
This is another simple Retrospective idea, which I sometimes use for the sake of variety. As with the above example, ask team members to share their thoughts using sticky notes under each column. Select one to three ideas from the start column for the team to focus on during the next Sprint.
Drop-add-continue-keep
Similar to the previous two ideas, this facilitation technique is a way for Scrum team members to think about what they should stop (or drop) doing, what they should start (or add) to their processes, what they should continue doing, and what they should keep. Continue often refers to processes, and keep frequently refers to tools. Remember to ask team members to consider individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done when participating in the Retrospective. If your team uses the complementary practice of team agreements, you should also occasionally inspect those at the Sprint Retrospective. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and even small incremental improvements to a team’s processes can make a startling difference over time.