What is a scrum retrospective?

A scrum retrospective is a meeting of the scrum team to continuously improve its performance through a reflection. The retrospective is a standard part of the scrum framework.

At the end of a sprint, the scrum team gathers and evaluates together their own work and what needs to happen to make the next sprint run better.

The importance of a retrospective

Why in a retrospective so important? A retrospective is a meeting point during the sprint for the team members to get together and to evaluate. At this evaluation the intended goal is evaluated and judged for attainability within the given time frame. In addition, important aspects such as team processes, work methodology and mutual cooperation are tested. Only when a team cooperates well can the end goal be achieved. This can be attained by holding regular introspectives.

Starting and assembling a retrospective

In the first place, preparing the retrospective is important. After the hard work of the sprint is it time for the evaluation (retrospective). Now every team member has the opportunity to let themselves be heard and to be honest about the whole process and their team members. It is important during the retrospective to create a good  atmosphere and to keep it light. That will put team members at ease and enhances mutual trust.

Next, it is important to collect data, where is discussed what happened during the sprint and what did or did not go well. In addition, each team member is given the freedom to be heard and put as much data on the table as is possible.

It is key to bring together this information to gain insight. It allows for the discovery of patterns that can be used as a guide.  Probing questions at this stage are very important! Find out the reasons and causes to deal with these patterns and to improve processes!

Then is the time for making decisions,  an important part of the retrospective.  Improvements to the previous step can enhance the following steps of the next sprint. The foundation for this can be the SMART method (Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Timebound). Future actions are determined and carried out. Ensure SMART-defined actions that can be used in the next sprint.

The closing phase of the retrospective gives all team members  the opportunity to present their reflection on the retrospective. Every team member shares their experience so that the following retrospective can again be better. Compliment each other on their individual effort in the scrum team. That helps each team member to go into the next sprint  fully energized!

An effective retrospective with your team?

Get below 10 tips for an effective retrospective!

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Have a look at our extraordinary retrospective in nature!

Program retrospective

In this three hour retrospective session Inside Outside Coaching offers: