A retrospective meeting is a meeting held after a project or sprint to reflect on what went well, what didn't go well, and how the team can improve in the future. It is a collaborative process that allows team members to share their feedback and ideas in a safe and supportive environment.
The length of the meeting will vary depending on the size and complexity of the project, but it is typically no longer than an hour.
How to Run a Retrospective Meeting
- Set the stage. Start by explaining the purpose of the meeting and setting some ground rules. For example, you might want to remind the team that the goal of the meeting is to identify areas for improvement and that everyone should feel comfortable sharing their feedback.
- Gather data. There are many different ways to gather data for a retrospective meeting. You might ask the team to write down their thoughts on sticky notes, or you might use a tool like a whiteboard or a shared document. FIGJAM File. Some common questions to ask include:
- What went well?
- What didn't go well?
- What could we have done differently?
- Generate insights. Once you have gathered data, it's time to start generating insights. This is where the team will work together to identify the common themes and trends in the data. You might want to use a technique like affinity clustering to help with this process.
- Decide what to do. Once you have generated insights, it's time to decide what to do about them. The team should work together to prioritize the areas for improvement and develop a plan to address them.
- Close the meeting. End the meeting by summarizing the key takeaways and discussing the next steps.
Additional tips for running an effective retrospective meeting:
- Keep it positive. The goal of the retrospective meeting is to identify areas for improvement, not to dwell on the past. Encourage the team to focus on finding solutions to the problems that were identified.
- Be specific. When the team is generating insights and deciding what to do, encourage them to be as specific as possible. This will help to ensure that the action plan is clear and achievable.
- Follow up. After the retrospective meeting, it's important to follow up on the action plan. Make sure that the team is on track to implement the changes that were agreed upon.