Essential Agile Retrospective

A ready-to-go Agile retrospective template to reflect with your team at the end of a sprint.

An Agile retrospective is an opportunity to look back reflect on their recent sprint, identify areas of improvement, celebrate successes, and foster a culture of continuous learning and growth.

Created by Carrin Robertson – SessionLab

Objectives

When should this session be delivered?

This workshop is designed to be held at the end of an Agile sprint. It’s best to schedule it shortly after the project’s close, so that the process is still fresh in the team’s mind and at a time that is suitable for everyone. 

Before a retrospective, a good tip is to share the project brief and achievements. Invite people to reflect in preparation for the retrospective. This workshop is effective in both live and remote formats, and can work as a hybrid lesson as well. Teams can use online whiteboards or TeamRetro to reflect, capture feedback and identify next steps.

Remember, Agile retrospectives are not a one-time event. They are an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement. By leveraging collective wisdom, creativity, and commitment, teams gather insights and actions to shape future sprints, allowing greater value to be delivered in their next projects.

Who can facilitate it?

As with most Agile workshops, don’t be put-off by the terminology. Agile is a flexible and human-centred way to manage projects and most facilitators could guide a retrospective using the instructions provided.

A good idea is to rotate the responsibility of facilitating a retrospective amongst team members to build facilitation skills within the team and ensure that different perspectives and approaches are brought to each session. Whenever a team member “wears their facilitator hat” should remember to remain impartial, and separate their “facilitator” self from their role in the project.

In certain situations, an external facilitator may be brought in to provide a fresh perspective and facilitate unbiased discussions. An Agile coach can also facilitate retrospectives, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and facilitation skills to help teams navigate the process.

Who facilitates a retrospective depends on factors such as team dynamics and expertise.

Of course, it’s helpful to have knowledge of the project and Agile principles, but the key point is to create a safe and open space where team members can freely share their thoughts and ideas.

Check out the template details including step-by-step plan with instructions, timings, printable schedule and more

About the author

Carrin Robertson

Carrin Robertson is a Content Marketer & Community Manager at SessionLab. She has a background in project management and has recently obtained her Agile PM certification. She champions the common sense approach and flexibility that Agile affords!

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