How to run a remote retrospective in 5 steps 1. Boost engagement right out of the gate. Retrospectives (whether they’re remote or not) require that the entire team... 2. Start with a quick review. Now that your team is warmed up, give them some context before going into your discussion. 3. Discuss ...
- Step 1: Create an environment of psychological safety. ...
- Step 2: Figure out the agenda and logistics. ...
- Step 3: Review the recent past. ...
- Step 4: Discuss candidly, but respectfully. ...
- Step 4: Decide what you'll take action on before the next retrospective.
How do you facilitate a retrospective?
To make the retrospective effective, the facilitator shall:Establishing a open and honest culture in the meeting.Ensure that all team members participate in the meeting.Assure that the team establishes a shared understanding of how things went.Help the team to decide upon the vital few actions that they will take.
How do you run a retrospective on Microsoft teams?
Prepare the board ahead of timeSchedule a Microsoft Teams meeting.Navigate to the Teams meeting and select Whiteboard from the list at the top of the meeting. ... In the Create panel, select Templates > Retrospective, and then choose a template.Add your goals for the session, and then label everything else appropriately.More items...
How do you conduct a sprint retrospective?
How to perform a sprint retrospective in 6 stepsUse Miro's free retrospective templates. You don't need to start from scratch. ... Schedule your sprints. ... Invite your team. ... Ask the right questions. ... Work to improve your processes. ... Discuss how it went.
Should sprint retrospective be anonymous?
To gather feedback, the facilitator can either send an anonymous survey out before the meeting or make time at the beginning of the retrospective. Keep in mind that most teams usually prefer anonymity.
Which among the following is a recommended way to run retrospective?
Expert-verified answer The recommended way of running retrospectives basically entails the team meeting and discussing how they can improve their way of working and picking up one or two improvement areas for the next iteration.
How do I create a retrospective in Jira?
Four simple steps for collaborative Retrospectives:Input ideas simultaneously to recap the sprint.Create topics to group similar ideas together.Vote to prioritize ideas worth discussing.Create action items and turn them into Jira issues.
What is the difference between sprint Review & retrospective?
The key difference is that a Sprint Review focuses on improving so the team can deliver a better product, whereas a Sprint Retrospective focuses on improving the overall system so the team can work more harmoniously and find flow together.
How do you organize a retrospective meeting?
The following suggestions will help you and your team hold effective, efficient retrospective meetings.Create a safe space. ... Make retrospectives a habit. ... Don't forget to look at the positives. ... Think outside the office. ... Bring in backup. ... Sometimes your product retrospective meetings need retrospectives of their own.
Which of the following should be done first while conducting retrospective?
Start: actions we should start taking. Stop: actions we should prevent or remove. Continue: actions we should keep doing and formalize.
Should retrospective notes be publicly posted?
Doug Shimp, was asked the question: Should notes from the retrospective be posted publicly. He replies that rather than posting the notes team goals and learning's are the things to share. Even then he urges caution pointing out that some improvements taken out of context can turn into an HR issue.
How many people should be in a retro?
While a team of 6-9 participants remains the sweet spot for most, it's become increasingly more common to see retrospectives with 30 people or more. To figure out the right number of people for your retrospective, consider: How can we include anyone who might have valuable feedback?
Are retros supposed to be anonymous?
Anonymity is important in retrospectives because it helps establish trust and a feeling of psychological safety. Retrium helps you preserve anonymity and psychological safety.
What is the ideal time to conduct sprint retrospective meeting by the Agile team?
In Agile software development, a sprint retrospective meeting occurs at the conclusion of an iteration. Teams should hold a sprint retrospective after a sprint review and before the planning meeting for the next sprint.
What is the difference between sprint Review & retrospective?
The key difference is that a Sprint Review focuses on improving so the team can deliver a better product, whereas a Sprint Retrospective focuses on improving the overall system so the team can work more harmoniously and find flow together.
What is a retrospective meeting?
What is a retrospective meeting? Retrospective meetings occur at the end of a project to help teams pause and think about improving future performance. It's a safe space for reviewing the project's successes, identifying opportunities for process improvement, and solving issues that may have come up.
What is sprint retrospective meeting?
The sprint retrospective is a recurring meeting held at the end of a sprint used to discuss what went well during the previous sprint cycle and what can be improved for the next sprint. The Agile sprint retrospective is an essential part of the Scrum framework for developing, delivering, and managing complex projects.
What is remote retrospective?
A remote retrospective is simply a remote-friendly variation of the classic agile retrospective (or “sprint retrospective” in scrum terminology). Held with the help of video conferencing, the goal is for team members to reflect on what’s been working well vs. what hasn’t, then with that in mind, determine how they can improve. It’s classic continuous improvement: duplicate your successes and learn from your failures.
How to do a retrospective?
Step 1: Create an environment of psychological safety. For a retrospective to be worth the effort, the entire team must be involved. As hard as this can be due to differences in timezones, it’s critical because it sends the message that everyone is included, everyone belongs here, and everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.
How to improve a retrospective?
Take a minute at the end of the retro to discuss how it went. Be open and encourage feedback from the team, and look for ways to improve the retrospective the next time around.
Why is retrospective important?
Moreover, running regular retrospectives is particularly important for distributed teams. Without the casual water cooler chit-chat and lunchtime gripe sessions that happen organically in an office environment, issues affecting a team’s performance and morale might go unnoticed until they become downright dire. The best way to prevent that kind of pain is by making an effort to uncover problem areas while they’re still easy to address. Retrospectives are a time-honored, battle-tested way to do that.
What is the juiciest part of retrospective?
The discussion is the juiciest part of any retrospective. While it’s best to err on the side of letting it be open-ended, giving it “just enough” structure helps keep you from going off on tangents or digging too far into the minutia. Remember those formats we promised you earlier? Here are a few favorites.
What do you need for a virtual retrospective?
In an office setting, whiteboards usually serve this purpose, but in a virtual retrospective, you need some kind of digital equivalent. Miro, a popular add-on for Jira, is well-suited for this, as are Trello and Mural.
When do teams do retrospectives?
Most teams hold retrospectives bi-weekly or monthly, with a bonus retro after the completion of a major project or launch. Refresh everyone’s memory at the beginning of the session as to what work was planned, what was completed, and any surprises along the way or other significant events.
How to do a retrospective with remote team?
Here are five steps to help you ace your next retrospective with your remote team. 1. Boost engagement right out of the gate. Retrospectives (whether they’re remote or not) require that the entire team is engaged in the process.
What is a remote retrospective?
A remote retrospective is a version of the agile retrospective you’re likely familiar with. Retrospectives typically happen at the end of the sprint (hence why they’re often referred to as sprint retrospectives) and are a chance for your team to evaluate your processes, get down to root causes, and make necessary changes.
How many action items should you have on Miro board?
Most agile coaches recommend that you should aim for at least five items, but no more than 10. Once you're ready to turn ideas into action, you can convert the sticky notes to cards that can be added to a kanban so you can manage the progress of each action item.
How long should a retrospective be?
The bulk of your retrospective should be dedicated to the actual discussion. However, it’s smart to leave five minutes for icebreakers and introductions, five minutes for a quick overview of the latest sprint, and then five to 10 minutes at the end to discuss how that retrospective went – and how your next retrospective could be better.
Why is retrospective important?
Iterate more effective sprints in the future. A retrospective has one key goal: to help your team become more and more effective. You and your team will use the information gained during a retrospective to identify action items, implement improvements, and make your next sprint that much better.
How many employees participated in Miro's remote retrospective?
You’ll use video conferencing (like Zoom) and an online whiteboard to collaborate with your team. Over 300 employees participated in Miro's remote retrospective during a virtual offsite in 2020.
How to keep participants engaged in a retrospective?
Switch up your retrospective format: If you keep using the same retrospective format over and over again, your team is bound to become bored with that rinse and repeat approach. Switch things up and keep everybody on their toes. That will keep participants more interested and engaged.
Icebreakers
For your team to feel relaxed and connected, we recommend including Icebreakers - relevant exercises to achieve this state of mind. Select an activity that helps create a friendly and safe space, make sure that even the shyest will feel comfortable during the remote retrospective and eager to speak up.
Previous action points revision
Deciding to take action and actually doing it are two different things! Don’t let your team feel that online Retrospective is a waste of time. Review the items from the previous Retro and reassign or change the deadline if necessary.
Brainstorming
Right time to get all the ideas out, using the collaborative board with Retrospective questions. Encourage every team member’s participation and ask to add at least one input to each question. Offer them to mute their mics and write in silence.
Voting
Encourage team members to vote the ideas on digital stickies that they consider would be the most valuable use of time to discuss. Tools like Timbo have ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ buttons that serve this purpose well. Count the votes and sort topics in each question/column by those with the most votes.
Action Points
The most valuable asset of your Agile Retrospective. Make decisions as a team, then assign responsible members and set due dates. For scattered teams, it’s easy to lose track of it, so it’s crucial to upload them to your tasks tracking tool to hold each other accountable.
Closing
Significance of this stage might be underestimated, however finishing your Agile remote Retrospective on a good note can level up your team’s motivation and engagement. Alongside Icebreakers, Closing templates can only be found in Timbo.
Why are retrospectives important in agile?
Retrospectives are even more important during a pandemic, as teams will have to continually adjust working practices to fit ever changing circumstances. However, the tried and true methods you’ve used to run in-person meetings will inevitably change for when running remote ...
When closing a retrospective, do I do a round of verbal appreciations?
When closing the retrospective, I do a round of verbal Appreciations. It’s more important than ever that people feel appreciated for what they’re contributing, as gratitude doesn’t always come over well on video otherwise.
Why is remote retrospectives so challenging?
Remote team retrospectives can be challenging if the intent and consistency are missing. The goal, after all, is that everyone learns something from it and walks away with a fresh (and often different) perspective. The challenges include:
What is remote team retrospective?
This is a remote team retrospective challenge that arises from a lack of cohesion between cross functional teams and individual members . A team can have extraverted and introverted employees, and some who fall in-between. This can impact the uniformity and consistency with which members add to the discussion.
Why should each remote sprint retrospective have a subject to focus on?
Each remote sprint retrospective should have a subject to focus on so that everyone can stay on-topic. This is harder than it sounds, because come the retrospective, chaos reigns. Members may switch between topics or go on a different tangent.
How successful is a remote team retrospective?
A remote team retrospective stays successful only when relevant members are at the same place and time when it’s happening. Always recheck who all are in the sprint, particularly if they are newly added or released to the task from the previous sprint. Make sure that you let them know which platform you’ll be using to run the retrospective and send out invites ahead of time so that they can make themselves available to attend it.
How to treat retrospectives?
Treat the retrospective as a people engagement exercise. After all, the more comfortable your team is in presenting, the better sense their inputs make to the project as a whole. A few ways to make remote retrospectives fun for a distributed, remote team are as follows;
What is retrospective in management?
A retrospective refers to reflections, capturing the lessons learnt, mistakes made and corrections applied. It is a means for both the team and the manager overseeing their work to see what measures succeeded, failed and what must not be repeated in the future.
Why do some members miss retrospectives?
As such, some members may miss a retrospective because they’re familiar with one set of tools, which may not be what you or someone else would use. Corrective measures.
What Is a Remote Retrospective?
A remote retrospective is an online gathering of Agile team members to assess how work has progressed and to identify strengths and weaknesses in work processes. This is an online alternative to traditional retrospective meetings that take place in person.
How to help participants in remote retrospectives?
To help, provide visual cues such as using the raise-hand function in your videoconference tool, have people literally raise their hands on camera, or use cards for each person to display common needs (e.g., “I have something to say” and “I can’t hear you”).
How long should a retrospective be?
To sustain engagement, keep retrospectives for remote teams short (45 minutes to an hour), and hold them frequently. The facilitator should develop a timeline or plan for the retrospective to help keep structure.
What is retrospective in Agile?
The retrospective is a key part of Agile and Scrum project management. Typically, teams come together every two weeks to discuss how to improve, call out successes, and refine their methods. This meeting focuses on strengthening the way the team works, rather than the work product itself.
How to start a retrospective meeting?
Start with an icebreaker and/or safety check. Then choose a format that gets at the central questions of a retrospective: What worked well in the recent sprint or work period? What didn’t work well? How can we improve the process? If your team has specific struggles, you can focus on this problem in the discussion.
How to generate excitement and team spirit?
Generate excitement and team spirit by building your remote retrospective around a theme.
How often do remote teams review their work?
Review the Last Work Period: Remote teams typically hold retrospectives every two weeks or monthly, as well as at the end of a project. Recap the work period’s goals, accomplishments, and notable occurrences, such as unexpected successes and major obstacles. Typically, the entire group participates in this review, with members naming the significant events they experienced.
What is a remote retrospective?
A retrospective is based on agile methodology. It typically happens at the end of a sprint and offers an opportunity for a team to reflect on how things went. This evaluation is sometimes referred to as a sprint retrospective and is often used by scrum teams.
Tips for running a remote retrospective meeting
The goal of a retrospective is for a team to review a project and pinpoint what worked and didn’t work, look for areas of improvement, and create a list of action items. It’s not enough to just discuss. The real value lies in taking the steps to do better and enact future change.
Establish team trust and respect
A remote retrospective should be a safe virtual space where your team can comfortably vocalize their opinions. Retrospectives can quickly become heated and lead to hurt feelings and lower team morale. This is especially true for remote retrospectives when distributed teams are already feeling disconnected and isolated.
Why Stagger the Retrospective into Multiple Days?
In the interview, Danny said that the idea of breaking out the retrospective over a few days came from reading Diana Larsen’s and Esther Derby’s book Agile Retrospectives (worth picking up).
Final Thoughts on Remote Retrospectives
There are several ways you can run retrospectives remotely, and this is just one retrospective technique.
How to Prepare For The Remote Retrospective
- Set a goal of the Sprint Retrospective meeting
- Decide beforehand on Agile Retrospective format and theme
- Schedule a meeting using an app or service for video calls, like Zoom or Hangouts
- Choose one of remote Retrospective tools, based on the features you require and that is accessible for everyone, for example, Timbo
Icebreakers
- For your team to feel relaxed and connected, we recommend including Icebreakers - relevant exercises to achieve this state of mind. Select an activity that helps create a friendly and safe space, make sure that even the shyest will feel comfortable during the remote retrospective and eager to speak up.
Previous Action Points Revision
- Deciding to take action and actually doing it are two different things! Don’t let your team feel that online Retrospective is a waste of time. Review the items from the previous Retro and reassign or change the deadline if necessary.
Brainstorming
- Right time to get all the ideas out, using the collaborative board with Retrospective questions. Encourage every team member’s participation and ask to add at least one input to each question. Offer them to mute their mics and write in silence.
Voting
- Encourage team members to vote the ideas on digital stickies that they consider would be the most valuable use of time to discuss. Tools like Timbo have ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ buttons that serve this purpose well. Count the votes and sort topics in each question/column by those with the most votes.
Action Points
- The most valuable asset of your Agile Retrospective. Make decisions as a team, then assign responsible members and set due dates. For scattered teams, it’s easy to lose track of it, so it’s crucial to upload them to your tasks tracking tool to hold each other accountable.
Closing
- Significance of this stage might be underestimated, however finishing your Agile remote Retrospective on a good note can level up your team’s motivation and engagement. Alongside Icebreakers, Closing templates can only be found in Timbo. If your team can perform effective remote Retrospectives, it will make it grow and improve. Timbo will assist your team in running …