michaelsvanbeek/retrospectives

Retrospectives

When to Use

• Running a sprint retrospective
• Facilitating a quarterly or project-level retrospective
• Choosing a retro format for a specific team situation
• Following up on retro action items
• Recognizing patterns across multiple retros
• Improving a team's retro culture when retros feel stale or unproductive

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Core Principles

1. Psychological safety first — People must feel safe to be honest. No blame, no retaliation.
2. Actionable outcomes — Every retro produces 1–3 concrete action items with owners and deadlines.
3. Variety keeps engagement — Rotate formats to prevent retro fatigue.
4. Follow through — Start every retro by reviewing last retro's action items. Nothing kills retro culture faster than ignored actions.
5. Timebox — 60 minutes for a sprint retro, 90 minutes for a quarterly retro. Respect the clock.

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Sprint Retrospective (60 minutes)

Standard Flow

| Time | Activity | |------|----------| | 0:00–0:05 | Check-in: Review previous action items — completed? In progress? Dropped? | | 0:05–0:10 | Set the stage: State the retro format, remind of ground rules | | 0:10–0:30 | Gather data: Team writes and shares observations (format-dependent) | | 0:30–0:45 | Generate insights: Group, discuss, and prioritize themes | | 0:45–0:55 | Decide actions: Pick 1–3 action items with owners and due dates | | 0:55–1:00 | Close: Quick round — one word for how you feel about the sprint |

Ground Rules (share at start)

• What's said in retro stays in retro
• Focus on process and systems, not individuals
• Everyone participates — no spectators
• Disagree respectfully; assume good intent
• The goal is improvement, not venting

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Retro Formats

Rotate formats every 2–4 sprints to keep things fresh.

1. Start / Stop / Continue

Best for: General-purpose, new teams, quick retros

| Column | Prompt | |--------|--------| | Start | What should we start doing that we're not doing? | | Stop | What should we stop doing because it's not helping? | | Continue | What's working well that we should keep doing? |

2. 4Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For)

Best for: After a major release or project milestone

| Column | Prompt | |--------|--------| | Liked | What did you enjoy or appreciate? | | Learned | What did you learn this sprint? | | Lacked | What was missing or insufficient? | | Longed For | What do you wish you had? |

3. Mad / Sad / Glad

Best for: Emotional check-in after a tough sprint, or when morale seems low

| Column | Prompt | |--------|--------| | Mad | What frustrated you? | | Sad | What disappointed you? | | Glad | What made you happy? |

4. Sailboat

Best for: Visual thinkers, identifying forces helping and hindering the team

Draw a sailboat:

• Wind (sails): What propelled us forward?
• Anchor: What held us back?
• Rocks (underwater): What risks do we see ahead?
• Island (destination): Where are we trying to go?

5. Timeline

Best for: Quarterly retros or after a long project

Create a timeline of the sprint/quarter. Team adds sticky notes for:

• Highs (green) — moments of success or energy
• Lows (red) — moments of frustration or failure
• Key events (blue) — incidents, launches, decisions

Discuss patterns in the timeline.

6. One-Word Check-In + Fishbowl

Best for: Large teams (8+), deep-dive on a specific topic

1. Everyone shares one word describing the sprint
2. Facilitator picks the dominant theme
3. 3–4 volunteers discuss in a "fishbowl" (inner circle) while others observe
4. Outer circle can rotate in

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Quarterly Retrospective (90 minutes)

Purpose

A quarterly retro looks at patterns across sprints, not individual sprint issues. It's about systemic improvements.

Agenda

| Time | Activity | |------|----------| | 0:00–0:10 | Review quarterly OKR scores and delivery metrics | | 0:10–0:20 | Review action items from previous quarterly retro | | 0:20–0:50 | Timeline exercise across the quarter — highs, lows, key events | | 0:50–1:10 | Theme discussion — What patterns do we see? What systemic issues? | | 1:10–1:25 | Action items — 2–4 systemic improvements with owners | | 1:25–1:30 | Close — Appreciation round (each person appreciates one teammate) |

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Action Item Tracking

Format

## Retro Action Items — Sprint [N] / Q[N]

| # | Action | Owner | Due Date | Status |
|---|--------|-------|----------|--------|
| 1 | [Action] | @name | YYYY-MM-DD | Open |
| 2 | [Action] | @name | YYYY-MM-DD | Open |
| 3 | [Action] | @name | YYYY-MM-DD | Open |

Rules

• Max 3 action items per retro — More than 3 won't get done
• Every action has an owner — Shared ownership means no ownership
• Every action has a due date — "Sometime" means never
• Review at next retro — First agenda item, every time
• Track completion rate — If <50% of actions complete, you have a follow-through problem

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Facilitation Tips

1. Rotate the facilitator — Don't always facilitate yourself as EM. Give team members the opportunity.
2. Use a timer — Visible countdown keeps discussions on track.
3. Silent brainstorming first — Give 5 minutes of silent writing before discussion. This prevents anchoring and gives introverts space.
4. Dot vote for prioritization — Each person gets 3 votes to place on themes. Discuss the top 2–3.
5. Remote-friendly tools — Use a collaborative whiteboard tool (Miro, FigJam, or equivalent) for distributed teams.
6. As the manager, speak last — Your opinions carry weight; let the team share first.

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Anti-Patterns

| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Better Approach | |-------------|---------|----------------| | Same format every time | Team tunes out, engagement drops | Rotate formats every 2–4 sprints | | No action items | Retro becomes a venting session | Always end with 1–3 actions with owners | | Actions never reviewed | Trust in the retro process erodes | Start every retro reviewing last retro's actions | | Manager dominates | Team stops sharing honestly | Manager speaks last, facilitator rotates | | Blame individuals | Kills psychological safety | Focus on process and systems, not people | | Skipping retros | Problems compound, morale drops | Retros are non-negotiable; reschedule, don't cancel | | Too many action items | Nothing gets done | Cap at 3; do fewer things well |