A retrospective is a meeting where a team reflects on a recent period of work to learn and improve. These meetings provide a structured opportunity for teams to look back on their processes, collaborations, and outcomes. Held at the end of a project or a sprint in agile environments, they are a dedicated time for analysis and planning for future work.
The Purpose of a Retrospective
The goal of a retrospective is to drive continuous improvement by inspecting and adapting team processes. It is not a forum for assigning blame but an opportunity to identify what worked well and what could be handled differently. This focus helps build a culture of psychological safety, where team members feel secure enough to discuss challenges and failures openly and collaborate on solutions.
This environment is cultivated by following a principle known as the “Prime Directive,” articulated by author Norm Kerth. The directive states: “Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.” Adopting this mindset shifts the focus from individual performance to systemic process improvement, which can boost team morale.
Preparing for the Retrospective
The facilitator should begin by scheduling the event with adequate time for a thorough discussion. Allocate 60 to 90 minutes for a two-week work cycle, adjusting the duration based on the complexity of the period being reviewed. This planning also involves selecting a retrospective format that suits the team’s needs and current context.
For in-person meetings, this includes a whiteboard, sticky notes, and markers, while remote teams can use digital collaboration platforms like Miro or Mural. Sending a brief agenda to the team ahead of time manages expectations and gives participants a chance to reflect on the work period before the meeting begins.
The Five Stages of a Retrospective
A well-structured retrospective follows five distinct stages to guide the team from reflection to action. These stages, outlined by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen, provide a framework for a comprehensive conversation. The facilitator’s role is to guide the team through each phase, manage time, and ensure the discussion remains focused.
Set the Stage
The first stage is about creating a safe and focused environment. The facilitator begins by welcoming the team and reiterating the meeting’s purpose: to improve the collective process, not to blame individuals. This is the ideal moment to read the Prime Directive aloud to reinforce a mindset of mutual respect. A short warm-up or icebreaker activity can also help encourage participation from all members.
Gather Data
In the second stage, the objective is to build a shared understanding of the past work period. The facilitator prompts the team to recall specific, factual events, both positive and negative. Techniques like asking team members to write key events on sticky notes and place them on a timeline can help create a visual picture of the sprint or project. The goal is to collect a wide range of data points from every participant’s perspective.
Generate Insights
With a shared pool of data established, the team moves to generating insights. Here, the focus shifts from “what happened” to “why it happened.” The facilitator guides the team to identify patterns and connections within the collected data. Team members can group similar sticky notes to form clusters, which often reveal systemic issues or recurring strengths and help the team understand root causes.
Decide What to Do
The fourth stage is where discussion turns into commitment. After identifying key insights, the team must decide on specific actions to take. The group should prioritize and select a small number of actionable improvements—one to three items—to increase the likelihood that they will be implemented. Each action item should be clear, measurable, and assigned to an owner responsible for seeing it through.
Close the Retrospective
The final stage provides a clear end to the meeting. The facilitator summarizes the key discussions and recaps the action items that were decided upon, including who owns each one. This reinforces the commitments made by the team. Thanking everyone for their participation and contributions helps end the meeting on a positive and appreciative note.
Popular Retrospective Formats
Choosing the right format can make a retrospective more engaging by providing a clear structure for discussion. These formats are used during the “Gather Data” and “Generate Insights” stages to guide the team’s reflection. The choice of format can be adapted based on the team’s maturity, recent experiences, and specific goals for the meeting.
- Start, Stop, Continue: This is a direct and action-oriented format that encourages teams to think about concrete changes. Participants generate ideas for what the team should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing. This format is straightforward and focuses the conversation on specific behaviors and workflows.
- Mad, Sad, Glad: This format centers on the emotional journey of the team. Team members share what made them feel mad (frustrated), sad (disappointed), and glad (proud). By focusing on feelings, this technique can help build empathy and uncover underlying issues related to morale or team dynamics.
- The 4 Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For): This format offers a more nuanced framework for reflection. It prompts team members to consider what they liked about the sprint, what they learned, what they felt was lacking, and what they longed for. This approach allows for a balanced conversation covering positives, new knowledge, and future aspirations.
- What Went Well, What Didn’t: As one of the simplest formats, this approach is excellent for teams new to the practice. The facilitator creates two columns, “What Went Well” and “What Didn’t,” and asks the team to contribute. This direct method provides a clear starting point for discussion by separating positive and negative experiences.
Following Up After the Retrospective
A retrospective’s value is realized only when its outcomes lead to tangible change. The facilitator or a designated team member should document the agreed-upon action items and share them with the entire team. This creates a record of the commitments made and ensures that everyone is aware of the plan.
Making these action items visible, for instance by adding them to a team’s digital task board, keeps them at the forefront of the team’s attention. This visibility helps integrate the improvement work into the team’s regular workflow. It also holds the assigned owner accountable for ensuring progress is made and for providing updates to the team.
A feedback loop must be established by beginning the next retrospective with a review of the action items from the previous one. This practice builds accountability and demonstrates that the meetings are driving real progress. Discussing the status of old items creates a continuous cycle of improvement and reinforces the value of the process.