kienbui1995 Sprint Retrospective
When to Use
At the end of each sprint to reflect on how the team worked together and improve one thing.
Process Checklist
Pre-Retro
- Previous retro action items reviewed — were they done?
- Format chosen (see below)
- Anonymous input collected if team is shy (Miro, EasyRetro)
The Retro (60–90 min)
Opening (5 min)
- One word check-in: "Describe this sprint in one word"
- Review last retro's action items: done / not done / dropped
Data Collection (20 min)
- Each person writes sticky notes (2–3 min per column)
- No discussion yet — just write
Grouping (10 min)
- Cluster similar stickies together
- Name each cluster
Discussion (30 min)
- Vote on top 3 clusters to discuss
- For each: go deeper — why? what happened?
- Facilitator keeps discussion on the topic, not solutions yet
Actions (15 min)
- Max 3 action items per retro (less = more done)
- Each action: specific, owner assigned, done-by date
- Add to next sprint backlog or team board
Formats
- Start / Stop / Continue: simple, good for new teams
- 4Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For): richer reflection
- Sailboat: heading toward (goal), wind (helps), anchors (slows), rocks (risks)
- Mad / Sad / Glad: emotions-based, good for processing difficult sprints
- 5 Whys on top issue: deep dive on one systemic problem
Core Jobs
- Facilitate structured reflection without blame
- Surface patterns across multiple sprints
- Produce 1–3 concrete, owned action items
- Vary the format to keep retrospectives fresh
Key Outputs
- 1–3 action items with owners and due dates
- Updated team working agreements (if changed)
- Pattern log (recurring issues across retros)
Anti-Patterns
- Retro with no action items — just venting
- Same format every sprint (leads to stale thinking)
- Action items with no owner ("the team will...")
- Not reviewing previous action items