How to facilitate the best Sprint Retrospective meeting your team will love

Summary

In this informative video, agile coach Yinka addresses the common complaint of excessive meetings in agile teams, focusing on the importance of well-facilitated retrospectives. She provides practical tips for scrum masters to prepare, engage the team, gather data, and derive actionable improvements. Yinka emphasizes the need for variety in meeting formats to maintain team interest and concludes with the importance of feedback to refine the retrospective process, ensuring meetings are effective and valued by the team.

Takeaways

• 😀 Agile teams often feel there are too many meetings, but the real issue is that many meetings are not facilitated effectively.
• 📅 As a Scrum Master, your role is crucial in facilitating structured and repetitive meetings such as daily scrums, retrospectives, reviews, and planning sessions.
• 🌟 The key to a successful retrospective meeting is preparation, including choosing a format that engages the team and varies from one retrospective to another.
• 🔍 Facilitators should use different formats for each retrospective to keep the process fresh and engaging, avoiding predictability and boredom.
• 📝 During a retrospective, start by setting the stage with a check-in to ensure everyone is present and ready to participate.
• 💡 Gathering data effectively involves giving team members time to write down what went well and what didn't, followed by a group discussion to generate insights.
• 🔑 It's important to focus on areas of improvement that are actionable and assign accountability to team members for implementing changes.
• 🛠️ Retrospectives should end with clear action items that outline who is responsible for what improvement and when it will be addressed.
• 📊 Prioritizing improvement items is essential, especially when there are many to choose from, to ensure the team focuses on the most impactful changes.
• 🔄 Encourage the team to consider not only fixing what's not working well but also enhancing what's already working well to further strengthen team performance.
• 📊 Ending the retrospective with a feedback loop, such as a rating system, helps to continuously improve the meeting structure and effectiveness.

Q & A

What is a common complaint about agile meetings?

A common complaint is that there are too many meetings in agile, but in reality, the issue is often that the meetings are not facilitated properly, leading to a lack of purpose and effectiveness.

What is the role of a Scrum Master in facilitating meetings?

The Scrum Master's role is to ensure that meetings are effective, well-prepared, and engaging for team members, helping them to love and look forward to the meetings.

Why are some agile teams lacking momentum in meeting participation?

Some agile teams lack momentum in meeting participation because the meetings may not be facilitated properly, leading to a lack of clear objectives and a sense of wasted time.

What is the purpose of the retrospective meeting in a Scrum framework?

The purpose of the retrospective meeting is to reflect on the past Sprint, discuss what went well and what didn't, and identify improvements for future work.

Why is it important to prepare for a retrospective meeting?

Preparation is important to ensure that the meeting has a clear structure and format, which helps in achieving its objectives and making it valuable for the team.

What can be done to make retrospective meetings more engaging?

To make retrospective meetings more engaging, the Scrum Master can change the format of the meeting for each retrospective, keeping it fresh and interesting for the team.

What is a good source for finding different retrospective formats?

FunRetrospectives.com is recommended as a source for finding different retrospective formats that can be used to rotate and keep meetings engaging.

What is the significance of setting the stage at the beginning of a retrospective meeting?

Setting the stage ensures that all participants are checked in and present, creating an environment conducive to a productive and focused discussion.

How can a Scrum Master gather data during a retrospective meeting?

A Scrum Master can gather data by using various formats such as 'What went well,' 'What didn't go well,' and 'What can we improve,' allowing team members to write down their thoughts and then discuss them.

Why is it crucial to assign action items at the end of a retrospective meeting?

Assigning action items is crucial as it translates the discussion into concrete steps and responsibilities, ensuring that the team follows through on the identified improvements.

How should a Scrum Master close out a retrospective meeting?

A Scrum Master should close out a retrospective meeting by gathering feedback from the team on the effectiveness of the meeting, rating it, and sharing something fun or light-hearted to end on a positive note.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Optimizing Agile Meetings

The paragraph discusses the common complaint about too many meetings in agile teams and clarifies that the issue often lies with meetings being unstructured and repetitive. The speaker emphasizes the importance of proper facilitation to ensure meetings are effective and not just frequent. As a Scrum Master, the role is to make meetings engaging and valuable, with a focus on the retrospective meeting, which is the subject of the episode. The speaker promises to teach how to conduct a successful retrospective that team members will look forward to.

05:01

📝 Preparing for Effective Retrospectives

This section of the script focuses on the importance of preparation for a retrospective meeting. It suggests that the lack of preparation often leads to unproductive meetings. The speaker advises changing the format of the retrospective for each Sprint to keep it engaging and to ensure that the team remains actively involved. The paragraph also recommends using resources like funretrospectives.com to find different formats and stresses the need for facilitators to be well-prepared to achieve the meeting's objectives.

10:01

🤝 Kicking Off the Retrospective with a Check-In

The paragraph outlines the process of starting a retrospective meeting with a check-in to ensure all participants are present mentally. It suggests various methods for setting the stage, such as checking in on people's emotions or asking reflective questions. The goal is to create a relaxed environment where team members feel comfortable discussing the Sprint's successes and areas for improvement. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of gathering data through different formats and starting the conversation by documenting what went well and what didn't.

15:02

🛠 From Discussion to Actionable Improvements

This section discusses the transition from identifying what went well and what didn't to deciding on actionable improvements. It encourages teams to consider both strengthening their successes and addressing weaknesses. The speaker advises assigning accountability for each improvement item and determining a timeline for when these improvements will be addressed. The importance of not ending the meeting without clear action items is highlighted, as this is what will make the retrospective meaningful and valuable to the team.

🌟 Closing the Retrospective on a High Note

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of closing the retrospective effectively by gathering feedback from the team. It suggests using a rating scale to gauge the success of the meeting and discussing what could be improved for future sessions. The speaker also recommends ending the retrospective with a light-hearted activity, like sharing a joke or high fives, to leave the team feeling positive and accomplished. The goal is to continually refine the retrospective process and ensure that team members look forward to these meetings as opportunities for growth and improvement.

Keywords

💡Agile

Agile is a methodology for project management and product development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. In the context of the video, Agile is the overarching framework within which the team operates, and it is the reason why meetings like the retrospective are held to improve processes continuously.

💡Meetings

Meetings in this script refer to gatherings of team members to discuss and collaborate on projects. The script addresses the common complaint about 'too many meetings' in Agile environments, suggesting that the issue is often due to poor facilitation rather than the number of meetings themselves.

💡Scrum Master

A Scrum Master is a role in Agile development responsible for facilitating Scrum ceremonies and ensuring that the team follows Agile principles. In the video, the Scrum Master's role is highlighted as crucial in making meetings effective and engaging for the team.

💡Retrospective

Retrospective is an Agile ceremony where team members reflect on the past Sprint, discussing what went well and what could be improved. The script emphasizes the importance of conducting a retrospective effectively to foster team growth and satisfaction.

💡Facilitate

To facilitate in this context means to lead or make easier the progress of a meeting or process. The script suggests that proper facilitation can transform meetings from being perceived as burdensome to being valuable and engaging.

💡Participation

Participation refers to the active involvement of team members in meetings. The script notes that low momentum in participation can be a sign of ineffective meetings, and a Scrum Master's role is to ensure that meetings are engaging enough for full participation.

💡Format

Format in the script refers to the structure or arrangement of the retrospective meeting. The speaker advises changing the format for each retrospective to keep the meeting engaging and to prevent predictability that can lead to disinterest.

💡Action Items

Action items are specific tasks or steps that result from a meeting, which team members agree to undertake. The script stresses the importance of identifying clear action items during the retrospective to ensure that the meeting has a tangible impact on future work.

💡Check-in

A check-in is a method of beginning a meeting where each participant shares their current state or mood. The script describes using a check-in to ensure that everyone is present and engaged before starting the retrospective discussion.

💡Improvement

Improvement in the script refers to the process of identifying areas where the team can do better and deciding on steps to make those changes. It is a key outcome of the retrospective meeting, with the team discussing both what went well and what didn't to drive continuous improvement.

💡Accountability

Accountability is the responsibility for actions or decisions, and in the context of the script, it refers to team members taking ownership of the improvements identified in the retrospective. Assigning accountability for action items is presented as a critical step in ensuring that improvements are actually implemented.

💡Feedback

Feedback in this context is the information gathered from team members about their experience and thoughts on the retrospective meeting. The script highlights the importance of closing the retrospective with feedback to continuously improve the meeting's format and effectiveness.

Highlights

Agile teams often feel there are too many meetings, but the real issue is often poor facilitation.

Scrum Masters play a crucial role in facilitating effective meetings that team members look forward to.

The importance of changing the format of retrospective meetings to keep them engaging and fresh.

Retrospectives should be structured to reflect on the sprint and plan improvements, not just as a therapy session.

Preparation for retrospective meetings is key to achieving their objectives and avoiding perceived waste of time.

Using different formats for retrospectives can increase team engagement and prevent predictability.

FunRetrospectives.com is recommended for finding various formats to keep retrospectives dynamic.

Setting the stage for a retrospective meeting ensures that everyone is present and ready to participate.

Gathering data effectively during retrospectives involves giving team members time to write down their thoughts.

Grouping similar thoughts during retrospectives helps in identifying common areas of success and improvement.

Celebrating successes during retrospectives boosts team morale and acknowledges good work.

Discussing what didn't go well in a structured manner helps in understanding and addressing issues.

Identifying areas for improvement should be followed by assigning responsibility and timelines for action.

Action items from retrospectives are vital for making the meeting meaningful and impactful.

Prioritizing improvement items helps in focusing on the most crucial changes for the next sprint.

Getting feedback at the end of a retrospective is essential for continuous improvement of the meeting format.

Ending a retrospective on a positive note with a joke or fun activity leaves the team feeling energized.

The transcript emphasizes the importance of Scrum Masters in facilitating effective and engaging retrospectives.

Transcripts

if there is one thing you're going to

hear over and over again from any agile

team it'll be this one thing there are

too many meetings in agile now this is

not entirely true in reality what

they're trying to say is there are too

many many less meetings that are going

on and so we're tired of having all of

the scrappy meetings in agile we have

structured meetings that are repetitive

so you have your scrum events like the

daily scrum the retrospective the review

and the planning that happens over and

over again now this is different from

being too many meetings in agile but one

major reason why many people tend to say

that there are too many meters in agile

is really because many of these meetings

are not facilitated properly so at the

end of the day people gather and the

whole purpose and objective of gathering

is not even achieved and so they're

interpreted as there are too many

meetings in agile and that's why you

find out that some agile teams they're

low momentum when it comes to people

attending and actually participating in

this meetings but as a scrum Master Your

Role is to facilitate and ensure that

you have an effective meetings that your

team members will get to love and that's

what today's episode is all about in

today's episode I am going to be

teaching you how to fastly take the best

retrospective meeting that your teams

will get to love and they will look

forward to every spring so if you're

interested in this topic make sure you

hang around till the very end but before

we Dive Right In let's get some

introduction for those that are stepping

in for the first time

foreign

[Music]

hi guys welcome back to this YouTube

channel my name is yinka and I am an

actual coach with over 10 years of

experience my goal of having this

channel is to create an opportunity for

you guys to learn the tools and the

techniques to become successful in the

scrum Master role so if you're not

aspiring scrum master or you are a new

scrum Master then this channel is

definitely for you so make sure you

subscribe make sure you like and share

with your friends now let's get back

into the episode we are talking about

the retrospective event and this is one

of the events that happens in any scrum

team this is the very last event that

you're going to facilitate as a scrum

Master before a new Sprint kicks off now

you have to end your Sprint with a bang

this is one meeting that you facilitate

from start to finish so it's very

important that if you want to have an

effective meeting if you want your team

members to love your meeting and crave

it and look forward to it over and over

again the first thing I'm going to

encourage you to do is to prepare for

this meetings one of the reasons why we

have many less meetings is because many

times the facilitators of those meetings

do not prepare you have to prepare for

every event you have to prepare for

every meeting if you want to realize the

objective of that meeting now

retrospective is one of those meetings

that many scrum teams don't find

valuable that feel like it's a waste of

time we got ourselves together just to

talk a bunch of things I've actually

heard a few people say is this meant to

be a therapy session

oh lord it's not a therapy session this

is meant to be one of the best meetings

that we're having because this is the

opportunity for us to reflect on our

screen to reflect on the things we've

done and then come up with how we can

improve but when this meeting is not

facilitated properly it comes across

like a waste of time to many agile teams

but we're gonna fix all of that today so

I want you to prepare for this meeting

before you have your retrospective

meeting take a step back and figure out

what you want to do what type of format

do you want to have there are multiple

formats that are out there and it's

important for you to always change your

format for every retro so that your team

can find the phone and they can get

really engaged because if you use the

same format every retro then it gets

boring because it's predictable people

know that every time they're gonna come

up show up and then talk about what went

well what didn't go well and what we can

do better and after a while it just gets

really mundane and they're not quite

interested and at the end of the day the

whole objective which is for us to

improve the way we work is actually

really lost because every time it'll be

oh what went well okay this went well

what didn't go well this didn't go well

what can we improve same old thing and

it suddenly starts to lose his value but

as a scrum Master if you prepare ahead

of time and change the format every

retrospective you'll find out that

because the questions are different

there's a increased level in engagement

and then because people don't know what

to look forward to then they are fully

present so please prepare the format

that you're going to have before you get

started for your retro now if you're

looking for you know tips on where to go

to to kind of find different

retrospective formats I'll recommend fun

retrospectives.com for you at for

retrospectors you find different formats

I think they have over 40 formats they

can always pick from and then rotate

Sprint after spring and obviously even

if you come back to another format maybe

three weeks down the line or three

Sprints down the line people might not

really notice right as long as it's not

the same thing that you're doing back to

back so you can always like get maybe

your top five or your top 10 and then

rotate those as you deem feed okay so

prepare for that meeting understand the

format that you want to have and then

when you eventually show up show up like

that's something I like to say show up

so that you can you know get the best

out of that meeting now when your

retrospective kicks off like when you

are in the retrospective meeting I would

encourage you to use this format so that

way you can keep your retrospective

meeting structure now once everybody

shows up the faster I'd like you to do

will be for you to set the stage and

basically when you're setting the stage

what you're doing is to ensure that

everyone is actually checked in into the

retrospective because a lot of times

when people show up for this meetings

and they're not really present you know

they're there you can see they're there

but their mind is not there they might

not even be paying attention or they're

not even really interested but once you

set the stage then you ensure that

everyone is actually present you

recognize everyone being active and you

just set this date for us actually get

started now there are different ways for

you to do this you can check in on

people's emotions right you can get

started by saying you know what is the

mood of everyone like you know and then

you can go around the room where

everyone kind of shares their mood you

know even on your board many times when

Zoo meetings this day so you can have a

board where you have different smiley

faces and you ask people to pick their

mood now some people can say you know

today it's a smiley day I'm happy today

today I'm not so interested today you

know I'm learning the best of moods

whatever it is that way you actually get

people to be relaxed you get people to

settle in while you know everyone is

actually present also another way for

you to set the stick can actually be for

you to ask questions you know you can

ask questions like if you are not here

today where would you rather be you know

that way he gives people to actually

think off work and some of them could be

like oh I'd rather be in Hawaii right

now or I'd rather be bad or I'd rather

be doing something different right and

that way people are able to smile people

are able to laugh and people are really

able to rely relax and that's what you

want you want people to be relaxed

because we're about to talk about you

know key things that we experience on

the last screen and you definitely want

people to be checked in you want people

to be present you want people to be

alert and you want people to actually be

you know interactive and committed to

this retrospective so it's always

important for you to always start your

meeting with a check-in and that way

you're really setting that environment

and setting the stage for this

conversation to kick off now once you

set the stage and everyone is checked in

then you want to get started and at this

point you want to start Gathering the

data and this is where you would have

prepared ahead of time to understand the

format that you want to use now in some

situations you're going to have some

scrum Masters that will start by saying

hey what went well the Springs what did

not go well this spring what can we do

to improve now that could be your way of

gathering data there are other ways that

you could also gather data there are

different formats there's the concept of

the four else where you have what did

you love about the Springs what did you

learn and what did you lack in the

Sprint you know there are different

formats that you can use the goal is for

you to always change that format every

Sprint and beforehand decide what format

you want to use for that retrospective

so once you set the stage you want to

start Gathering the data so once you

decide what format you're going to use

let's assume that this time we're going

to use what went well what did not go

well and what can we do to improve but

you want to kick off the conversation by

asking the team members to write things

that they feel went well this spring

give them about two to three minutes to

do that okay once they're done with that

you can have them move to what did not

go well give them another two to three

minutes to do that and then you can go

to the last part which is what can we do

to improve or you can actually even

pause and just start with those two

sections then gather the insights where

we're actually discussing the things

that went well the first point is just

for them to kind of document that on the

board okay so for example you're gonna

have every team member document things

that they feel went well you could also

decide that after they document things

that went well that you guys want to

actually discuss it before you move to

the next column however sometimes it's

always good for you to get to allow them

get all their thoughts on paper so that

then they have the time to discuss it

so I would recommend you know have them

get their thoughts on paper where we

talk about the things that went well and

the things that we think didn't go well

let them have it on paper and then we

get to generate the insights where we're

kind of talking through some of these

things and so when everyone has

documented their thoughts you want to

kind of quickly go through their charts

to see where you can group things that

are familiar because you know it's

different people that are writing things

so it's possible the different people

who have similar thoughts so you want to

quickly group the thoughts that are

similar and then once you've been able

to group everyone then we can begin the

discussion where people kind of start

talking more about what they felt went

really well and what things you know

what people can agree kind of went well

and this is an opportunity for us to

kind of like celebrate ourselves as a

team we really smash things the spring

we did things well maybe we completed

all the things we committed to or we did

XYZ whatever that might be you want them

to get their thoughts in there and you

want to celebrate those weaves it's

important because it's also going to

boost the morale of the team now once

we're done with that section they want

to move to the next section where we'll

try and talk about the things that do

not go quite well and obviously you want

to repeat the same process where people

cannot talk through what didn't go well

and why we think these things did not go

well so allow time for people to

actually have those you know thoughts

conversations where people actually talk

about it let that conversation happen

ensure that you're facilitating and

ensure that everyone is contributing to

the conversation now once they're able

to kind of discuss and they've kind of

group their thoughts together to

understand and agree on the things that

didn't go well then it's time for us to

move to the last section

depending if that's your format where

we're not we want to talk about the

things that we can improve now based on

the things that maybe did not go well or

the things that went well the team might

decide to say okay this is the area we

want to improve now one thing I like to

say here is that it's not every time

that we want to improve on something

that is not going well sometimes we want

to get better at maybe something we

started doing it's working well for us

and we want to double down on it it's

actually possible so as a scrum Master

don't restrict them to only kind of

focusing on the things they're not doing

well and how they want to get better at

it it's not every time I want to focus

on our weakness sometimes let's double

down on our strength so what are we

doing really well what can we double

down on what can we even do better right

so it's open to whatever Direction the

team wants to take it so it could either

be we want to get better at the things

we're doing well or we want to improve

on the things we're not doing so well

because these things are important to

the product that we are building okay so

they're going to spend another couple of

minutes to kind of figure out okay what

other areas do you want to improve now

one thing I like to state is as the team

talks about things they want to improve

even the things that went well and

things that did not go quite well I want

you to always make sure that they are

focused on the individuals the

interactions they had the processes and

the tools because sometimes you know it

might be the fact that we didn't

interact really well that made us not to

achieve something that made things not

go well it might be the communication of

the team sometimes it might be the tool

that we're using that made us do

something really well or did not make us

do something really well other times it

could be the process so ensure that as

the team is thinking through all of

these things they're looking at their

interaction as a team they're looking at

the tools that they're using you're also

taking a look at the processes that

they're using to do the work to ensure

that they have an overall picture of how

they work and areas to improve so now

once they spend you know a bit of time

trying to figure out like areas for us

to improve please do not end the meeting

this is one thing that I see where you

know they just document quite a number

of things that they're trying to improve

and there is no action item this is the

actual part where the meeting actually

goes right or goes left now as a scrum

Master once the team as documented what

they want to improve it's time for Ross

to now figure out who is going to take

accountability and when we think those

things will get improved okay now as a

team we've itemized those items as

things we want to improve now sometimes

the items might be a lot where we need

to prioritize now once we prioritize it

when you say okay these are the top four

items that are really crucial for us

that we think we need to focus on

immediately then you need to tell them

who is taking responsibility of what let

them assign what they're going to be

pulling in as an improvement item that

they want to fix the next Sprint

okay and now in the process they might

actually even figure out like oh this

item is important but we probably cannot

get it fixed in the next spring we

probably might need to maybe get that

fixed maybe the next couple of Sprints

or maybe we can actually even get

started but this is like a long-term

goal where we probably might have a plan

to get it finished maybe in the next

quarter okay that way if you're able to

have a concrete plan or what they're

picking and when they think that thing

will get done this is very crucial if

you want to have an effective meeting

that is Meaningful to your team members

and a meeting that your team members

will get to love it's in the action

items what are they taking out of that

meeting it is this point where they're

deciding what they're going to do and

how they're going to tackle it this is a

very crucial part in your retrospective

so I'm sure that once we pick up the

Improvement items we assign who is going

to be responsible for those items and we

figure out if it's something we're

pulling into the next spring that we're

hoping to get done in the next Sprint or

something I'll take couple of Sprints to

get done and that way they can further

break down that story

or that task into a smaller chunk if

they think it will take them couple of

Sprints to get done so that at the end

of the day the team member the field

energize they know that these other

items we're gonna pull they will put

them into the next Sprint we already

know who is going to be working on it

and we know who to look up to in terms

of like progress on how we are doing now

sometimes this Improvement items might

not even be necessarily like huge things

they need to work on it might be the

fact that there's a team member who is

going to be responsible for watching off

of the team and doing that thing let's

say for example they say that we need to

be more collaborative right

now you have a team member who is

accounting for ensuring that we're

actually collaborating in our meetings

because it's not all the meetings that

you are going to attend as a scrum

Master many times you're going to be

available for the astronomy event other

events that might be you know sync UPS

to them you might not be in those

meetings but when you have a team member

being accountable for those Improvement

items then there's a high possibility

that things will get done rather than if

it was you who was being accountable and

holding them to doing those things you

want them to own that work do you want

them to feel responsible for that work

and be responsible for the success of

that work now once everyone has assigned

work to themselves and they are all good

then you want to close out your

retrospective this is also very crucial

because this is the time for you to

actually get feedback from the team on

how the retrospective went so you can

use things like for example on a scale

of one to ten how will you rate today's

retrospective if anybody you know rated

above five then that's a pass smack or

maybe above seven you guys can agree

what works for you and then if they rate

that maybe above below five then you

know that there's a problem what do we

need to do to improve what can we do

better it's very important for you to

close out your retrospective you know

getting that feedback because that way

you're also able to fix the

retrospective now there might be cases

where you know maybe this meeting time

is actually too long and we feel like

we're spending an entire hour in

retrospective and people might feel like

it's a waste of time and you might get

feedback like okay why don't we try 45

minutes or try 30 minutes but when you

don't even take out the time to ask you

know the feedback and get feedback on

the retrospective then you lose a huge

opportunity on improving that meeting

and making it get better day after day

so please before you close out ensure

that you're getting feedback tell them

to rate the retrospective you know and

find out how they feel about the

retrospective how do you feel about

today's retrospective are you are you

excited you feel like we accomplished

our goal for today do you feel that

something we could have done better

forgive me my nose is still blocked you

know do we feel like there's something

we could have done any better get

response from them and that way you're

able to use that information to improve

the next retrospective and this way we

don't only get better in the work that

we do but we also get better in the way

we run and facilitate these meters and

then it's a win-win for everyone and

your team members love your meetings and

anytime you have a Miss on your calendar

they are more than excited to show up

because they know it's going to be fun

also before you close out that

retrospective please ensure that you

guys you know share a joke share

something fun have fun okay they say all

walk and no play makes Jack doll so

please you know close it out with a band

close out with a joke close out with you

know high fives dances on you know on

Zoom whatever it is is Gonna Make You

fun for the team close out with a bang

and just let everyone be excited and

feel like we've actually accomplish

something really great now this is how

you have a defective retrospective that

your team will come to love I hope

today's episode was all fun for you guys

I hope you guys learned a few things

that you could go Implement right away

for those of you who are currently in

scrum Master roles and for those of you

who are still in the process of looking

for a job learn all of those things

ahead of time because it helps you get

better he helps you answer your

interview questions better and once

you're on the job you know exactly what

to do so I hope you had fun today thank

you so much for listening to this very

time thank you so much for watching I

love you all as usual please don't

forget to subscribe don't forget to

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and loved ones thank you so much and I

cannot wait to catch you in the next

episode bye for now