In this article, we will help you to understand how to conduct a retrospective.
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Overview
Retrospectives are crucial for agile teams to reflect on past sprints and plan for future improvements. From identifying what went well to addressing challenges, this collaborative exercise fosters continuous improvement. In this guide, you’ll learn how to conduct a retrospective using the Glad, Sad, Mad template. Note that while different templates offer unique visualizations, the process remains consistent across all. Note: While different templates offer unique visualizations, the process remains consistent across all.
Retrospective Process
While conducting a retrospective meeting there are six phases:
Let’s explore each step in detail with examples to make it relatable and actionable.
Icebreaker
The purpose of the first phase is to break the ice and make participants comfortable. It is like a fun activity designed to welcome the members and start a conversation.
Start with a fun activity, like asking team members to rate their level of happiness by describing the last sprint. For instance, “unhappy,” “just okay,” “good”, or “great.”
Once responses are submitted, the organizer can view them as a graph under the Summary tab to track participation. Note: The timer starts automatically, and when it hits zero, the process moves to the Ideate step.
Ideate
The purpose of the second phase is to encourage brainstorming and capture insights in columns. For example: Using the Glad, Sad, Mad template, participants can:
- Add a card in the “Glad” column for achievements, e.g., “Successfully automated testing.”
- Add a card in the “Sad” column for challenges, e.g., “Missed sprint deadlines.”
- Add a card in the “Mad” column for frustrations, e.g., “Frequent scope changes.”
- In templates like 4Ls, columns include Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For.
- Cards can be edited or deleted but cannot be dragged between columns.
Group
The purpose of the next phase is to combine similar cards to streamline discussions. For example: If multiple cards mention “Unclear requirements,” group them into one cluster. To do this, drag and drop related cards on top of each other. Other than grouping cards you can:
- Adjust zoom levels for better visibility.
- Use the Set as Cover option to highlight a representative card for the group.
- Expand columns to view multiple groups.
Note: Cards within a group cannot be modified.
The purpose of the fourth phase is to identify priority issues through team voting. For example, In the Retrospective Settings stage, each member is assigned a set number of votes. They can click the thumbs-up icon on cards they deem important. For instance, if “Missed deadlines” receives the most votes, it becomes a discussion priority. The voted card will be highlighted with a green Thumbs up and will have the count of votes added to it. Thus, the card with the highest number of votes will be taken up for discussion.
Next, the cards with the highest votes are auto-organized using the Auto Allocate feature, saving manual effort. And the top-voted cards will be listed in the Cards to be discussed column. Note: Once the vote is added, it can no longer be modified.
Discuss
The purpose of the fifth phase delve deeper into high-priority issues and define action items. Based on the voting results, the organizer picks a few issues that need to be discussed and starts adding action items to address these issues. This step includes the 5 Whys activity to find the root cause of the selected problem.
On the right panel, the “Discussion and Action Items” panel will be visible. In the “For Discussion” section, one card is selected for discussion. The selected card will be highlighted for the team members. On the left panel, the organizer adds a problem statement, and the 1st Why. Then, up to 5 Whys can be added by clicking on the add icon on the card’s top right corner. In the “Action Items” section, the organizer adds an action item by clicking on the ADD ITEM icon. Then, add the title and assign the action item to the respective team members. Enter Due Date and set Priority.
For example: Using the 5 Whys technique, explore a root cause:
- Problem: “Missed sprint deadlines.”
- Why 1: Requirements were unclear.
- Why 2: There was limited stakeholder involvement.
- … up to Why 5, leading to the root cause.
In the Discussion and Action Items panel, add:
- Action Items like “Schedule weekly stakeholder reviews.”
- Assign tasks to team members, set due dates, and prioritize.
Feedback
The purpose of the last phase is to gather team feedback to refine future retrospectives. For example: Team members share comments like “More time needed for ideation” or “Improve sprint goal clarity.” The organizer can pin key comments and summarize insights in the Summary tab.
Once the feedback is done, the organizer can check the Summary tab if all members have submitted their results. Then, click the FINISH RETRO button to end the retrospective and lock the outcomes.
To know more about the actions that can be performed during a retrospective meeting, click here.