Retrospective games
Four review formats, each timed for about 25 minutes.
A format so the review is not a complaint round
Retrospective games are structured ways to review a period of work. The period might be a sprint, a project week, or a unit. The game gives everyone the same prompts so one voice does not set the agenda. Pick one format. Running two in the same half hour splits the notes. If you have a burndown gap, bring the chart. The game explains it. The chart does not speak.
Four formats
Sailboat, about 25 minutes. Draw a boat, an island (the goal), wind (what helped), an anchor (what slowed you), and rocks (risks ahead). Five minutes silent notes, ten minutes clustering, ten minutes choosing one anchor to cut next period.
Start, stop, continue, about 25 minutes. Three columns. Notes must be behaviors the team controls. 'Start writing the agenda in the invite' is a note. 'Be better' is not. End by assigning a name to one start and one stop.
4 Ls, about 25 minutes. Liked, learned, lacked, longed for. Liked and learned keep the review from being only a deficit list. Lacked is a gap. Longed for is a wish, and wishes need a check: is it inside this team's reach?
Mad, sad, glad, about 20 minutes. Three columns for the emotional read of the period, then five minutes to convert one mad or sad note into a process change. Feelings without a change are a vent. A vent can be useful and should be labeled as one. A feedback loop needs the change.
Questions
- What are retrospective games?
- Timed formats for a team review, such as sailboat, start-stop-continue, the 4 Ls, or mad-sad-glad. They give every person the same prompts.
- How long should a retrospective game take?
- About 25 minutes for a small team if notes are written in silence first. A longer meeting is for the change you chose, not for a second game.
- What should happen after the game?
- One named change with an owner and a date. A wall of notes and no owner means the review did not enter a feedback loop.