How To Make Your Sprint Retrospectives Fun and Productive
- Play retrospective games. This is always a fun one! Keep your team engaged and motivated by playing games that pertain to your meeting.
- Make it into a party! Okay, not the type of party where there is loud music and booze flowing. ...
- Bring in “Guest Speakers”. This may not seem like it would improve motivation and productivity, but by bringing in people from other branches of the company, or even from other ...
- Create awards. This can be a very fun way to congratulate your team on a job well done. ...
Full Answer
What are some good sprint retrospective idea questions?
Sprint retrospective idea questions 1 How do I make my team more engaged during retrospectives? ... 2 How can I make my retrospective fun? A fun retrospective is a good retrospective. ... 3 What are the most common types of sprint retrospectives?
What are the best retrospective ideas for your team?
Like with most of the other retrospective ideas, you’ll need to group similar themes and decide which ones should be actioned on in your next sprint. 4. Sailboat There’s nothing like a good metaphor to host an effective retrospective and keep your team engaged, and that’s exactly what the sailboat retrospective does.
How do you do a retrospective sprint in Miro?
Everybody will take time to write their observations about the last sprint on sticky notes (digital sticky notes work too!). Then, they’ll place them in the appropriate section of the whiteboard based on how that observation makes them feel: mad, sad, or glad. Use the Mad, Sad, Glad retrospective template in Miro.
What are the best tools for Sprint retrospectives?
In this post, you’ll get five simple sprint retrospective ideas, along with templates for each. Although the majority tools traditionally used for sprint retrospectives (whiteboards, sticky notes) lend themselves to co-located teams, the rise of the remote worker means that more retrospectives are happening in the digital realm as well.
How do you make a sprint retrospective interesting?
Write down what the team's vision and goals are. Ask the team to record on sticky notes things that they felt helped the sprint move forward or slowed it down. Place the sticky notes either on the sail or below the boat, indicating that they are anchors or wind. Write down the ideas within the area of risks as well.
How do you use retrospective fun?
22:5348:10Fun Retrospective Ideas For Remote Teams | Virtual Community - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipMore fun when they're also I'm sorry no and I also thank changing who facilitates which room is isMoreMore fun when they're also I'm sorry no and I also thank changing who facilitates which room is is another fun way to do it. Team members take turns.
How can I spice up my retrospective?
40 ideas to spice up your retrospectiveSet the Stage: make sure everyone feels safe and is in in the retro.Gather The Data: what happened, make sure everyone has the same picture.Generate Insights: analyze the data to find root causes.Decide What To Do: what are experiments that could help us to improve 1% a day.More items...•
How do you do a retrospective interactive?
How to run a remote retrospective with your teamStep 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.More items...•
What is a fun retrospective?
The one word retrospective is a fun and straight-to-the-point game where each team member sums up their feelings about the past iteration in one word. As the team members say their words, the facilitator jots them down on a flip chart.
How can you prevent boredom at retrospectives?
Making sure there's room for everyone to reflect and speak. Creating safety for people to speak up in. Having different kinds of retrospectives. Having different people in the retrospectives (like other teams you work alongside)
What is a starfish retrospective?
The Starfish retrospective is a technique developed by Patrick Kua to help teams reflect on varying degrees of actions and activities rather than simply the traditional what went well or what did not go well.
What should I say in retrospective meeting?
Questions to ask when closing a sprint retrospectiveCan you reiterate the most important thing you learned today?How are you feeling about our next sprint now that we've identified these issues?Is anyone confused or unclear on any of the items we discussed today?Do all of our next steps make sense?More items...•
What do you discuss in a retrospective meeting?
Definition: A retrospective is a meeting held after a product ships to discuss what happened during the product development and release process, with the goal of improving things in the future based on those learnings and conversations.
What are the 3 retrospective questions?
Three things you can do todayWhat went well (keep doing these things)What could be improved (went OK, but could be better)What went badly (don't do these things again)Focus for next period/sprint/month/quarter (One or two things to focus on)
How do you make Agile fun?
To make a retrospective in Agile fun, add variety, and try new activities frequently. This helps you prevent your retrospective meeting from becoming monotonous. As a facilitator, you'll find that people are both more engaged and more relaxed when a retrospective is fun.
How do you play retrospective bingo?
0:409:05Agile Retrospectives Bingo demo by Ben Linders - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd if they see some kind of behavior. That's mentioned on the cart. They will put a coin on thatMoreAnd if they see some kind of behavior. That's mentioned on the cart. They will put a coin on that behavior. And once they got a row on the bingo. Card they will shout out bingo.
How do you make Agile fun?
To make a retrospective in Agile fun, add variety, and try new activities frequently. This helps you prevent your retrospective meeting from becoming monotonous. As a facilitator, you'll find that people are both more engaged and more relaxed when a retrospective is fun.
What is a retrospective exercise?
In retrospectives, teams commonly use one of a number of exercises to reflect on the work that they did, analyze what happened and why, and define improvement actions for the next iteration. These actions imply that they will change their way of working.
What are different retrospective techniques?
Start, Stop, Continue is one of the most popular retrospective techniques, and for good reason. Whether you are using the traditional Scrum sprint model or just starting to implement retrospective Start Stop Continue is a great way to examine the systems and habits of the team, as well as reprioritize team goals.
What do you say in a retrospective meeting?
Questions to ask when closing a sprint retrospectiveCan you reiterate the most important thing you learned today?How are you feeling about our next sprint now that we've identified these issues?Is anyone confused or unclear on any of the items we discussed today?Do all of our next steps make sense?More items...•
Same old sprint? Refresh with some new retrospective ideas
Here are some scary statistics: 91% of employees admit that they’ve daydreamed during meetings. Another 39% admit that they’ve even dozed off.
10 best sprint retrospective ideas to keep your team engaged
You want to switch things up for your next retrospective, but you aren’t sure where to start. Here are 10 different retrospective techniques you can use to boost engagement and enthusiasm during your sprint review.
Enable your team to get the most out of new retrospectives
The above exercises will help your team check-in with each other, evaluate their latest sprint, and drill down to root causes.
Sprint retrospective idea questions
We’ve covered tons of great retrospective ideas that will boost learning and engagement in your next retrospective. Still have questions? We have answers to some retrospective FAQs.
What is a sprint retrospective?
A sprint retrospective is a type of meeting within the Agile framework that happens at the end of each sprint. During a sprint retrospective, teams reflect on what went well and what could be improved for their next sprint.
Who needs a sprint retrospective?
If your team uses Scrum, you should conduct a retrospective at the end of each sprint. Scrum is a type of Agile methodology most commonly used by product, engineering, or software development teams. However, any team that wants to build and iterate quickly can benefit from using Scrum and conducting regular sprint retrospectives.
Who attends a sprint retrospective?
Only immediate team members who worked on tasks during the past sprint should attend a sprint retrospective. This includes the Scrum master (aka the Scrum team leader) who facilitates the meeting, individual team members, and sometimes the product owner.
Why is a sprint retrospective important?
Continuous improvement over time is a core principle of the Scrum framework. That’s why a retrospective is built into each sprint—so the Scrum team always has an opportunity to record and incorporate their learnings into the next sprint.
Sprint retrospective meeting agenda
There isn’t one way to run a sprint retrospective meeting. Over time you’ll learn what works best for your team, and you can tailor and refine your sprint retrospective agenda accordingly. Creating a standard agenda template makes it easy to share with your team and collect feedback in advance.
Common pitfalls of sprint retrospectives, plus solutions
Sprint retrospective meetings can be difficult to navigate, especially if it’s your first time planning one. Here are some common pitfalls to watch out for—plus solutions to stop them in their tracks.
Sprint to the finish
Sprint retrospectives are essential to continuously improve your sprint process. As you plan your next retro, check out our free sprint retrospective template. That way, you can be sure to tackle each key step—plus ensure your team can easily collaborate throughout the Scrum retrospective process.
Strengths-based or Winning Streak
Celebrating strengths and successes are great ways to motivate a team. In winning streak retros, thoughts are shared to maintain progress, celebrate, and share feedback for improvements.
Mountain Climber
This is the best way to encourage each team member to speak up and participate. It builds a creative mindset and each team member gets an opportunity to think of the big picture. Here, teams definitely think out of the box and present ideas.
Each One Meets All
Here, team members who are hesitant to talk in larger groups tend to speak up because team members are distributed into small groups. Breakout rooms in Zoom work best for this technique. It builds a comfort zone for team members and makes the team stronger.
Basketball
Sports lovers will definitely like this technique. Here, team members collectively come with individual skills, solve problems, and identify improvements to complete the sprint goal.
Three Little Pigs
This technique brings out the child-like nature in each team member by recollecting the childhood fable. It brings a jovial atmosphere to help the team analyze what features worked during the sprint, what risks were encountered, and how to achieve sprint goals in a solid way.
Energy Levels
It charges up the team by accessing how energy was used during the sprint. This technique works best by adding some desktop yoga movements and asking questions to adjust energy resources to avoid burnout and keep the team motivated.
Baking Danish
Food is the best topic to gain everyone’s attention. With this technique, teams discuss what ingredients worked well (what went well), what spice to drop (what should be omitted), and tips for successful recipes. It brings a sense of belonging and expresses gratitude.
What Is a Sprint Retrospective
Sprint retrospectives usually happen after the Sprint Review and before the next Sprint Planning. They help a Scrum team review its process and identify opportunities to improve it.
Challenges Ahead of a Sprint Retrospective
Sprint Retrospectives are a golden opportunity for your team to express themselves. It's imperative that we learn how to listen to them. They are the primary "indicators" of the success of the project delivery.
The Value of a Sprint Retrospective
Through my experience as an Engagement Manager at OutSystems, I've discovered that many agile leaders, including myself, in the beginning, don't understand the true value of Sprint Retrospectives.
Sprint Retrospective Ideas: Tips for an Effective Meeting
Before I share the template I use in my scrum retrospectives, I'd like to introduce the questions that are the foundation of its structure.
Conclusion
Sprint Retrospectives can help you motivate your team by providing them the opportunity to speak up, share their ideas, and be heard. Perhaps they wouldn't share using the classic good/better approach, and you’d be losing a lot of great ideas.
Games At The Beginning Of Retrospective
Retrospective games at the beginning of the meeting serve either as an ice breaker or as a way to gauge how the team feels about retrospectives in general.
Games During Sprint Retrospective
The primary goal of the agile retrospective games that are conducted during the retrospective is to gather as many insights into team performance and struggles as possible for future analysis.
Games At the End Of Retrospective
Properly ending the retrospective is as crucial as starting or conducting it. The main objective at the end of the retrospective is to come up with an actionable list of items that the team can execute during the next sprint to improve their efficiency.
Facilitators need to get the team talking during the sprint retrospective
The main thing that makes a retrospective effective is the quality of the conversion and feedback that the team provides. A quiet team yields a lackluster discussion, bland insights, and an uninspiring meeting.
Facilitate a retrospective like a pro with these 8 tips
A facilitator can really shape how fun and effective a sprint retrospective is. When facilitators lack the skills, a retrospective can feel like a waste of time at best and an actively difficult experience at worst.
What Is a Sprint Retrospective?
A sprint retrospective gives the entire team a moment of introspection. They can stop and look back on the sprint, discuss what happened, analyze the way they worked together, identify how it might have been improved and then make plans to implement those improvements in the next sprint.
Key Elements of an Effective Sprint Retrospective
The sprint retrospective has some essentials that are needed to keep it productive.
Seven New Ideas to Re-energize Your Sprint Retrospective
Scrum is always looking for improvements. It’s not scared of change; it embraces it. With that spirit in mind, let us end with suggestions to improve your sprint retrospective.
