| name | retrospectives |
| description | Master sprint retrospectives with various formats, action planning, and continuous improvement techniques for team effectiveness. |
Sprint Retrospectives
Facilitate effective retrospectives that drive continuous improvement through honest reflection and actionable commitments.
When to Use This Skill
- End of each sprint
- Team improvement
- Process optimization
- Relationship building
- Learning from mistakes
- Celebrating success
- Identifying patterns
- Cultural development
Core Concepts
1. Retrospective Formats
Start-Stop-Continue:
- Start: What should we begin doing?
- Stop: What should we stop doing?
- Continue: What's working well?
Mad-Sad-Glad:
- Mad: What frustrated us?
- Sad: What disappointed us?
- Glad: What made us happy?
4Ls:
- Liked: What went well?
- Learned: What did we discover?
- Lacked: What was missing?
- Longed for: What do we wish for?
Sailboat:
- Wind (helping): What's pushing us forward?
- Anchor (hindering): What's slowing us down?
- Island (goal): Where are we heading?
- Rocks (risks): What threats exist?
2. Retrospective Agenda (90 min)
1. Set the Stage (5 min)
- Safety check
- Prime directive
- Agenda overview
2. Gather Data (15 min)
- Timeline of sprint
- Metrics review
- Individual reflection
3. Generate Insights (30 min)
- Group discussion
- Identify patterns
- Vote on themes
4. Decide What to Do (30 min)
- Brainstorm actions
- Select 1-3 improvements
- Assign owners
- Define done
5. Close the Retro (10 min)
- Summarize actions
- Retro feedback
- Appreciation
3. Action Items
## Sprint 12 Retrospective Actions
**Action 1**: Improve code review turnaround
- Owner: Bob
- What: Review PRs within 4 hours
- Success: Average review time < 4hrs
- Due: Next sprint
**Action 2**: Reduce technical debt
- Owner: Team
- What: Allocate 20% capacity to refactoring
- Success: 10 story points per sprint
- Due: Ongoing
**Action 3**: Better documentation
- Owner: Alice
- What: Update README and API docs
- Success: New dev can onboard in 1 day
- Due: Sprint 13
Best Practices
- Psychological safety - Prime directive, no blame
- Vary the format - Keep it fresh
- Focus on actionable - Concrete improvements
- Limit action items - 1-3 maximum
- Assign owners - Clear responsibility
- Track progress - Review in next retro
- Celebrate wins - Recognize achievements
- Time-box activities - Keep moving
Resources
- Agile Retrospectives: Esther Derby & Diana Larsen
- Retromat.org: 100+ retrospective activities
