How do your Retrospective meetings look like?
Hi everyone, I'm curious to know how do you organize your retrospective meetings? Did you re-organize your retros due to the pandemic? What problems did you encounter?
Hi everyone, I'm curious to know how do you organize your retrospective meetings? Did you re-organize your retros due to the pandemic? What problems did you encounter?
We give everyone a few minutes to think of something that went well, and something we should improve about the past 2 week Sprint. Then discuss those points. Pretty simple process, honestly it often derails pretty quickly though.
I would say it got more difficult with WFH, you don't see as easily what people are feeling but not saying.
I feel you, retro meetings are difficult to plan remotely, especially via zoom meetings where people can't speak out properly. Have you ever thought about implementing tools for remote retros?
The exact template I use:
XYZ Retrospective
Quick Review
Summarize all notable events since the last retrospective. Share updates on initiatives, key metrics, and anecdotes. Compare the current timeline and deliverables with what was originally planned.
Positive Highlights
What went well? Were any special milestones accomplished? Let each team member contribute.
Reflect on Roadblocks
What went wrong? Did any unforeseen obstacles arise? Identify the root cause of each one. Allow each team member to contribute. And remember, this isn't a blame game—focus on continuous improvement.
Room for Improvement
What were the main lessons from the roadblocks discussed? How can we solve each issue and improve?
Other Important Feedback
Summarize any other valuable discussion points. It does not have to be directly related to the retrospective's main topic.
Main Takeaways
What were the main insights from this retrospective meeting? Include key decisions, plans, and any opportunities or concerns that should be shared with key stakeholders.
Take Action
Clarify next steps, who's completing them, how we will measure them, and when they should be done by. Note this information here to share and assign.
Follow-Up
How will we keep in touch and stay up-to-date about progress? When is the next retrospective?
Looks like an efficient template, nice one! Do you use a collaborative tool (like Google docs) so that your team can fill the retro easily?
I'm actually building a collaborative tool to do exactly this - Hugo.Team!
Hope you check it out:)
Using specific tools make retrospective quite easy and enjoyable, even in remote setting. I use Retrium for retrospective at work and it is quite well designed. We use the "what went well and what didn't go well" format. I imagine it would be quite difficult to organize retrospective with only zoom/google meets.
Thanks for the feedback! What's your opinion of Retrium?
Does anyone do a retro as an indie hacker? I do them at work but it's not something I carry over to my own projects. I'm indie.