Heartbeat Team Retrospective

From all Agile ceremonies this one is the most important. If done right, it enables continuous improvement and maintains the healthy spirit of the team.

Retrospectives are best when they start with a check-in activity and end with closing. The structure of the meeting looks like this:

1. Check-in
2. Follow-up from the last Retro
3. Main Course
4. Closure

Considerations

1. Prepare for the Retrospective well:
   • Prepare Tools and Materials. If you manage to surprise team every time, they will likely to enjoy this ceremony.
   • Time. Consider the feedback collected from the last Retro. Try to make the meeting as short as possible.
   • Get in the right set of mind. Your nervousness or tension will be immediately passed to the group. Think how comforting you should be to trigger a set-up where everyone feels safe to contribute vs. how energetic you should be to give people some drive?
   • Awareness of the team state: technical and moral. Are people experiencing a severe incident that costed company billions? Are people confused and have no idea what to do?
   • Look at the last Retro outcomes. Add
   • Choose the ice-breaker of the right length and style. Go for more reserved opening when the team is in the flow and totally focused. Go for a crazy one when it’s time to “shake up” a little, forget the details and look at the big picture.
   • Decide on the Main Course. How much time do you have? How many people in the room will be present? Does it make sense to split up? How many topics will you focus at? What issues may arise during the Retro? Are there any sensitive ones? Are there topics that would require a different format?
2. Run the show. Focus on the ROTI. For that, discuss only those topics that are common for the majority or very important/painful for some. During the discussions, avoid cutting them based on your own understanding. Instead, make people aware of the time and seek for a consensus to end a conversation as soon as you feel the ROTI drops. For complex topics recommend scheduling a separate meeting.
3. Decide how you want to track action items. Sometimes it’s enough to follow-up at the next Retro, but if the problem is critical, it’s not enough.
4. Give each other feedback. Thank people for their efforts. Remind what they have done and how this is helpful. Let people who want speak up. Try not to end the meeting without letting people share their pressing thoughts. Lots of tension can be averted when everyone feel heard. Anonymous writing works too, but don’t forget to show the team that you read and act on it. You may also want to collect the feedback for ROTI. It’s not the most entertaining part of the meeting, so don’t force everyone to do it. Aim for everyone to have a nice feeling about this ritual and look forward to the next one.
   After the meeting, make a record. Make sure to capture the feedback to continuously adapt & improve in the following Retrospectives. Share with a team in a way that produces a positive emotion and fits the team culture.

Remember: trust is a keystone of the Retrospective. Don’t expect a lot of trust with a new team — oftentimes it needs to be earned over time.

Fun: