I always tell my children to go through the previous question and answer sheets (upon receipt of the latter), to understand and retrospect, what they did good and what not. It gives a good indication of their strong areas, find out improvement areas and hence work on course correction. That's an examination retrospective.
Now, how many times have we argued and discussed at length about the 20:20 cricket matches post completion?
When it comes to Sprint, alas, the retrospective is not given its due importance. That 30 minutes in your sprint timebox is an investment. What should be done for an effective retrospective?
1. Plan a retrospective: (ie) Send the invite and the online form, where team members can mention the good and the bad (as cards) and even encourage the team to vote those items. That way you know which are your top issues and top winning strategies.
2. Conduct the retrospective: Encourage participation. Sometimes the leads or managers and senior team members may be more vocal than the junior members. Give opportunities for them to speak up. Ask their views. Key points to note in a retrospective are:
a. Do not make it emotional.
b. Follow a blameless culture.
3. Act on those Action Items: The key for the success of a retrospective is that the team members should know that their voices have been heard. Concerns should be noted and translated to action items. Action items should contain owner and ETA. Actions should be acted upon and the team members should see those actions implemented in the upcoming sprints. This gives team 'Hope'. It creates 'Trust'. They feel 'Important'. All necessary for employee satisfaction.
Time to check the calendar guys - block the time for the retrospective!
